Stop the presses; hold on to your hat…within the past two
weeks, Framingham has welcomed two new restaurants! It was with tremendous anticipation and
excitement that we all waited for these cutting edge concept restaurants to
open…Framingham now has exactly what it needs:
another bagel shop and a brew pub.
I guess Framingham couldn’t survive with just John Harvard’s
Brew House and British Beer Company (practically across the street from each
other); now Framingham Beer Works (“FBW”-from the owners of Boston Beer Works)
has opened at the former site of the nightmare inducing Bugaboo Creek
Steakhouse). So, within a three hundred
yard radius, we now have three beer houses, two of which brew on site. Woo hoo!!!
Does Framingham have an inordinate of beer drinkers? With two brewpubs and a microbrewery downtown
(“Jack’s Abbey”), maybe I should be planting barley and hops in my
backyard. All kidding aside, it is good
to have a new place to add to our repertoire…the few restaurants where I can
dine out here were getting a little stale, so I am glad there is a new game in
town. I only wish he concept was as
fresh as the beer.
FBW has opened very softly, without advertising or any
fanfare. A short article in the
Framingham Patch indicated that it was opened and that some initial training
was being done. Normally I live by a
6-month rule before I run out to a new restaurant, but I threw caution to the
wind and met up with one of my college roommates for lunch.
On a warm, sunny May Friday, I was surprised that it wasn’t
very busy at 12:30pm. Even with a soft
opening, it is in a well-travelled location and you can see from the street
that people are inside eating, and drinking.
I was stuck in terrible traffic, assuming that everyone was rushing to
FBW; they were not, and I was very happy to arrive and get seated right away.
Walking in, I was struck at how drab the exterior
appears. It looks like gray wall board,
pre-plaster. I assumed that was exactly
the case, but now that the sign is up, I guess not. Apparently, the message is “come on in, we’re
bland”. It seems that the exterior was
designed to be Spartan, but the interior is a mix of the same wallboard, but
with a lot of steel and wood floors. The
interior design was executed pretty nicely, and there’s not much of sign that
this used to be Bugaboo Creek Steakhouse.
The menu is very similar, if not exactly the same, as the
Fenway Park location, and though they didn’t have their brewer’s license set at
the time I ate there, they expected to have it soon, and will be brewing their
craft beers on-site. Also, with a large
outdoor patio, overlooking the back side of McDonald’s, I’m sure it will be
quite popular in the upcoming summer months.
Who doesn’t like to look at McDonald’s rear entry?
The food you ask? I
had a “Southwestern Bronzed Chicken” sandwich with fries. The breast was huge (save the comments), and
it was described on the menu as a grilled chicken breast spiced with Cajun
seasoning, topped with avocado, bacon, lettuce & vine-ripened tomato on a
butter toasted bun served with crisp and hot fries. It is just fine without bacon (yeah, I know
it tastes good, but I don’t dig on swine), and I was actually quite pleased and
satisfied, which for you faithful readers, probably comes as a shock.
I am glad I went early in their history, but now that the
word is out, I will wait for the crowds to die down before I rush back. For now, I give it a solid two forks up.
Next up, my review of the newest, most cutting edge
franchise in Framingham…
