Quiet Restaurants Near Busy Boston-Area Malls

Now that Thanksgiving is over, a lot of people are now in the Christmas shopping mode. Malls and shopping centers around the Boston area have been packed the last few days, with many of the chain restaurants completely packed with shoppers coming from, or going to, stores in the malls or shopping centers.

At some point in the near future, a page might go up on the Boston's Hidden Restaurants site that lists and describes a handful of restaurants that are near busy malls and shopping centers that are quiet spots to relax and get away from all the craziness. This page might not be available for awhile, though, so if you are looking for quiet dining spots near the malls this holiday season, here is a sampling of places you might want to check out.

NEAR COPLEY PLACE/PRUDENTIAL CENTER, BOSTON:
House of Siam (Thai), 542 Columbus Avenue, Boston

NEAR THE CAMBRIDGESIDE GALLERIA, CAMBRIDGE:
The Similans (Thai), 145 1st Street, Cambridge

NEAR THE MEADOW GLEN MALL, MEDFORD:
Oasis Restaurant (Brazilian), 373 Main Street, Medford

NEAR THE ARSENAL MALL, WATERTOWN:
Strip-T's Restaurant (soup, sandwiches), 93 School Street, Watertown

NEAR THE CHESTNUT HILL MALL/ATRIUM, CHESTNUT HILL:
O'Hara's (Irish pub) -- 1185 Walnut Street, Newton

NEAR THE NORTHSHORE MALL, PEABODY:
Capone's (Italian) -- 147 Summit Street, Peabody

NEAR THE WOBURN MALL, WOBURN:
Venetian Moon Ristorante (Italian), 680 Main Street, Reading

NEAR THE BURLINGTON MALL, BURLINGTON:
New Jang Su (Korean) -- 260 Cambridge Street, Burlington

NEAR THE NATICK COLLECTION, NATICK:
Villa Restaurant (Italian), 48 E Plain Street, Wayland

NEAR THE DEDHAM MALL, DEDHAM:
Olde Irish Alehouse (Irish pub), 2 Bridge Street, Dedham

NEAR THE SOUTH SHORE PLAZA, BRAINTREE:
Campanale's Restaurant (Italian) -- 88 Pearl Street, Braintree

NEAR THE DERBY STREET SHOPPES, HINGHAM:
Sweet Lemons (Thai), 828 Washington Street, Weymouth

Christmas Lights (and a Crown) in Boston

We went to Doyle's in Jamaica Plain the other night for a leisurely dinner, then we took a ride along the nearby Arborway to see what Dominic Luberto might be up to with with the Christmas lights on his house this year. As some readers might remember, we had taken photos of Mr. Luberto's house last year and posted a couple of the pictures on this blog (see Christmas Lights on the Arborway, Jamaica Plain link). Well this year, Mr. Luberto appears to have outdone himself, as he has added even more to his now-famous Christmas display.

The first thing we noticed has we approached the house was not the Christmas lights on the house, but the brightly-lit crown attached to the roof of the house. The trees to the right of the house were nicely decorated, too, with one of the trees being lit up as an American flag. Next to the trees was a Jewish star, and in front of the house were a variety of life-size figures.

The lights should be up for at least a month if not more, so if you live in the Boston area, you have plenty of time to see the display. In the meantime, enjoy the photos here; by the way, if you want to see larger versions of the pictures, simply click on the ones shown here.

Latest Review: Taso's Euro-Cafe, Norwood

The latest review that is on the Boston's Hidden Restaurants site is a Greek restaurant in Norwood called Taso's Euro-Cafe. Located next to Norwood Memorial Airport (just off Route 1 north, a few miles south of Route 128), Taso's Euro-Cafe is a full-service restaurant that serves homemade Greek and American dishes to everyone from locals to pilots to professional athletes to rock stars (Norwood Airport caters to many who fit in the last two categories). The appetizers, main entrees, and desserts at Taso's Euro-Cafe are all excellent, and the prices are very low. To read more about Taso's Euro-Cafe, please click on the link above.

Two New RSS Feeds for Boston's Hidden Restaurants

The Boston's Hidden Restaurants site continues to add more RSS feeds, this time adding a feed for the Viewers' Favorite Restaurants feature, as well as for the Unreviewed Restaurants section.

The Viewers' Favorite Restaurants feature is a section where our readers can post information on restaurants that they think are truly special places. As of this moment, our readers have given us about 100 reviews, with more coming in each week. The RSS feed for this section, which shows the latest posts from our readers is:
Viewers' Favorite Restaurants RSS feed


The Unreviewed Boston and New England Restaurants section includes mostly little-known restaurants that we have not yet evaluated, but sound like potentially interesting places (and are also dining spots that we hope to try in the future). And while we have not reviewed these restaurants, readers are able to post their own reviews on these dining spots by using the forms at the bottom of each page. As of today, we have included about 100 restaurants in this special feature. The RSS feed for this section, which shows the latest reviews from our readers, is:
Unreviewed Boston and New England Restaurants RSS feed


By the way, if you are unfamiliar with RSS feeds, please go to our What is RSS? page. This page will give you all the information you will need on what an RSS feed is; how you can use standalone RSS feed readers, or online readers, to view feeds; and which sections of our site are set up for RSS feeds.

Reminder About Pizza Poll

Just a quick reminder that the Boston Restaurant Talk blog has a poll going on through the month of November that centers around favorite pizza places in the Boston area.

If you would like to vote for your favorite pizza place, please go to the following page:
http://bostonrestaurants.blogspot.com/2007/11/vote-for-your-favorite-pizza-place-in.html

Results will be given on this site around the beginning of December. Thanks for voting!

Latest Review: La Hacienda in Somerville

The latest review that we have added to the Boston's Hidden Restaurants site is for a place called La Hacienda, in Somerville. Located just south of Union Square on the Cambridge border, La Hacienda is what some might consider to be a dive bar. Their menu, however, is extensive, and they serve some of the best bar pizza north of Boston. La Hacienda has been in this working-class section of Somerville since the late 1930s, and it is still going strong today, though it remains a hidden gem of sorts, partly because of its rather obscure location. For a full review on La Hacienda, click the link shown above.