The Why of What Where Worcester

What does Worcester have to offer, in the way of cafes, coffee shops, diners, holes in the wall, bakeries, restaurants and bars?  I've lived in the city nine years, and have a number of favorite spots (many of which just opened in the last 2-5 years). But during this my tenth year here I've decided to seek out more. Much more.

Why? At a friend's birthday party in early January, conversation turned to the recent NY times article "Long a College Town, Worcester Now Looks the Part". Some were disappointed it was a puff piece, without social commentary. I personally am of the mindset that it was perfectly fine to have a "rah rah Worcester" vibe (and after all, it was in the commercial real estate section). I love living in Worcester. My husband and I moved here from Berkeley, CA, and while Berkeley had things going for it like great food and coffee it also had many drawbacks. I'm much happier here. Yet I often find myself having to explain to people why I didn't like Berkeley, and why I do like Worcester. I'm ready to leave the explaining behind. Worcester has great stuff! People should see for themselves!

But what is the good stuff? Like I said, we have favorite spots. My husband and I don't really cook, so we eat out a lot. Kind of embarrassingly a lot. Of course, like most people, we get into a routine of only going back to our usual haunts. To avoid the rut, to get to know the city better, and to be able to share ideas with friends, I'm going to try a new place every week this year. Or around every week, we'll see how it works out.

This blog is just a way of sharing my adventures. Hopefully many friends will be joining me on excursions, but we won't be going in groups of 20+. So this is for everyone.



P.S....   I am a vegetarian, though my husband and a number of friends are not. So I can comment on veggie food, and maybe others can comment on meaty food dishes. But this will likely be as much about ambiance and experience as well as food - I'm no food critic. I'm also only going to write about places I'm visiting for the first time, so ironically my old favorites won't appear.  But just FYI, here are some of the places I like: Birch Tree Bread Company, The Citizen, Crust, Crown Bakery, Miss Worcester Diner, Pho Dakao, The Smokestack BBQ, Sweet, Wild Willy's, Via, Volturno. Also places in Shrewsbury and West Boylston (right now we leave the city for Indian and Mexican food), but this is to be only about Worcester.