Max Burger

CHICKPEAS: 4 

We went to Max Burger in West Hartford about a month or so ago on a Sunday night.  It was PACKED!  We were out to celebrate our anniversary at the same restaurant where we went on our first date, everyone else was out to celebrate Washington's birthday.  There was about a 30 minute wait when we arrived, so we found some seats at the bar.  Based on the tension and speed of the waitstaff, they appeared to be understaffed.  They likely forgot about Washington's birthday when making the schedule.  Whoops.

One neat thing about Max Burger is they take your cell phone number at the hostess desk and then text you when your table is ready.  A drink for each of us later and my fiances phone beeped.  We were up! (This is sort of similar to a service called textaurant)

We were seated at a table in the lower section of the dining area.  Upon arriving, it appeared the people sitting on both sides of us were a bit unhappy with their service.  Again, Max Burger was a bit understaffed, but everyone working was hustling around.  Because the tables were pretty close together we were privy to these customer's complaints to the manager.  They were pretty petty.  The type of thing you might mention to the waitress and then let it go.  People in West Hartford must be pretty hard to please, or maybe just looking for a free meal.  The complaints continued from both tables for most of the night.

Some example complaints:
1.) Wife ordered a wedge salad with bleu cheese dressing and some sort of entree, Husband ordered a burger and substituted a side salad for his fries.  They were upset that the salads were not the same size, type and were not served at the same time (husbands came on the same plate as the burger).

2.) Older son orders adult meal and a milkshake.  Younger son orders children's meal (which I believe comes with a drink) and a milkshake.  Older son gets adult size milkshake.  Younger son gets a child size milkshake. Parent's upset about the size difference.  Instead of requesting a second milkshake for the younger son, they proceeded to make a scene about it.

3.) Parent's dispute that their son's child sized burger was actually 5oz.  Manager and waitress explain that the chef weighs all of the meat and that meat shrinks when cooked.  Child then proceeds to only eat about 1/2 of the burger.  Looked like 5 oz. to us!

4.) Max Burger has plates that say "Max Burger" on them.  A woman complained that the server had placed the plate such that "Max Burger" was upside down.  (Really??!!)

At the end of the night, another customer sitting at a table near us (not one of the complainers) almost started a fight with the complaining customers defending our waitress.  She really was trying her hardest and we had no complaints about our own service.  Everything was timely, correctly portioned and delicious.

Ok, now onto the food.

We ordered chicken cordon blue balls to begin.  They were good, but probably not something I would order again.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Balls

I ordered a a tuna burger with picked vegetables on a sesame roll with eggplant fries on the side.  The burger was delicious.  Seared just a little bit on the outside.  The eggplant fries are interesting.  A little juicy.  They need to be eaten right when made and probably would not reheat well.

Eggplant Fries

Tuna Burger

For dessert, we split something that I believe was called a s'mores pie.  A graham cracker crust was topped with a chilled thick chocolate pudding/mouse.  On top was a marshmallow that had been torched just a little bit so it was melted and warm.  A delicious ending to our meal!

S'mores pie




We will be back again in a year for our next anniversary (if not before)!

The Cambridge House Brew Pub

CHICKPEAS: 3

We went to the Cambridge House Brew Pub in Granby, CT on a Saturday night with a friend for dinner.  We arrived around 8:00PM and even though the parking lot was filled to capacity, we were seated right away.  We were surrounded by an eclectic mix of couples on dates, families and groups of friends.  Cambridge House had a selection of their own beer on tap, but unfortunately were out of our friend's favorite: dunkel.

Cambridge House beers

I originally tried to order the beer mussels and a side salad.  Side salad came out, beer mussels did not.

Half eaten side salad

After my salad was served, the waitress said they were out of beer mussels.  I wish I had known that before as I might have ordered one of the larger salads with chicken.  As a replacement, I ordered seared ahi tuna over a black bean salad.  The tuna was a bit salty, but other than that it was an okay dish.

Ann's Ahi Tuna

My friends got wings and a pizza, and they enjoyed them both.  Cambridge House has some interesting flavors of wings like lemon pepper.  

Wings

More Wings

Pulled Pork Pizza

At the end of the night, our friend got some growlers to take home.  I forget how much they cost, but I remember being quite surprised at how cheap they were.  

Overall, mediocre service, good beer, okay food.

The Federal

CHICKPEAS: 5

Last weekend, we went to my favorite restaurant in the Springfield area: The Federal.  The Federal has a very creative menu, along with some traditional favorites for picky eaters or comfort food cravings, a nice seating arrangement and wonderful staff.

We arrived right on time for our 5:30pm reservation on what is apparently called Mistress Day, the day before Valentine's Day.  We pulled up front to complimentary valet parking and walked in to the hostess desk where our coats were checked.  We were seated in the room on the right, once you enter the restaurant.  A small, quaint room, with a non-working-but-still-mood-enhancing fireplace and 5 small tables.  Part of the beauty of The Federal is the way the seating is broken into a few small dining rooms.  Each room gives off a cozy vibe and because of this, the noise level stays down.

We ordered cocktails and a bucket of risotto balls to start.  Our cocktails arrived and we were treated to a plate of some extra risotto balls compliments of The Federal.  This has happened both times I have been to The Federal and it is very nice touch.  Our larger full serving of risotto balls followed.  The risotto balls are breaded and fried, making them slightly crispy on the outside and warm and gooey on the inside.  A nice combination of textures.  I regret that we did not get a picture of these!

After our appetizers, our salads were served.  I ordered the caesar salad with dressing on the side.  I was forewarned, although I also read it on the menu, that the caesar salad comes with a fried egg on top.

Caesar Salad

My Fiance got the chopped salad that came with a unique presentation.

Chopped Salad

Right about here I accidentally spilled my drink.  I swear I was only about a third of the way into it and it was all due to the condensation on my glass.  Regardless of the how or why, or waitress responded right away and helped us clean of the table.  She was really nice about it and joked with us while doing so, really putting us at ease.

I was hesitating between two options for dinner: homemade risotto gnocchi with an XLG veal meatball, or the braised short ribs with mashed potatoes, mushroom salad and a gorgonzola cheese popover.  She suggested the short ribs and while I still have not had the gnocchi, the short ribs were amazing.  The short ribs fell apart easily, the mashed potatoes were creamy, the mushroom salad was interesting (in a good way) and the pop over was my absolute favorite part of our meal.  As I devoured it, I was trying to figure out ways that I could order it again, maybe as a side, or an appetizer or substitute it out for other side dishes, maybe even instead of dessert.  The short ribs were good enough to order again, but the pop over was wonderful enough that I don't think I can go back to the Federal without having it every time.

Braised Short Ribs

My Fiance ordered two half servings of pasta: truffled mac and cheese with short ribs, and chicken bolognese.  I tried a bit of both and they were quite good.  He says the truffled mac and cheese was his favorite, but I had a hard time picking between the two.

Truffled Mac and Cheese with Short Ribs

Chicken Bolognese

For dessert, we ordered white chocolate banana cream pie that came with chocolate gelato.  The banana cream pie was slightly charred on the top, warming the bananas in the process.  The gelato was perfect for dark chocolate fans, bittersweet and smooth.  An excellent end to a wonderful meal.

Banana Cream Pie with Chocolate Gelato

Overall, The Federal is a must for any special occasion (or even just because!)


(1) Risotto Balls
(2) Salads
(1) beer
(1) cocktail
(1) bottle of wine
(1) Short ribs
(2) 1/2 servings of pasta
(1) Dessert
Total = $160

Southwick Inn

CHICKPEAS: 3

The Southwick Inn is not an inn.  It is really a bar.  We occasionally meet up with friends for drinks at the Inn, but my first time eating dinner there was a few weeks ago.

The Southwick Inn has a large horseshoe shaped bar that seats 25 people.  The rest of the area is carpeted, with the exception of a small dance floor (I have never seen anyone dancing, but I hear it does occur).  There is occasionally live music, and there are always TVs on various games.

The best part by about the Inn, by far, is the people watching.  There is no real stereotype for the patrons.  On any given night there will be men and women who are young and old, dressed for a night on the town or dressed for hunting.  Prime people watching.

The food was pretty typical of a bar.  We ordered nachos, a buffalo chicken salad and a tuna melt.  The nachos were on round tortilla yellow chips, and the toppings were layered (not just on the top of all of the chips).

Half-eaten nachos

The buffalo chicken salad definitely had a kick.  I would order it again, but ask for it on a bigger plate/bowl.  The salad was piled too high on the bowl making it difficult to eat. 

Buffalo Chicken Salad

The tuna melt was pretty standard, although the bread was better quality. 

Tuna Melt

We will definitely go back for drinks, but I will warn you... this isn't everyone's scene.

Falls Pizza

CHICKPEAS: 3

This past week, we got take out from Falls Pizza on Main Street in Chicopee.  We ordered a Greek Pizza, an Italian Sub and a Buffalo Chicken Salad and the total bill came to $27.  The wait time was 20 minutes for pick up, which was very reasonable, but after getting home and eating, I wasn't impressed.

Garlic Bread

The chicken on the salad was chicken cutlet, cut into pieces, and covered in buffalo sauce.  I had recently had a very spicy buffalo chicken salad at the Southwick Inn, so I ordered this salad mild to be safe.  I felt that the mild buffalo had a strange sweet after taste.  Additionally, the salad came with garlic bread that was soggy and chewy.

Italian Sub

I didn't have any of the sub, but my fiance enjoyed it.

Pizza

We shared the pizza, which had feta, tomatoes and gyro on it. Overall the pizza was delicious.  While my salad was a miss, the Pizza made up for it.

I may find myself going back to Falls Pizza for pizza, but I am interested in finding another takeout place in Chicopee for salads.  Suggestions?

Charming Charlie

A friend recently told me about Charming Charlie, an accessories store with a location in South Windsor.  She had said that it was organized by color and had handbags and all sorts of jewelry.  What she didn't say was how big it was.  It was easily 1500 square feet, if not more.  It was like Claire's on steroids and for adults.  Prices were very reasonable.  They had watches for under $20, scarves in the $10-$20 range, wallets and wristlets under $20 and tons more.  I managed to stick to my goal and only purchase holiday gifts for others, but I was definitely tempted.  I will be making a trip back sometime soon for some treats for myself.

Here are some pictures I tried to discretely take with my iPhone.

Turquoise!

Gold/Yellow

Purple

Charming Charlie is definitely worth the trip to South Windsor.  It is located at the Promenade Shops at Evergreen Walk (500 Evergreen Way).  There is another location in West Hartford if that is more convenient for you.  

Kathy's Dinner

CHICKPEAS: 4

6 Strong Ave, Northampton, MA

On our way to the Yankee Candle Flagship Store, we stopped for breakfast in Northampton.  This was a fairly impromptu trip, so I looked for a diner on our way.  Similar to my post office experience, the first diner we went to was closed.  We headed back into town to find Kathy's Diner and were quite pleased we did!  I discovered another blog that details the history of Kathy's.  It has quite the history, and has had many names.

Aside from the authentic diner charm, we were initially impressed by the holiday decor.

Place mats and Mugs

The walls were also are decorated with all sorts of memorabilia, which helped keep the conversation going, as people watching was not really an option.  It was not very busy the day we went, and I suspect it was because the colleges were on break.

Kathy's has a huge selection of pancakes, with all sorts of fruits, nuts and more in them.  My Fiance ordered banana chocolate chip pancakes and a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich.

I ordered Texas french toast and a side of eggs.

Everything was delicious and our waitress was very pleasant.  With a coffee, our bill was around $13.

It should be noted that Kathy's is open until 2am on the weekends!