This Is Framingham

Last weekend my mom and little sister came over and as usual, we went out for Chinese food for lunch (although we are take-out maters for dinner, it just depends on the time of day we are together).  We like buffets, not for the quantity but more for the variety and option to choose what you want on your plate so we always end up at a buffet. 
We have our usual places in certain towns and Lotus Flower is it for Framingham (also since there are only two that we know of in Framingham and we aren’t crazy about Chef Orient- but they’re ok)

Buffet comes with soup and they have a great egg drop so my sister and I usually get that and my mom is a hot and sour person and always gets that.

It’s pretty dark in there and they have flat screens TV all over the place. There are even little flat screens at each booth. ????? ???? ???????   These TVs show pictures of local scenes and mix it up with adding Chinese proverbs. ????   It’s almost like cable access with no ads, interesting. 365 ?? ?????

The food was good as usual and towards the end of our meal some of the Framingham Flyers came in from practice or a game in their uniforms and were good sports (no pun intended!) about posing for a picture.  Sorry the picture is so bad but I only had my camera phone.

 
When I was age 4 through 9 my uncle and father owned an auto part store right at the corner of 126 and 135.  My sister and I would hang out there all the time and noticed “The Happy Swallow” one storefront away and wondered what it was. I remember I couldn’t even read yet but there was a bird on the sign with a martini glass, I didn’t even know what a martini glass was but I thought since it had a bird on there it must be a good place.
They have since replaced the martini glass with a beer mug on their new sign and I finally went to go check it out.

I gave Ethan the night off and dragged my friend Mike to go with me.
It was just what I thought it would be like: old, somewhat dingy and in a weird way “homey”. 
Mike and I went up to the bar and got a couple of beers and I asked the bartender if we should order though him if we want something to eat.  He said to hold on a sec and went over to the kitchen and asked the guy in there “What are we doing about food?” he came back and said someone would be over in a few minutes so we sat down and checked out the menu posted above the pick-up window.

5 minutes later an older man comes over to our table and asks “You wanted some food?” and we ordered a couple of burgers.  Then Mike saw lettuce and tomato was 50¢ extra and we hadn’t asked for it but wanted it so he went back up to the window to ask for the kitchen guy to add that and the guy said “oh, you could have told me that before- that’s ok, that’s ok” Which was kind of funny since he hadn’t even started making anything yet.
I thought it was interesting that there are no stools at the bar, people just stand.  There are stools at the tall tables but they aren’t bolted down like adamg described, perhaps in their wilder days though.

There was some guy sitting at a booth by the door and played some song on the jukebox (I can’t remember) and as he was walking back to his seat the song started playing and everyone at the bar started yelling at him really loud (some with thick Boston accents): “FRANK!  FRANK!  GO HOME! GET OUTTA HEAH FRANK!”
They were laughing like it was an old joke or maybe he notoriously plays bad songs but Frank just ignored this and just shuffled back to his booth.

When our burgers were ready the kitchen guy yelled “Cheeseburger Hambuger!” and we went up to the window to get them.  When I was paying the kitchen guy looked at me and said “Were you in here last week?” and I said “No, I’ve never been in here before” and he said “Because you look just like someone that was in here last week” and I said “Yeah I get that a lot, I think I just look like a lot of people so people always think they’ve seen me before” He squinted at me like he was inspecting my face and said “Yeah I guess so- ok, enjoy.”
The burgers were pretty good, I guess were expecting the worst but I think they really were pretty good.

Mike went to the bathroom and took a picture because he was weirded out by the urinal that reached the floor.
While Mike was in the bathroom, the kitchen guy was leaving for the night and walked by the bar where the bartender yelled out “Have a good one Fred” (or Red or Ted).  When he walked by my table he stopped to look at me and said “Goodnight, girl”gave a little smile and walked out the side door.
By the end of the night we decided that this is a good place to go to. I don’t know if we happened to go on a quiet night but we really enjoyed it and no one got beaten up like thought we would : )

P.S. They also have live music on the weekends, I’m curious to see where they fit the musicians.

A few nights ago Ethan and I were watching the trains roll in at CSX’s auxiliary tracks and then walked further down by the RMV and then up Park Street.  We saw a sign for “Eagles All American Grill“.  I was surprised to see anything “All American” downtown and thought it’s probably something that went out of business. ????? ???????   We walked around  to the front door and saw it was the Fraternal Order of the Eagles building.  Inside was a bar that looked really happening except it was only for members but they also have a restaurant that is open to the public.  Last Saturday we went down to check it out.

We didn’t mind at all that we were the youngest people in there, I’d say everyone was in their 60’s and 70’s but it was quiet an relaxing (I had just spent the day on Rt.9 looking for baby showers gifts) so that was nice.
The menu is printed on the paper placemats and only three items are over $10.  All entrees come with salad too.
Our waitress was so friendly, she greeted us soon after we sat down with cheese and crackers.

We ordered a couple of cocktails and I got fish and chips, Ethan got fried scallops.  I didn’t know what to expect for under $10 but the food was really great.  The fish wasn’t processed rectangles like I was afraid of but looked like freshly floured and fried filets and the fries were really good too (I love steak fries).  Ethan says the scallops were “delectable”(he’s laughing as I write this but he says he means it)

Our waitress checked in on us a couple of times to ask how we were doing and then when we were leaving someone from the kitchen was walking through the dining room and asked us “How was your dinner tonight folks?”It’s nice to see a place take pride in what they do. ????? ??? ????

The F.O.E. restaurant is walkable from our house, quiet, cheap and the food and service is great- what more could we want?  I’m so happy we randomly walked by this place!

A definte “Yay”

A couple of people have written asking about Lloyd’s diner and the mysterious hours it is open, or mostly not open since there are no hours posted. I thought it opened at 6am (I used to go there when I was in college) but then I went by earlier this week and it was closed at 6:40am.  I tried calling that day to see if they opened after I went to work but no one answered.
I tried again just now and someone picked up, so I got the hours:

Monday  Closed
Tuesday  Closed
Wednesday Closed
Thursday 6:00-11:00
Friday  6:00-11:00
Saturday  6:00-12:00
Sunday  6:00-12:00

They also said that in a few weeks they will be open on Wednesdays.
Apparently they are strictly breakfast since they close before lunch. Good for them that they can stay in business with such limited days/hours but I think having a diner with more availability would be good to have in the area, too bad. 
One of these days I will get back there and review.

On route 9 west, almost at the Southborough border, is the Tin Alley Grill.
I don’t even know where to start but I want to make it short because I don’t want to recall my one evening there for too long.
They serve the usual “pub grub” and it’s mediocre at best, but what earns it’s $#@% list status is the stench that came wafting out of the kitchen all night.  It was so weird, all of the servers were walking out of the kitchen with food like everything was normal.  I kept expecting to see one of them come barreling through the swinging door, yell “Oh my God!” and then throw up but I guess the smell is just part of whatever was brewing in the kitchen. 

It took the whole “meal” for me to realize it wasn’t just me that noticed it. Everyone at the table was secretly in denial until some one had the guts to ask what that vile smell was and then it was time to leave.  Even if they are “Home of the $1.00 Draft” it’s not enough to get me to go back.

I noticed an interesting police log recently:

CIVIL MATTER: 1699 WORCESTER RD, TIN ALLEY GRILL (ADVISED) 
 3 MEN WALKED OUT ON A $186 TAB. THEY WENT ACROSS TO THE MOTEL 6. RESTITUTION MADE

I can’t believe they spent enough time there to consume $186 worth of food/drink and still had the strength to escape without paying AND cross route 9!

Last week my Uncle wanted to meet for lunch and he suggested “How about the Olive Garden?  They have a soup and salad special”  I cringed but I didn’t want to sound like a snob and with his track record he would insist on paying so I figured I should go where he wants. ??? ????
We got the soup and salad “deal”. tarneeb

The dressing for the salad seemed plasticy or something and the soup tasted like it was straight from a can.  Along with this feast you get all the nerf-like bread sticks you want. 

I really don’t want to offend anyone but, why do people go here, never mind wait in line?
Even my Uncle said he’d give the place a “2”.

We decided to venture away from our usual Chinese restaurant and try Sichuan Gourmet.
Everything was really good.  The beef teriyaki was just ok but there was a dish called Rainbow Chicken that was really good.  It’s like a chicken and vegetable but the vegetables are julienned and it has a light tasty sauce, really good.
We also got fried shrimp and Kung Pao (old style) chicken.
We just got take-out but it looks nice to dine-in too.
Thumbs up for Sichuan Gourmet!