Pretty much the entire northeast is obsessed with brunch. At least that is what University of Arizona researchers have concluded. First We Feast shares this and some other rather interesting information about food and Twitter on their website, firstwefeast.com.
Come down and check out the Food Truck Festival tonight (Saturday night) on the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway. Participating food trucks include: Roxy’s Grilled Cheese, Chicken & Rice Guys, Tenoch, The Dining Car and Cookie Monstah. Look for the food trucks to be joined by a few fashion trucks as well so you can shop while you nosh.
Although the event web page doesn’t indicate it, I believe this will all take place in Dewey Square (near South Station) on the Greenway.
Botto Bistro, an Italian restaurant in the San Francisco area, claims that Yelp is basically the equivalent of the online mafia. Co-owner Davide Cerretini claims that after he stopped advertising on Yelp their reviews turned negative and a positive review even vanished.
Fed up with Yelp, Cerretini decided to do the unthinkable and aspire to be the worst reviewed restaurant on the site; going so far as to offer 25% off to customers who left a one-star review. Suffice it to say that Yelp is not pleased and has resulted in the online site to send a threatening email. However that has not stopped them. Check out their website it is hilarious, bottobistro.com.
Cerretini said to the SF Gate “I don’t have anything against Yelp. The idea is fantastic, but the blackmailing thing is ferocious,” says Cerretini. “I think I should be the one deciding if I’m on the site or not. At least I can be there on my terms. The only power they have is they make you reliable to them. So, I’m going to be one of the most unreliable restaurants.”
“I want to be the worst restaurant there is in the Bay Area,” he says. “I think this is the best business move I have made in years.”
Some of these Yelp reviews are pretty entertaining.
Thanks for the tip Todd. You can read more here.
Posted in Dining, Restaurant Review
Tagged BosGuy, Boston Guy, Dining, Restaurant Review
California-based DoorDash has set up operations in Boston and is giving food delivery services like DiningIn a run for their money. DoorDash says they can offer faster delivery times thanks to their intelligent network of “dashers” and they can provide their customers with real-time updates so they know exactly where their food is. I decided to give DoorDash a try, because Sergio and I tend to order out quite a bit when the weather turns cold.
My first impressions were positive. DoorDash has a lot of restaurants already part of their network, and the website is easy navigate as is the ordering. My order was delayed a bit due to the restaurant but otherwise the experience was very satisfactory. If you order out a lot, you may want to try the service.
DoorDash has created a promo code called BosGuyDD. Based on my experience I’d suggest you give the service a try and let me know what you think. Anyone using BosGuyDD will get $7 off their first order. All you need to do is go to doordash.com/redeem and type in BosGuyDD to redeem the $7 promo code. The one-time promo code will expire Wednesday, October 1st.
Earlier this week I wrote a quick post about a whisper campaign regarding who was moving into Hamersley’s restaurant after it closes next month. Those whispers were apparently credible. Today, Eater Boston published Rebecca Roth Gullo of The Gallows will open a new restaurant there in early January 2015.
According to the Eater article, Hamersley’s is seeking to transfer its license to an RRG, LLC with Seth Yaffe listed as the manager. RRG (most likley is Rebecca Roth Gullo) and Seth Yaffe is The Gallows’ GM. I’m very happy for Rebecca and her team. She has a great track record of opening successful businesses here in the South End.
Boston StrEATS rolled into the South End’s Franklin Square last Thursday as part of a weekly evening food truck program that is designed to bring people out to Boston parks.
Boston StrEATS each Thursday 5-9 p.m. at Franklin Sq.
The free event will feature eight food trucks and live music from 5 – 9 p.m. and will hopefully bring more people over to Franklin Square; often overlooked by South End residents in favor of the neighboring Blackstone Square on Washington Street.
Boston StrEATS plans to bring different food trucks each Thursday through the fall for as long as the weather permits.
Cheers to earls kitchen + bar
Cheers to earls kitchen + bar, an upscale, casual restaurant with sixty-five locations in the US and Canada. The will open their first location in the Northeast in Somerville’s Assembly Row on Friday, September 12th.
Today I received this lovely box of goodies from earls (sometimes being a bloggah has perks). The margarita that was included I put to good use at the end of my day. I’m not familiar with earls but based on their welcome box I’m already a fan and look forward to their opening next month. 
Food trucks in Boston are certainly popular, but remembering their schedules can be tough. The city of Boston has set up a website that tells you where every registered food truck is each day of the week, and it allows you to search by food truck, neighborhood and or date.
Much thanks to @ConciergeBoston for the tip.
Gordon Hamersley at Taste of the South End
Holy crap! Gordon Hamersley, a James Beard Award winner and one of Boston’s most celebrated chefs, has announced that he will close his restaurant after opening twenty-seven years ago in Boston’s South End.
Gordon told The Boston Globe’s Devra First that he wants to spend more time to focus on his follow-up book to Bistro Cooking at Home and to continue to mentor young chefs. An undisclosed new owner has already claimed the space and license, and will renovate and re-open a new concept at the beginning of 2015. Full story here.
Boston Magazine’s annual Best of Boston issue is out and South End bakery, Flour, was named, Best Cookie. I thought I’d take a moment to remind everyone of the important research I conduct – like the best chocolate chip cookie tasting I hosted this past January.
According to our tasting (which focused on chocolate chip cookies only) we named The South End Buttery the winner with Flour receiving a very respectable second place.
If you are a cookie-holic you may want to check out our research, which included testing eight different cookies from South End bakeries, South End chocolate chip cookie tasting.
WCVB-TV News is reporting that Charlie’s Sandwich Shoppe on Columbus Avenue is reopening after it closed in June after almost 90 years in business.
The report indicates that a chef who runs Stella will bring the neighborhood favorite back some time next year. According to WCVB the menu will remain unchanged.
So far there has been no updates on the famed restaurant’s Twittah handle, @TurkeyHash but yours truly will be keeping an eye on the account for anymore news.
Much thanks to Rich Caswell for the tip.
C’est magnifique! Bastille Kitchen in Fort Point Channel officially opens today. The 240 seat bistro has been eagerly anticipated in a neighborhood that seems to have a trendy restaurant opening every other week. Curious to check out this new French restaurant by chef Adam Kube? Head over to Bastille Kitchen at 49 Melcher Street.
The Boston Globe reported that celebrity chef Mario Batali will open an 8,700 square foot restaurant at 11 Fan Pier in the Seaport District by the end of this year. The restaurant will be called Babbo Pizzeria and will include three bars – one each for cocktails, pizza and antipasti. Plan designs also include a large patio and private dining space. While the Seaport has seen many restaurant openings in recent years, this is one of among a handful that I’m excited about. I have high hopes and expectations for Babbo Pizzeria’s wood-fired pizzas and pastas.
This isn’t a celebrations of jerks. This is a Caribbean style food festival that takes place later this month and focuses on delicious Jamaican jerk spiced food. The festival includes live music as well as a rum and brewing tasting.
All the fun takes place here in the South End at the Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology, (41 Berkeley Street). The festival offers two sessions: 11am-3pm and 4-8pm.
Note that tickets are $12 and only gives you access to the festival – not the food that is sold by individual food vendors. More details here.
Moksa in Central Square is celebrating that their patio is back open by hosting a patio party from 5 – 8 PM tonight. They are offering an all you can eat sushi menu for $15. I’ve never been to Moksa. Has anyone tried their all you can eat sushi parties before? I’m curious to hear more about this regularly occurring promotion.
BosGuy 