This Is Framingham

A new Italian style pizza and dessert place opened up on route 30, (661 Cochituate Rd.) called “North End Treats”.
It is a take-out only place that serves pizza, pasta, sandwiches, pastries and gelato.
Inside is small but large enough to serve it’s purpose since there is no seating.

We got 2 individual 9″ pizzas.  One Bourbon Steak Tips with peppers and one Caramelized Onion with feta and pine nuts.
Steak Tips:

Caramelized Onions (they forgot to slice it and the picture is blurry)

The steak was good but I really, really enjoyed the caramelized onion pizza.  It was excellent. The natural sweetness of the onions with the salty feta was a perfect match.   
These are especially good pizzas for people that like crust because there’s plenty of it.  I feel like a plain pizza would be very satisfying as well. 
Of course while I was  waiting I couldn’t help but look at the pastry case:

I decided to bring home a little assortment of a peanut butter brownie, cannoli and mini-lobster tail:

I never had a lobster tail before but it was awesome, pastry filled with whipped and Bavarian cream.  It was light (tasting) and so creamy- a very nice treat!  I’d tie that with the peanut butter brownie which is intense and I recommend letting it almost get to room temp before eating since the top layer of chocolate is so thick.  The cannoli was pretty good two but if I had to choose 2 out of the three, it would be the lobster tail and brownie.  I will be back to try the gelato and some pasta dishes.

This is such a great addition to Framingham pizza/food options.  My only wish is that it was downtown, it would be perfect in one of the storefronts down there! 

Laurie Lee hosted a little “Thank You” lunch for the ladies who pitched in for her campaign at the Columbus Club.  I’ve always wanted to go here but never got around to it or something weird happened, but today I finally got to go and experience the Columbus Club.Inside was exactly what I expected (and hoping for) an old-school, no-frills set up with wood wall panels, stackable chairs and a whiteboard as it’s only menu.  I got the “mac & meatballs” which is ziti and meatballs:This was awesome.  The sauce is excellent and the meatballs were perfectly moist and soft.  Simple but delicious.Some of the other dishes people got were Lasagna and Sausage:Chicken Parm:Chicken noodle soup:Selectman Dennis Giombetti came by our table and jokingly asked if anyone was going to try the tripe, which I guess is really good if you like tripe but even he didn’t suggest it for people who haven’t had it before.  He shared some nice memories of spending time at the club growing up too.  I got to talk with our new Town Moderator, Ed Noonan, who seems like a very sharp guy and has a clear plan on how he’s going to run town meeting.  I’m looking forward to watching him in action this year.  I had such a great time meeting people I’ve heard of but never met and seeing people I know from town meeting. The Columbus Club definitely has a “club” feel but also a strong sense of community and places like this are hard to find - and the food is delicious too!  A nice little gem in Framingham.For more info on the Columbus Club check out their site:http://framinghamcolumbus.org/

We decided to be adventurous and go to Shopper’s World (cough cough) on a Saturday to try Joe’s American Bar and Grill.  I think(?) I went to one years ago just for drinks and although I’m usually not a fan of chain restaurants, it’s kind of local with most of their places in Massachusetts and only two reaching as far down as New Jersey (and I’ve heard it was a decent place).
We were greeted by the manager who was very polite and professional as was the hostess who sat us and our server.
It was a rainy, windy day so we felt like getting some thing warm and satisfying.  My interior picture didn’t come out so well but I liked the dark wood and vintage-looking lighting they have.  
I got a grilled meatloaf sandwich that was served on challah bread with a side of horseradish sauce.  It comes w/ a peppercorn mayo but I loathe pepper so I asked if I could switch that for something else and the server was very nice about it.

Now, looking at this, I wish I took a better picture but this was a great sandwich.  Nice and toasty on the outside, hot sliced meatloaf on the inside and the hand-cut fries were oh so nice.

Ethan got a Bacon Cheeseburger.  It looks a little mauled because the sever asked him if he wouldn’t mind cutting into it to make sure it was cooked to the temperature he asked (it was).  Ethan said the burger was very good and thought the cheese was “very cheddary”.

This meal really hit the spot, but what really made an impression was after we left and were buckling up in the car, the manager appeared with Ethan’s hat that he forgot inside.  I thought that was really above and beyond since it was a total downpour outside and he didn’t even have a menu over his head or anything to protect himself from the rain - he just ran out to make sure Ethan got his hat.  That was really nice, so all around we had a good experience here.

On our way back from Target tonight we noticed that JOA Take-out (326 Concord St. where the dearly departed Hurwitz Kosher meat market was) had a “Now Open” sign so we decided to check it out.
As it has been suspected, it is a Brazilian-American place. (I was wishing for Thai, as were some other people, but oh well)
Inside it still looks like they have a little finishing touches to do, like filling up the display cooler.

The menu has a mostly Brazilian food but they did have some American-type items like hot dogs, mozzarella sticks, subs, onion rings, chicken fingers, rotisserie chicken and fish & chips.  We decided to share an order of fish & chips.  We spent most our waiting time having a pleasant conversation with the owner who seems like a really nice guy.
I wasn’t sure what to expect when we got home and opened the take-out box but it looked pretty good. 

I like that they threw in a little greener to make it look nice and it was interesting that they put in limes instead of lemons.  I’m guessing they used Tilapia.  I thought it was good, it tasted like they used fresh instead of frozen and the breading was just enough to make the outside crispy.

For $4.99 this was a good deal especially since it was enough for both of us. Although, I think it was just a special since on the menu it’s $6.99.  I’ll post again when I try the rotisserie chicken.

While I’m waiting for Bronzetti’s to open for business, I had pizza craving and although I knew nothing would be quite the same as one of their pizzas, my uncle and I went out to Bertucci’s (150 Worcester Rd.).
I rarely go to Bertucci’s, I don’t avoid it, but for some reason I just don’t find myself there a lot.  My sister and her husband love it and  I know I can always get them a gift card for a birthday or a stocking stuffer and they’ll be happy.
Inside is decently decorated and I like the open kitchen.

They used to make some chicken and tortellini dish with a lemon-caper sauce that was really good but it has been taken off the menu since I last had it (probably at least 6 years ago)
One of the reliably good things about Bertucci’s are the rolls.  Nice and crunchy on the outside, warm and soft on the inside, served with a flavored olive oil, you can’t go wrong!

We decided to get a pizza and salad.  (I forgot to take a picture of the salad)
My uncle doesn’t like “fancy” items on his pizza so we got onion and sausage.

It’d say Bertucci’s is better than some pizza places, but it’s not amazing.  I do like that, much like Papa Gino’s, it is reliably consistent and you get what you expect (or at least I have)

Last night we tried take out at Green Tea II (formerly Michi Kusa).
They brightened up the inside and as far as I could see, they have taken away the sushi bar, although sushi is offered on the menu.

We got crab rangoon, shrimp fried rice, scallops with coriander and something called four treasures in a basket.
Everything we got was very good, the person at the front desk was very nice and the order was correct when I got it home.
The four treasures in a basket actually came with an edible basket that they would present it in for dine-in customers.

Four treasures: The “treasures” are Beef, Chicken, Shrimp and Scallops with vegetables and a light brown sauce which was really good.  We enjoyed this dish very much.

Stir-fry Scallops with Coriander: This was listed under their “herbal menu” and I thought it was excellent.  The sauce is very light and doesn’t hide the taste of the coriander (cilantro) and scallops.

Crab Rangoon:   Pretty good, no dissapointments                                                  
  
Fried rice: Also very good, the picture doesn’t do it justice.  The rice isn’t nearly as bland as this picture makes it look.

Green Tea II is the sister restaurant to Green Tea in Newton.  I know people will say they’re sick of Chinese places popping up everywhere but I really like the food here so I’m glad  it’s here.
They have a website with their full menu posted: http://www.greenteaframingham.com/

We finally got around to going to Asia Buffet (motivated by Beth’s Bradlees comment) at 700 Worcester Rd.
I think they did a great job renovating the inside, as well as the outside.

We got the buffet but they do have a full menu you can order from too. 
I liked the variety and presentation of the food.  The food wasn’t like blow-me-away amazing but not disappointing and I’d say the quality of the food was above avarage compared to most places.   They also have a Japanese side with salads and sushi.  There are 3 or 4 soups to choose from and a dessert area too.
Here’s some pics:

If you’re looking for a cheap lunch though, this isn’t the place.  The lunch buffet is $16 (found out from a comment below that without sushi is $10.50-thanks Laraine!) and I don’t know how much dinner would be but I get the sense they jazz up the selections for dinner. 
Oh also nice were the higher quality “wet naps” with the check.

The staff was very polite, and there are 3 people who would keep an eye on the food and replace dishes as needed. I would recommend Asia Buffet, I hope they do okay.

 ** I recently found out that the server now explains the prices at the table and you tell them if you’re getting sushi or not.

Prices vary from weekday to weekend are on their website http://asiabuffetframingham.com/