Mid-year review: Best of the new-for-me restaurants of Worcester

Today I tried a vegetarian/vegan restaurant in Framingham with a friend (Greenleaf - it was excellent). Since my friend lives that way and I met her by her house, I won't get in a novel Worcester restaurant this week. So instead I give my half-year review. These are the places we have tried since January that we continue to return to:

1) Fatima's Cafe. 
   I love this place. The samosas are brilliant, the family is so nice, and it is close by. We have dined-in and I've also gotten dishes to-go for my students and my book group. In fact, we were there last night. A brief moment of panic occurred, as there is a realtor's "available" sign on the building and they had forgotten to turn on the "open" light in the window. We thought they had closed down - that would be tragedy! In fact, they are open and doing well, though the building has just been sold. Hopefully the new building owners will keep them as tenants. If not, we'll follow to whatever new location they find.

2) El Patron.
Not only do we keep going back, I keep ordering the same dish (drenched burrito with grilled veggies instead of meat, and chips & guacamole). A favorite dish is both a delight and a danger -my friend Ara insists I need to try the tortas, and I really shouldn't limit myself. El Patron is popular with our friends and co-workers, we usually don't go alone.

3) Cafe Reyes.
The salads here are wonderful, and I can even request veggie empanadas. I love the coffee. Eric likes that he can walk there for lunch since its right by his work.

4) The Urban.    NOTE - THIS IS NOW CLOSED.
We've only been a few times, but really like it for drinks and special occasions. The ambience is fabulous, the music they play is the music we play, and the food is flavorful.


Additionally, these are the places we have only been to just once, but are anxious to get back to:
Bay State Schawarma and Grill (Such good falafel);  Basil N Spice (We only tried it a few weeks ago - we'll go again soon); Mare e Monti (We did attempt a return in May, but they were filled with graduation parties. Perhaps a weeknight this summer.)

And just to give them a mention: these are the places I go to frequently, but they were already old hat when I started the new-food establishment-a-week project, so I have never blogged about them:
Birch tree bread company, Volturno, Sweet, Bollywood Grill (Shrewsbury), Il Forno (West Boylston), Wild Willy's Burgers.

Happy Eating!