This Is Framingham

 
Tonight we went to Ken’s Steakhouse. I like this place because it’s old and different from everything else on Rt. 9.
As many reviews I’ve read online, I can see how people say it’s overrated, the steaks are not phenomenal, actually I don’t think I’ve ever had anything phenomenal there but there’s just something about this place I like.
We’ve never had a bad meal there and have always had good service.

I feel I need to note that both of us have never noticed this before but at the bottom of the menu is a disclaimer “M.S.G. used for flavor enhancement”.  I don’t know if we never noticed it before or if this is new, but when Ethan asked if they could not use M.S.G. on his steak the waiter said M.S.G. is on all of the steaks already but the other dishes (chicken seafood etc…) don’t use it.  Kind of odd but I thought it was something to point out since I know people (like Ethan’s dad) have to be very aware of when M.S.G. is used at restaurants.

One of the unique things about Ken’s is their wall of fame-like display of salad dressings as you walk down the hall to the host desk (where there are yet more bottles of salad dressing displayed).

The decor is pretty dated from I don’t even know when.  Tonight I noticed they have updated the table settings though. Tables used to have yellow tablecloths with red napkins, now both linens are white.

We both started off with a caesar salad which was a pretty good size for a pre-meal salad.
Ethan got the filet on a plank (the picture came out too dark) and I usually get the same thing but the Eggplant sounded good so I got that.
It was basically eggplant parmesan but rolled up and I was happy with my choice. 

Tonight I think we’ve had the best waiter we’ve ever had there tonight. He didn’t try to up-sell any appetizers, wine or desserts on us. He was very polite, professional and had good timing (he also gave a double thumbs-up when we told him everything was great).  There was also a piano player in the dining room which was nice to listen to during the meal.

We had an early dinner and were done a little past 7:00pm. By this time almost every seat in the dining room was filled. Its good to see a living establishment of route 9’s glory days doing well in a land of chain restaurants and stores.

In Sad Plaza there are a few vacant stores in a row, one used to be a CVS and one used to be some sort of Pool place like Namco or something. 
In these doorways were big pieces of water-stained paper that half-hid the space behind it, which was in pitiful condition. 

Most depressing was that there was dead bird, that never found his way out, in the push-bar of a door.

Last weekend I happened to be by and noticed that all the stained paper was out of the doors and the dead bird was removed.  I don’t know what this means. ?????? ??? ???? 888   It could just be maintenence is finally being done on the building to be presentable or a store is actually moving in.  Either way it’s progress.

Then:

Now:

Then:

Now:

Sorry for the repost if anyone saw this a while ago, this was another post that got deleted the same week I posted it because my server got hacked had “problems”.
Over the summer we went to Francos because we heard so many good things about it. ????? ???? glc   I remember the guys at the counter were friendly and it was nice and clean inside. ??? ?????? ????
We got half plain/mushroom:

By now I really forget how to describe it.  I remember we thought it was pretty good but I can’t remember anything unique about it. nice fc   I would go back though.  Maybe when I do I’ll re-post but I just wanted to add Franco’s to the pizza quest.

I haven’t looked at police log in a long time but I found some interesting entries from the past 10 days.
————————————————————————————————————————————————–
 

SUSP ACTIVITY: CALLER STATES 3 MEN URINATING ON CARS

POLICE INFO: RP STATES THAT EVERY EVE, PARTICULARLY SAT AND SUN AN ELDERLY WHI MALE WEARING A  BLU/WHI PLAID SHIRT URINATES IN HIS FRONT YARD.
 
CIVIL MATTER: CALLER STATED PROBLEM WITH NEIGHBORS DRIVING ON FRT LAWN, ASKED THEM TO STOP BUT THEY HAVENT

SUSP ACTIVITY: ELDERLY MALE REPORTING SOMEONE STOLE HIS HANGING PLANTS

911 CALL:  WOMAN STATED THAT A SUBJECT AT ASIAN IMPORTS TRIED TO  “JAB”
SOMEONE AND THAT SHE WAS TOLD TO DO IT FROM SOMEONE AT  CVS

Tonight I went with some friends to John Harvard’s at Shopper’s (stupid) World.
John Harvard’s is decent for a chain restaurant. They have great beer selection that they brew there and pretty good food.

We got Harvest Spice beer with cinnamon-sugar rimmed glass which was really good.

I got a burger, Jen got a cheeseburger and Amy got a Buffalo Chicken Salad.

The lighting is kind of dim in there but it’s a comfortable atmosphere and better than a lot of the other options around there.

Not much else to day without going into my usual Shopper’s World mourning/rant so I’ll stop here.

Ethan had to get a haircut so I asked him to go here to Maenzo’s (formerly Mug and Brush) support sad plaza and see what it’s like. 
I’ve never been by when it’s open and it kind of looked like a guy-only barber shop but when we went in there two women getting their hair done and a third woman waiting.

I really like that they decorated for Halloween : )

While Ethan got his hair cut, the lady sitting next to me showed me pictures of some baby snapping turtles she found in her yard.  We ended up having a nice conversation while she waited for her hairdresser to be available. ????? ????  

Cosmo, one of the barber’s dog was there too, he was a very well-behaved pup that kept me company until Ethan was done.
 
They did a decent job and it was a pleasant experience so if you need a haircut check out Maenzo’s at 444 Franklin St.

In the early/mid-80’s there was the poor man’s MTV called “V66” (aka “The V”, aka holding your fingers like peace sign). 
We didn’t have cable when we were kids, so my sister and I would turn the TV to V66 as soon as we got home from school everyday to be hip to what videos kids were talking about at school.  They had great VJs and you could also call in and request videos and sometimes even get on the air.
I remember my sister and I were at the Lechemere mall and one of the V66 VJs was there holding some kind of contest. We were so star-struck!  I forget his name but it was the guy with the beard.  We talked to him and he was such a nice guy, we always remembered that.

This building at 111 Speen St. is said to have been the home of the V66 studios.  You can correct me if I’m wrong but so many people have told me it was that I trust this little factoid.