Find out what’s hot and what’s happening now around Worcester!

Annual Taste of Shrewsbury St. Join the 40 restaurants and bars on Shrewsbury Street for Worcester’s unofficial kickoff to summer. The event,, now in its 13^th year is Worcester’s largest block party. For $25, you can stroll the street and enjoy samples from the restaurants along Worcester’s Restaurant Row. The $25 is used by the Shrewsbury Street Merchants Association to pay for the upkeep of the street, its trees and flower beds. Money also goes to local charities. Once again, the event is sponsored by  Quality Beverages, CSX, Pepsi, Herb Chambers Fiat, DCU Credit Union, Fidelity Bank, Bay State Savings Bank and Peoples United Bank. Media sponsors include Pulse Magazine, Tasteworcester.com, WXLO, The Pike, WORC-FM and WCRN 860 AM. To purchase a button, go to tasteshrewsburystreet.com.

Just in time for the Taste. Two new restaurants opened on Shrewsbury Street the first week of May. Meze, a Greek tapas restaurant, and The Fix, a hamburger emporium, both had soft openings. Sliders or grilled octopus ~ you now have a choice.

We still wonder. We hear through several sources that the Wonder Bar has been sold and it will reopen. We can’t tell you who bought it, but it is a family that has been in business in the Shrewsbury Street area for three or four generations, beginning with a small family grocery store in the 1950s. We also hear that new owners will keep the name and concept.

Further down Route 9. Tomaso’s in Southborough has hired a new executive chef and a new chef de cuisine. Bill Bradley, formerly a consulting chef, will take over the top job at Tomaso’s, while Michelle Blass will assume the job of running the kitchen. Tomaso’s has long been regarded as one of the best Italian restaurants in the MetroWest area.

South County News. We have two bits of information to impart from our South County correspondent. The All Star Pub is closed and will reopen after renovations as an Irish pub. The new name will be Mulligan’s. Since this is connected to Mohegan Bowl, you might be able to have a Guinness while you bowl.

Also in Webster. A new seafood restaurant and market has opened on 32 Main St., appropriately named the Lobster Nook.

News about India. The New House of India at 2 Coes Square on Worcester’s Park Avenue was recently approved for a liquor License.

White Cliffs on the market. The White Cliff’s Restaurant & Function Hall on Route 20 in Northborough is on the market for $2 million. The 128-year-old mansion was originally owned by the Wesson family of gun fame. In recent years, it was run as a restaurant by the Tomaiolo family, which has owned several restaurants in the Worcester area, including the Parkway Diner. Family members still run A.J. Tomaiolo’s, also in Northborough. The mansion is almost 20,000 square feet. It has 32 rooms and 17 fireplaces and was built as a summer home.

Chili’s closes. The Chili’s at the Fairlawn Plaza on Route 9 in Shrewsbury is closed. The plaza is scheduled to be demoed and a new mixed use development will be going in.