thePULSEA few ideas for a good place to bring college parents for graduation dinner
It’s almost graduation weekend. You’ve been partying for days. Eating? Well, sort of. Mostly it’s been a liquid diet. And suddenly, it’s the Thursday before graduation. The family car pulls up with Mom and Dad, your little sister and a grandparent or two. And they want to take you out for a big celebratory dinner. A tough decision when all you’ve been thinking about is Doritos and Margaritas.
So to help you through, here’s some suggestions for places to go for a graduation feast. Some advice though — if you’re planning a Saturday night dinner somewhere, call right now. Many places on Shrewsbury Street book Saturday night dinners (like 111 Chophouse for instance) two to three weeks in advance. And there are lots of restaurants, on Shrewsbury Street and otherwise, that don’t take reservations — which means you have to get there early.
And that’s a good thing because then you’ll still have time for a late night with your friends — and one last BIG party.
We might as well start at the top with the two restaurants that tied for “best restaurant” in Worcester Magazine’s 2003 “Best of Worcester” Readers’ Poll, One Eleven Chophouse on Shrewsbury Street and The Sole Proprietor, both of which were created by the same family, the Ahlquists. The rumor is that the Ahlquists run a kind of a two-three week boot camp that all new wait staff and bartenders have to go through before they can start working at “the Sole” or “the Chophouse”. That’s probably the reason why both places also often win “best service” honors in WoMag’s poll.
And also why these are good places to take Mom and Dad who won’t feel so bad about shelling out thousands for four years of tuition.
If you’re looking for top-notch seafood, the Sole is your best bet. The dining area at this Highland Street hot spot was enlarged in the last few years, so there’s quite a lot of room for big parties. If there are only a handful of you, you can sit in the bar area, which is a great people watching place, especially on Friday nights.
The Chophouse has been a cut above every other restaurant in town since the very first day the elegant Chicago-steakhouse style restaurant opened its doors in the late ’90s. For a truly fine filet mignon or a stupendous strip steak, served with a wedge of salad drowned in velvety blue-cheese dressing, this is the place. And don’t forget to ask Dad to check out the wine list, which is one of the best in the city.
Although many people like The Sole for great seafood fare, if you’re looking for a less upscale spot that serves really good fried clams, fish and chips and other seafood specialties, cruise in to Coral Seafood on Green Street. (Right across from Lucky Dog and down the street from The Dive Bar). The seafood gumbo is delicious here, and the fried clams will keep you happy for a week. If you’re not adverse to driving, the Coral Seafood folks also just opened up a second Coral in Marlboro, which is fancier than the Green Street version, but serves equally tasty food.
Shrewsbury Street is fast becoming known as Worcester’s great gastronomical boulevard with good choices up and down for almost any kind of meal. At the eastern end, the Piccadilly Pub is always jammed with happy campers on Friday and Saturday nights who chow down on big burgers and fries, chicken in a basket and hefty salads. Tweeds, over on Grove Street, North Works also on Grove Street and Barbers Crossing on West Boylston Street are also good bets for hearty meals served up in a casual atmosphere. The salad bar at Barbers Crossing is especially good – and this is the best place in town to catch a two-for-one lobster deal.
Back on Shrewsbury Street, there’s all kinds of good and very good ethnic restaurants from A to Z, starting with Amore, offering supper-club charm, piano music and an innovative menu; the elegant, superb Italian restaurant Anthony’s; Leo’s which makes a bella antipasto, Primo’s which is our favorite place for creative pasta dishes (Porto Bello is a good choice for pasta as well), Surya, where Indian music and food will soothe your collective souls and Zipango, which has hooked the demanding sushi crowd.
Also on Shrewsbury Street are The Flying Rhino, which has become popular for all kinds of celebratory dinners, and several great diners including The Parkway, Paul Mac’s and The Boulevard. If you need a place to bring the fam for breakast, The Parkway and The Boulevard serve up eggs anyway you like ’em, along with Italian sausage, big hunks of home-made bread slathered with butter, pancakes as big as a plate… Worcester is not the home of American diners for nothing. Paul Macs is a fun place for lunch, especially if you’re looking for big, home-style burgers and waitresses with real Wustah “‘tude.”
Speaking of places that offer a true slice of Worcester, The Webster House has fine, traditional New England fare, including seafood dishes and some prize-winning desserts like deep-dish apple pie. If your family has Greek connections, The Webster House also is well known for authentic Greek specialties.
Don’t forget Worcester’s A-plus Asian eateries like Da-Lat on Park Ave., Nancy Chang on Chandler Street (read about Nancy Chang in our cover story), Vietnamese favorite Pho Dakao, also on Park Ave., and Thai Time, which has lots of delicious Thai dishes and offers a substantial, reasonably-priced, lunch-time buffet.
And if you’re looking for a place that will impress your parents, take them to the Worcester Art Museum, perennial winner of “Best Reason To Visit Worcester” in Worcester Magazine’s “Best of” contest. The Art Museum Cafe (which also has outdoor, courtyard seating) is a fine place for lunch, offering unusual sandwiches, tasty soups and some terrific desserts. After lunch, you and the family can take in WAM’s world-famous collections…show off a little of the stuff you learned in Art History class and really impress your parents before you ask for a few bucks to hit the Lucky Dog or The Dive Bar with on graduation night.
