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    The Cookster

    4.7 (34 reviews)
    ModerateAmerican
    Closed 11:00 am - 6:00 pm

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    Photo of Kent K.
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    1 day ago

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    6 months ago

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    10 months ago

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    2 years ago

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    Photo of Baruch K.
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    2 years ago

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    3 years ago

    Cute little spot, food was amazing and changes daily. Great prices and options! I will be back!

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    Photo of Karyn T.
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    5 years ago

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    2 years ago

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    3 years ago

    I was going for years and then the price shot up too much and she was extremely rude. Lost my business

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    Photo of Evan H.
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    5 years ago

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    3 years ago

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    Photo of Dan S.
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    8 years ago

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    4 years ago

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    4 years ago

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    Photo of N S.
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    4 years ago

    Wow! Incredible take out meals! BLT salad and cod cakes were amazing. Lots of other great choices. The chef is amazing.

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    5 years ago

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    3 years ago

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    4 years ago

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    8 years ago

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    4 years ago

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    Photo of Cloven H.
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    6 years ago

    This place has unique tastes and flavors as well as dishes. The people are friendly and there is a reason why all give it 5 stars.

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    Photo of Joyce K.
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    8 years ago

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    Photo of Torben K.
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    7 years ago

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    8 years ago

    This place is awesome from The salads to the proteins everything is top notch and delicious, I've never had anything bad!

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    Photo of Nick A.
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    8 years ago

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    9 years ago

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    10 years ago

    Excellent food, daily menus on Facebook. I highly suggest the Fry-Day specials of Lemon Chicken and Deep Fried Mac & Cheese

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    9 years ago

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    9 years ago

    Awesome food and awesome people! habanero steak/ chipotle guava chicken/ BLT noodle salad/ Kongo Bars!!! (homer simpson gurgle sound)

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    The Cookster Reviews in Other Languages

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    Review Highlights - The Cookster

    To be fair, the Polenta tasted alright, but after the Cod cakes and Potatoes it didn't really matter.

    Mentioned in 6 reviews

    Read more highlights

    DJ'S Restaurant - Shrimp Scampi

    DJ'S Restaurant

    3.7(173 reviews)
    0.2 mi
    $$

    Great food! I meant to take photos of the dinner but the…read morefood smelled so good I forgot. Started with the buffalo wings and they were crispy and delicious And complimentary rolls and butter So good and I want the recipe for that bread it was delicious For dinner I ordered the spinach cheddar baked haddock. It was delicious and buttery! Husband got the prime rib. He loved that it was served with a thicker gravy rather than au jus that most places do. Medium rare and came out at the perfect temp. Dinner also comes with a side salad. You won't leave this place hungry! We are definitely coming back. They were busy but that's the be expected on a Friday night. So glad to see a local family owned business thriving.

    DJ's restaurant and bar was one of the few things open on a Sunday night 8pm in this cute little…read moretown of Ludlow. So we were happy to find a place to eat. The selection of entrée items is absolutely the most I've ever seen in a restaurant, it made it hard to decide. I asked the waitress and she said the chicken Cordon Bleu was one of the top items so that's what I picked. It was basic stuffed ham n cheese in the chicken breast, it wasn't breaded, which I liked. It was smothered in a kind of a gravy or white sauce, not quite sure what sauce it was. Hot fresh baked rolls, a basic chopped iceberg lettuce house salad and baked potato included. Also ordered was the chicken tender dinner, very plentiful, enough for 3 people I'd say. Sadly the dipping honey mustard was so bad, like salad dressing with vinegar flavor, not good! I had a glass of Merlot, I'm not sure I've seen an eight dollar glass of wine on a menu in the last decade, so that was pleasant. In general, the server was very efficient, the host not so friendly, and the place was spacious but has very dated decor, which some may consider part of its charm. Unfortunately we're sitting by some very noisy people, taking phone calls and playing sports out loud on their phones acting like they owned the place, kind of ruined atmosphere. But they knew the staff and must think that behavior was acceptable. Bottom line we needed to eat and it was food.

    Photos
    DJ'S Restaurant - Dining Room

    Dining Room

    DJ'S Restaurant - Chicken parm

    Chicken parm

    DJ'S Restaurant - Outside of the restaurant

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    Outside of the restaurant

    The Downtown Grocery - Waygu beef, gnocchi, skate - soooooooooo delish

    The Downtown Grocery

    4.1(200 reviews)
    0.1 mi
    $$$

    Just how bad exactly does a restaurant have to be to make someone reactivate a Yelp account that's…read morebeen dormant for 9 years, just to warn people? Well, apparently this is it. In my nearly 30 years now working in, with, and patronizing the food and beverage industry, I've never experienced such repugnant service as what Suzy and I had at The Downtown Grocery. I should point out that we weren't just the usual tourist who come to Ludlow to ski. We actually lived here for several years, and I couldn't post this review until we moved away because of the owner's repeated behavior of attacking people on social media who disagree with or criticize him. The food here is "fine", it's not actually bad or anything. But it is tiny in portions (a rarity for Vermont), and it's overly "chef-y" without actually executing well. It's one of those places where the chef probably thinks that he would get a Michelin star if only they would come to see him, but I can tell you having eaten at over 100 cumulative Michelin stars in my life this is nowhere close. It fails in flavor, presentation, and execution. But again, not terrible. The setting is actually kind of nice too, somewhat homey which is juxtaposed and ruined by the arrogance of the staff. If you don't mind being guaranteed to wait well beyond your actual reservation time, and then waiting probably another hour just to get some meager first courses, then maybe this is the place for you? I doubt it though, there are so many options just in Ludlow alone, and even more that are worth the 45 minute drive to Woodstock or Manchester to avoid having to eat here if you want a "nice" meal. Whatever you do absolutely avoid coming any time near "stick season" or "mud season" (Vermonters will know) because you're guaranteed to get even worse service then. Ludlow has a ton of restaurants for such a small town, many of them quite good. This is the ONLY place we actively recommended friends and guests of ours to avoid. Even the crappy fake taco place down the street got occasional business over this place due entirely to the repeated piss poor attitude of the two owners.

    Had no clue this gem was here! Popped in on a Wednesday night for a drink and sat at the bar…read morechatting to the wonderful bartender. I had their specialty Ruby Bulleit cocktail with bourbon, ginger liqueur, and blood orange juice - the blood oranges were so juicy and fresh! My partner enjoyed the Smokey Elder, which had mezcal, ginger beer, and some other fun ingredients. After scanning the ever changing menu on their chalkboard - we were inspired to order the maple creme brûlée with fresh black berries. It was delightful. Can't wait to come here for dinner sometime soon. Make sure you make a reservation!

    Photos
    The Downtown Grocery
    The Downtown Grocery - Desserts galore

    Desserts galore

    The Downtown Grocery

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    Calcutta’s - poke nachos

    Calcutta’s

    3.3(42 reviews)
    1.4 mi

    So we came here 2 years ago as a family of 5 and had a great experience. Food was delicious. It was…read morecozy and full of holiday decorations. We came this year as a party of 8 and man were we disappointed. We checked in for our reservation and the young woman seemed surprised to see us there. They squeezed us into a table of 6 (ended up fine). We ordered 4 cocktails and 4 sodas. We also ordered 2 appetizers (the tuna nachos and breaded cauliflower) they came out in less than 5 minutes. That's a problem imo. I ordered the chicken Milanese. Sooooooo much arugula salad but that was dressed nicely. The chicken was super crispy but it was easy to tell it had been fried earlier and reheated. It was so dry! The pasta was delicious. The steak tips were not marinated as advertised. Oh and the waitress never checked on us mid-meal. We would've definitely ordered some wine. So. A different experience than two years ago. What a bummer

    Upon entering this establishment, one is met with a most agreeable, family-style atmosphere, fit…read morefor communal dining and civil discourse. Yet I must observe that the food took longer to make than I expected, a delay which tried my patience more than was desirable. In this interval, the root beer proved to be of uncommon quality and afforded some consolation. When the meal at last arrived, the chicken tenders were found to be exceptional, possessing a most commendable balance of crunch and satisfaction, and accompanied by a BBQ sauce of perfect density--neither excessive in thickness nor wanting in substance. Thus, while the experience bore notable merits, the undue length of preparation prevented it from attaining a more favorable distinction. Overall, it was aight

    Photos
    Calcutta’s - Bounce House upper level of restaurant

    Bounce House upper level of restaurant

    Calcutta’s - Cauliflower

    Cauliflower

    Calcutta’s - Buttermilk chicken sandwich

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    Buttermilk chicken sandwich

    The Cookster - tradamerican - Updated May 2026

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