This Is Framingham

At 666 (!) Waverly St. is a bar called Bruburger’s. I wasn’t sure what to expect, if it was going to be like a restaurant-bar like the Chicken Bone or more bar-bar like the Happy Swallow.
My “drinking buddy” Mike and I ventured in and found it to be more on the bar-bar side. ?????? (????)   Which is good because Mike is always looking for places like this.   This was what I like to call an “old-man bar”, from the vintage Clydesdale Budweiser display above the bar to the classic jar of pickled eggs, it’s hard to find places like this around here.

The crowd here at first glance seems like it could be kind of rough but the bartender was very friendly and later in the night a guy who had a enjoyed a few beers bumped into Mike, said excuse me and then recognizing we weren’t regulars, started telling us about 25¢ wings on Mondays and half price burgers on Sundays but “you can’t take them with you, you have to eat them here”.  As he was walking backwards from our table to the bathroom, he went on about how “it’s a good…good crowd here” and that we should come back.  Then he finally vanished into the bathroom.

We both got burgers and Guinness, which the bartender made the effort to draw shamrocks in the foam.  I got a mushroom cheeseburger and Mike got one with Canadian bacon (mike’s picture didn’t come out). 

 I have to say, I didn’t know what to expect, even with the word “Burger” in the bar’s name, but they were excellent.  The buns were really good too, nicely toasted on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside- that was another thing the friendly drunk guy told us, is that they get the buns from The Framingham Baking Co.
Mike with his burger: Me with mine: (See Mike, I posted our pictures!)
 

Much like the Happy Swallow, the bathrooms had some character as well.  I liked this little note by the toilet:

My favorite part is that it says “So freakin’ DON’T!” (Note to Ethan:  I’m going to say this all the time so get freakin’ used to it!)

This is a great place.  Would I send my mom here?  Maybe not, but we had a great time and I’ll definitely go back. ????? ??? ????

I had heard for a while that the J&M Diner was worth checking out so this weekend we finally did.  J&M is at 969 Concord St. in that little plaza next to Stop &Shop and Firefly’s.
We went a little before noon and it was packed but we only had a 10 minute wait,in the meantime we watched the waitresses run around in their pajamas.

The hostess was really nice, I’m guessing she was also the manager for some reason.  She asked us if we had even been there before and took our drink order.  The menu was mainly breakfast with a couple of burger specials on the board.
Ethan got a huge pancake with bacon and we split some home fries.

I got the cinnamon french toast.  It doesn’t look like french toast, at first I thought maybe it was pancakes they gave me but after a bite into them I realised it was infact what I ordered. I guess someone walking by thought it looked odd and stopped to ask me if it was french toast, and that it looked “mushy”.  Kind of odd but this is the kind of place where something like walking up to someone’s table and asking them what they got and making a comment about it was ok.

The home fries were really good, plenty of both crunchy and soft potatoes.  Ethan liked his pancake and bacon and I really liked the french toast.  I haven’t had french toast in years so it was nice that it wasn’t disappointing.

The service was ok, our waitress just took our order and left the check on the table when she brought out our food and we never saw her again.  That is typical of breakfast places so it’s fine, but I guess if we had needed something after we took a bite we’d have to flag her down.  Also, a little weird was when Ethan ordered a grapefruit juice, it was over $2 for a bottle of Minute Maid that was only 30% juice (70% corn syrup?).  We thought that was a little pricey for not real juice but it’s not enough to make us never come back, just an observation.

I would definitely go to J&M again since good breakfast places are hard to come by and I liked the feel of this place and the hostess/manager was so nice. 
It was kind of funny, after we left Ethan asked me if I noticed a strong pro-woman theme in there. I didn’t but he said he noticed that everyone working there were all female.  Also, everything hanging on the walls were of women including the old Rosie the Riveter “We can do it!” poster and a version of Charles Ebbets’ “lunch atop a skyscraper” with all women.  It’s funny I didn’t notice the female-strong theme at all but I’d be curious to know if there is a story behind that.  Little breakfast places are not as common as they used to be and the food is good so I’ll be back.

I was going to wait longer between posts about the new 400 Plus (on Franklin St.) but I just really wanted to post about it and there’s not much else going on so here it is:

Anyone that has been to the old 400 Club can see that the interior has changed quite a bit. I kind of like the outdated red and black of the old place but since this is 2007 I can see why they wanted to update and they did a great job. chickens ivermectin per gallon
When we sat down we were given fresh focaccia bread that they make there, served with olive oil that was seasoned and had a clove of garlic in it.

We got a couple of appetizers, one being the antipasto which was a nice assortment of meats, cheese and marinated mushrooms, peppers, olives and pepperoncinis. ivermectina 6mg para cães posologia

We also got the fried mozzarella. They use fresh mozzarella and bread it by hand, it’s not the typical previously frozen sticks like some other places serve.

We also got a salad that comes with the house dressing:

Ethan got the baked scrod that he said was awesome, very fresh and flakey.

I got the eggplant parm, which I find hard to make bad anyway but like everything else, it was very good.

With these entrees came a choice of double mashed, roasted potatoes or pasta, we each got a potato. ivermectin safe for pregnancy
The double mashed are so good but you have to throw caloric caution to the wind as I can’t even guess how much butter and cheese are in them but they were REALLY good.

We split a massive hot chocolate at the end and left with several to-go boxes that supplied us with dinner for the next night all over again.

The service could not have been nicer and like I said in the pizza post, this place is so great to have in this part of town and especially that the food is fantastic. I love Italian food and I have to say this is some of the best I’ve had, people applauded when the chef came out to the dining room! Framingham is lucky to have such a place I think it will bring people back to this area and possibly rejuvenate the mostly vacant sad plaza.

Over the weekend we finally got to James Place at 69 Waverly Street.

The inside is painted with bright cheery colors and they display artwork from students at Woodrow Wilson Middle School.  They have regular sodas and also a variety of soda from the Mercury Brewing Company of Ipswich that make interesting flavors like coconut, watermelon and kiwi-berry.

James Place advertises selling hot dogs and ice cream but they also sell Cuban sandwiches and chocolates.  The hot dog menu has a list of names after different dog breeds.  I believe they have just one kind of hotdog but with different toppings, they have an extensive variety though.  I got “the mutt” which is ketchup, mustard, onions and relish.  It was pretty good, no surprises or disappointments.

Ethan got the Cuban sandwich which is sliced ham and pulled pork that the owner told us he marinates for 12 hours and then cooks for another few hours and makes it every 2 to 3 days.  The sandwich also has cheese, pickles & mustard and is then put in a heated sandwich press.  Ethan said it was really good and said the bread was great too.

After that we split a very creamy Toll House cookie ice cream.  All the ice cream there is from Christina’s homemade ice cream of Cambridge.

The owner is such a nice a guy, we ended up talking to him for a few minutes as we were paying.  He is actually excited to be in Framingham and likes using local products like the ice cream and sodas and cares to recycle.  He will also be adding more products as the summer approaches.

I only wish that this place was a half mile west so it would actually be in downtown since we really need something like this downtown but it’s close enough and it’s great to have a fun small business run by a sincerely nice guy in town.

The new “400 Plus” restaurant at 430 Franklin St.
is now open for business and we got a pizza from there tonight.

We both thought it was really good, it might not look like it from the picture but
it’s a pretty thin-doughed pizza with a light fluffy crust.  We thought the sauce was
well seasoned with just enough oregano and had a nice blend of cheeses.
This is one of those pizzas that is so good that a plain
cheese is great.  I will try it with toppings sometime since we’ll
be getting pizza from here again.

I’ll definitely do another review of the inside and some entrees but
just wanted to post about the pizza and let people know it’s open, especially
for those  of us in the area of “sad plaza” this is just what our
neighborhood needs : )

We went against the grain and got Chinese food for lunch (instead of dinner) on New Year’s Eve.  Usually after watching Phantom Gourmet we’re in the mood for whatever the featured food was so we took a trip to Nobscot and gave the newly established “Yummy Tummy” a try.
It’s really a take out place but there are clean tables and booths too so we decided to eat there.  We got some appetizers, fried rice and vegetable delight.  The guy we ordered from thanked us and said it would be just a few minutes and we sat down.

We figured they’d call us up to the counter and we would bring the food to our table since it’s a paper plate kind of place but it was pleasantly served to us by nice woman. ivermectin bird mite medicine
The food was pretty good, not gourmet but not disappointing at all, just what you would expect, maybe a little better.  The chicken fingers were actually very good and the vegetables just crunchy enough and not overcooked.

We left a tip on the table since the food was served to us (nicely), wrapped up all of our leftovers and they would be cleaning up the table after we left.  As we were getting into the car,  the guy we ordered our food from ran out holding the tip and said “Hey guys, we don’t take tips but thanks” We said that’s ok we wanted to leave it since we were served and stuff and he insisted we take it back because they are really a take-out place. albendazole vs ivermectin
I really didn’t want to take it back but I almost felt like it would be insulting to him if I didn’t, that’s how persistent he was and I figured he wouldn’t have run out after us if he wanted it in the first place.
So since he wouldn’t let us tip him, I just wanted to point out that this place takes pride in what they do and do not feel they need any extra gratitude other than ordering from there.

I heard that the Columbus Club on Fountain St. has a great dinner on Saturdays- certain Saturdays when they are not rented out for a function, so I called in October to inquire about it.  The woman I spoke to was very nice and told me they what dates they’d be having the dinner, I was busy for some of the Saturdays but then free for one of them in November.  She suggested making a reservation, so I did but then 2 days before the dinner she called and left a message to cancel because they didn’t have enough people signed up. 
I called back and spoke to the same nice woman and she told me they would have it two more times before the end of the year, I couldn’t make it on one of the dates but could for the last one so she took my name for last Saturday and said she looked forward to us going.

Ethan was a bit under the weather so I thought we’d have to cancel but he bounced back by Saturday and I was excited to finally check it out.  I called the club that night to make sure were all set but to my surprise they told me I was not on the reservation list and that they were booked.  I explained that I did make a reservation with someone who called to cancel a few weeks before and she said she put me down for tonight but the person on the phone just said sorry they’re booked, in fact, over booked.
It was pretty disappointing since I’ve been wanting to go since October.  I was told they will start up dinners again in January.  I’d love to try it because I love Italian food but I don’t know if I’d plan a Saturday night around it again.   The woman who I spoke with earlier said they are open for lunch but it’s not the same menu.  I will attempt to try it again at somepoint though.  If anyone has had the food there or been to dinner on Saturday night, let me know how it is.   I’m guessing it’s really good from the crowds they get.

After that we decided to go to our favorite downtown place, the Eagles restaurant and had a great night.  I was still in the mood for Italian food so I got spaghetti and meatballs, which was excellent and Ethan said his baked haddock was really good too.  The owner came out of the kitchen to ask us how everything was and our waitress was so friendly and nice.  She asked me if I’d like her to put extra sauce on the spaghetti I was taking home, little gestures like that are nice and show they want people to enjoy the food there and when you re-heat your leftovers the next day.  We always leave there happy and where else can you get spaghetti and meatballs (with a salad) for . ????? ????? 95?
This post started out being about the Columbus Club but I just wanted to say how much we love the Eagles restaurant because it turned a disappointment into a great night.