My first time back since the new owners took over. It was still very loud inside even though we…read morearrived on the earlier side for dinner the bar was pretty full already. Maybe with some rugs layed down it would help the noise? The name and the vision inside don't match, nothing really special to see inside. I ordered nachos as my meal last night, they looked yummy but once I started eating i realized that the chips were very toasted from the oven and crispy and any specks of cheese were dried and burned into the chips (see photo). Not until I dug to the bottom did I find any cheese. Really I could have just done that at home. I didn't send it back because my husband & daughters meals were there and they were enjoying and didn't want theirs to become cold. Being our second time trying the restaurant we decided we wouldn't make it a third. The waitstaff were very pleasant and attentive.

Hitchcock Tavern has had its ups and downs (over 265 years in business, it happens). The Tavern is…read morein a small town, with not a lot of big business's or industry nearby, so it's primarily a transient (on a major state route) and local population venue. The town does roll-up the sidewalks at 500pm...so I know it's a tough business wherein to make a few bucks. They upped their menu options a few months back (yeah!) and have altered hours a bit, now opening at 11:30am every day. (also yeah!) The menu is a bit limited (which is not bad; work the interesting offerings, update when needed), but very good. I live local to the HT, and stop in maybe once a month for a lunch or before dinner (I avoid Friday and Saturday, as it can get very noisy in there). Today, my wife and I stopped at 300pm for their smash burgers (2 patties, lettuce, onion, tomato) on a Caprese roll. Great roll for the type of burger. I think they can source better tomatoes, as we are in the middle of a farming area, so summer and fall they should consider local produce and make the slices bigger. French fries were good, but not unique. We ordered a bowl of sweet potato fries as a starter, and they were good. Enough to take home and try with some various cocktail sauces we have. I usually get their edamame dumplings, but they were out. If you order their nachos and cheese, it is a big plate, so be warned. They have a few local craft beers, but it would be nice to see a more expansive list. I understand most locals go for the generic beer basic brands, but still...Plenty of craft brewers in Central Mass. Same with the wine; there is a local winery the next town over (shameless plug: Hardwick Winery) that is quite good, and I'm sure a bit of support both ways would be eventful. We have a local cider grower too, that could pair nicely (shameless plug: Ragged Hill) The pricing on the lunch-time specials make HT an easy option to go to. I know that server staff is tough to get, let alone retain, and I often give a bit more slack in the expectations in that area these days. Our server, Holly, also does early opening bar duty, and she made a great dry martini. And those are tough to make, and so easy to screwup. Thanks, Holly. Parking in the lot can be tough on a busy night, but, plenty of free and safe street parking within a 1-3 minute walk. The Tavern is not a romantic venue, exquisite, nor super-fine dining. It is a reliable, local, historic, restaurant to get a solid meal, a good drink, meet with friends, and relax. They do a great function offering I will say (have used it several times), and I am glad to see changing weekly-monthly specials, holiday meals, and have flights when a new liquor hits the shelf. They now have an outdoor tent for the ending summer and fall nights. So to the owners and chef, keep thinking outside the box, and you'll make this a solid start for your next 265 years.

We purchased tickets to the fireside feast at Salem Cross in November and have been looking forward…read moreto it since then. We arrived at 5:30, went downstairs, checked in. Checked out the fireplace and roasting jack, and immediately went outside for a sleigh ride. It was fun, and lasted about 10 min. We headed back in and had some cheese spread and crackers which were good and a drink from the bar. Soon it was time for warm mulled cider and wine. It's cool how they heat them up, with a plunge of a hot poker from the blazing fireplace. The mulled wine was very good. Shortly after the mulled wine the prime ribs came off the roasting jack, the fire built up, and the cauldron put on for the seafood chowder. All the ingredients went in, and people were offered the opportunity to stir it. Things wrapped up downstairs and the crowd headed upstairs to the dining room. I'd say there was ~150 people. Tickets were $90 each. It's communal dining which I typically like. It's cool to talk to different people and see where they come from etc. Not tonight. The person sitting next to us was like a radio you wish you could turn off for 2 hours. Not the restaurant's fault of course, but it did distract from the evening. Bread was served, white bread rolls and sweet potato muffins, I didn't try them but they looked nice. The seafood chowder came out, it was very good. The main course was brought to the tables, it was prime rib, 2 salted roasted potatoes, and a healthy dollop of mashed butternut squash. Unfortunately this is where the real disappointment started for me. My prime rib was so tough that I couldn't cut through it with a steak knife, and raw. I ate one of the potatoes, and it was fine. The butternut squash had thanksgiving type spices and the taste I had of them was nice. The myoglobin from the raw meat turned everything red and watery so I didn't eat apart from that. Dessert was hotel pans of apple pie, I didn't try it. Not being a quitter I took the prime rib home and after cutting off the hard fat with a proper kitchen knife was able to salvage ~4.5 oz. I tried to coax some tenderness into it with a quick sear and it worked. Unfortunately it was livery so into the trash it went. In my humble opinion the experience was very nice, with the food taking a back seat. That said, other people seemed to enjoy their meals, mine may have been the outlier. I won't be back.

It was a fun experience watching the fritters being fried. The fritters, steamers, lobster and…read morestrawberry shortcake were my favorites. Lovely evening outside enjoying a cocktail while waiting for the lobster feast to be served. Dinner was served in the old barn, which is nice and cozy. I highly recommend booking the lobster feast before all of the dates sell out.

My husband and I have been here a couple of times. The food is great!! Atmosphere is quaint very…read moreclean really nice!! The waitresses are very friendly. I recommend this place to anyone.

This is a small eatery (I counted max 39 seats between tables and the bar) with difficult parking…read more I was able to get a spot right in front b because I went to lunch, but the parking lot has signs saying it is for employees of the wood shop next door, and no trespassing in the lot across the street, so I think street parking is the only option? Service is great, very attentive and friendly. The food is what earns this three stars. I tried a stuffie, German onion soup, a Farmhouse burger, and a key lime Mason jar. The stuffie was a little small, and most of the flavor was imparted by the ham and the squeeze of lemon. The German onion soup, I'm not sure why it was German except to not be French? Outside the name difference, the onions were way too large, and there was a total lack of flavor going on in the soup. The crock was very large too. The burger and fries looked pretty good, and I enjoyed the flavors here. The fries were rough hewn, so there was good crispness from all the edges. The toppings of the burger, and the bun, were also hearty. Unfortunately, my medium rare burger was more like raw meat with surface browning. I'm a big fan of rare steak, but ground beef needs a little more cooking. Also, the house made ketchup is really more of a marinara sauce. If I'd ended up eating more of my plate before they took it away to re-fire the burger, I would have asked to replace the ketchup. The key lime Mason jar was e everything you want to wrap up a meal. Great flavor, lightness, citrus. I did have to bring most of it home but, unlike the burger they brought back in a box, I'm excited to get back into the key lime. From an accessibility stand point, there is no ramp to get in nor handicap parking, so the evidently don't want your business. Once you're in, there are some seats you could get in, but if this place were full it would be difficult to navigate for anyone. The bathroom is a single room, but very spacious and nice. So, mixed bag for access. Your mileage may vary, but I'm not racing to return.

My book club did a we can get away in Connecticut so we could come here and the service was great…read moreour waiter was so sweet and you could tell they're not used to large parties they don't combine tables but they were so nice about it however the food was pretty good average kind of diner food we did miss breakfast so we were a little sad but we were disappointed in the books collection most of the books that come free aren't even worth it most people didn't take any books with them which kind of defeated the purpose of coming here and they did have books for sale which were better books however we all already have large collections and weren't interested in buying more all in all pretty decent experience and the price is not bad

I've passed by The Traveler Restaurant my whole life on road trips up north, but only just stopped…read morein for the first time last night! There weren't too many people there, but it made for a lowkey dinner. The food arrived quickly, and everything we had was actually much better than we were expecting. Cool concept with all of the books lining the dining room, and we appreciated that you could take 3 for free. Also walked around the book cellar too. There weren't really any titles that grabbed us though. My main critique is that it was pretty dusty... we looked at one of the lights and the cobwebs on it made it look like a Halloween decoration. You have to wonder if the dining room is that neglected, how bad is the state of the kitchen? Wouldn't be in a rush to come back, but glad I can say I've been to what's considered such an iconic roadside stop.

Wonderful friendly service, Excellent food, and so nice, clean, new inside with a cute farmer's…read morehouse motif.. Hey, that's the name of this place right? The carefully curated menu has all the classic breakfast and lunch staples - omelets, eggs, pancakes, etc, and for later in the day, soups, salad, sandwiches, pork chops, NY steak and even fried chicken! I ordered a breakfast sandwich with eggs over easy, and the bacon on the side, and everything arrived perfect and hot. Tender, crunchy, gooey deliciousness with the sandwich and bacon! The home fries were also tender on the inside with a delicate crust. Add salt if needed for that. I really liked how clean everything was here, and it was apparent that the owners take good care of their customers and establishment. Kudos! I'll definitely look to come back here next time I'm near!

We really wanted to like this cute restaurant. It is nicely decorated, the waitstaff was friendly,…read moreand the food was mostly pretty good. However, our party of four waited 50 minutes for our breakfast. Even coffee took quite a while to arrive. A canned coke was delivered 20 minutes after ordering. Three out of the four entrees were served after waiting for 50 minutes, the other one took an additional 5 minutes and we waited for another 5 minutes to receive the side. The food was mostly good - Omelet was chock full of meat and was delicious. Bacon was really good. Burger was average and fried chicken was kind of meh - crispy, but very dry. We did enjoy the live acoustic music. It was great to hear live music in the morning since most places only have it at night. However, the excessive wait for food really overshadowed the rest of our visit. Oh well.....

"How could I be happy Without her by my side…read moreWithout her smiling face At the sunrise?" (Chicago) Located in the Farmington Exchange building, Sunrise took over the space previously occupied by the Hans and Fritz Deli. They've only been open a few months. Their hours are limited to 8-3 during the five weekdays, and they have a pretty deep and decidedly reasonably priced breakfast and lunch menu with eggs, omelets, French toast, pancakes, crepes, breakfast sandwiches, burgers, dogs, and deli sandwiches. But there's an unexpected twist to their menu - Polish foods like pierogi, golabki (stuffed cabbage), potato pancakes, kielbasa, and hunter's stew. Everything is made from scratch at the time of your order, so don't expect a cafeteria line of pre-wrapped BEC sandwiches, a mound of home fries getting hard and crusty on the flat top, or a "Grab and Go" experience, because your food will take an appropriate time to cook. It's a family-owned brother and sister business, and the young lady that waited on us and cooked our food was wonderful -very engaging and sociable with great customer experience skills and a skilled touch in the kitchen. We ordered a vegetable omelet, a side of kielbasa, a Ham, Egg and Cheese sandwich, and two coffees. We ate at one of the many small tables in the center courtyard. We also bought an order of potato pancakes to go. You order and pay at the counter and pick up your food at the same counter after it gets cooked. My omelet was very good -three eggs with onions, peppers, mushrooms, and tomatoes served with home fries and toast. What impressed me was the large amount of sauteed veggies in there. The side of kielbasa was split down the middle and then cross-hatched, so it had plenty of grilled edges. We expected the potato pancakes to take a while, and we were right, they were finished cooking while we were halfway through our breakfast. As I said, they were cooked from scratch, so the potatoes and onions first had to be shredded to start our order. We'll have them for dinner tonight, and frankly I can't wait. The order was three humongous patties fried to a golden brown served with containers of applesauce and sour cream. I'm begging anyone in the area to get out to Farmington before 3:00 on Monday to Friday and support these hard-working folks. Your food and your overall experience will be five stars too.

I used to frequent the businesses at the Exchange in Farmington over the years, sadly both of them…read morehave since closed. Recently my friend Dan R's glowing review of the Sunrise Cafe at the Exchange reminded me that I should go see their newest opening. I arrived at the Exchange, of course their biggest attraction is Butchers & Bakers. I parked all the way to left, the Sunrise Cafe is all the way to the right. It took me a bit of circling to find where it is. Once I found it, it is to the left of a hair salon. The space inside is super clean and fresh, you can tell it's brand new. They also have an outdoor patio, it's like a little garden, which I would imagine is why they're called the Sunrise Cafe. They have some breakfast options, some salads and some wraps. There's also some Polish specialties. The owner might be Polish. I noticed the prices were very reasonable. I wanted to get the avocado toast, it was priced at just $3.50. This is usually $8 - $10 everywhere else. The lady apologized and informed me they haven't received their avocado shipment. I got the BLT wrap instead. This was $6.50. I also got a small coffee for $2.00. Here you're not going to find your specialty coffee. This is just your basic hot coffee, in small or large. They did have a few options of flavored coffee creamer pods. Since they have just opened, I think they're going to expand their coffee menu with time. After around 10 minutes my BLT was ready. There was mayo, a substantial amount of freshly cooked bacon and lettuce. The tomato was chopped, I would prefer it if it was sliced. This was a very filling lunch. My coffee was strong and hot. I was very pleased by this cute little spot for lunch! The people working here are super friendly. I hope they stick around at the Exchange for a while to come.

This was my first time here, but not a first for my partner. He's raved about it in the past so we…read morefinally stopped in together - sat at the bar. Service was GREAT! Loved the bartenders - super friendly, very attentive! Food. Oh yes. Delicious! Their buffalo tenders are some of the best I've ever had! Amazing! Our kids will LOVE them so I look forward to going back just for these! Their pizza (thin crust) was SO good. Crispy, fresh, amazing toppings (plentiful without making the pizza heavy) - just so good. I highly recommend and look forward to taking a drive back out there!

What a great bar with amazing food! We loved every bit of our visit! Chelsea was excellent and took…read moregreat care of us. We'll definitely be back when we're in town.

I like trains. I like historical stuff. And, well, I like food, too. So, this placed seemed like a…read moreno-brainer. Me and some friends recently took a trip from Boston out to Palmer just to check-out the infamous Steaming Tender restaurant. The place was so beyond what I could have expected. A really, really, really amazing experience. We mostly went for the "train" stuff, but the food was incredible, too. We had a server named Jennifer who was so awesome, and she helped make the whole evening even better. HIGHLY recommend this place.

Sat outside on the patio since we had our dogs with us. Patio sits under large overhangs (protected…read morefrom rain) plus many tables around the perimeter have Sun umbrellas. It seemed as if most people on the patio were there for the trains. We were able to watch an engineer switch tracks so he could pick up a load of cars stored nearby. We also were able to watch a long freight train go by. Lots of people were photographing, videoing, many with professional cameras and tripods. They gave a dog friendly menu. And bring water bowls for the dogs. We ordered burgers. Choice was "pink or no pink". I think they were understaffed. It took 90 minutes from arrival to departure.

Diamond in the ... middle of nowhere! Fresh seafood and fresh vegetables? In the middle of the…read morewoods outside a mill town area? Yup, absolutely! Whole belly clams, fried scallops... fantastic. Worthy of the coastal restaurants. And they have this maple mayo... heaven. It would be wise to make reservations.

We stopped here for dinner and we were warmly greeted. The place was packed and we were happy to be…read moreseated. The atmosphere was upbeat and fun. They have an interesting menu I ordered short ribs with mushroom ravioli and it was mouth watering delicious the beef was tender and flavorful. Husband had the baked haddock which was served with roasted squash and husband asked for mashed potato and gravy. I sampled the sides and they were delicious. He loved the haddock. If you happen to be in the area call for a reservation on Friday or Saturday and get ready for a great time at The Rustic Table.