Category Archives: Restaurants

Kane’s Donuts, Saugus, MA

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To continue our Boston area tour, just north of Boston on U.S. Highway 1 lies Saugus, MA. The highway is a crazy, hair-raising stretch through Saugus. Six lanes wide, but with driveways and cross-streets, and the traffic moving at 50 to 60mph while cars are trying to make left turns across the highway! The stretch is lined with neon signs that make it well worth the drive at night, including the famous Hilltop Steak House’s huge neon cactus (erected in 1964), the spectacular Kowloon Polynesian restaurant, and the Prince pizzeria with a neon leaning tower of Pisa. For dinner I skipped the Hilltop because the interior is updated and nothing special, and instead headed for the Kowloon with much excitement. Unfortunately, it was a real letdown. Greasy, bland food, watery tropical drinks with cheap rum, and inattentive service. The decor is a mishmash of cheesy, cheap decorations, ugly art, and the lighting is too bright for a tiki establishment. I’m a big fan of tiki bars and Polynesian Pop restaurants, but despite my usual lowering of standards I was disappointed.

I felt better just walking in to Kane’s Donuts, in the old part of Saugus since 1955. In 2010 Bon Apettit magazine put Kane’s on their list of the top 10 best donut places in the U.S., one of only four older donut shops on the list (the others are in St. Louis, Los Angeles, and Round Rock, TX). I ordered up one of their famous honey dipped raised donuts and a PB & J donut, frosted with peanut butter glaze and filled with black raspberry jelly that was better than any jelly in a donut I’ve ever had (more like a jam consistency instead of the usual cornstarch-filled, gummy texture). Both donuts were super delicious!

P,B & J donut

Kane’s Donuts
120 Lincoln Ave, Saugus, MA 01906
(781) 233-8499
Open Mon-Fri 3:30am – 8pm, Sat 3:30am – 5pm, Sun 3:30am – 1pm

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George’s Coney Island, Worcester, MA

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During my recent first-time trip to Boston I used a coupon from National car rental for a free day to drive around the outskirts of Boston to see some historic sites. The free days are easy to earn by renting on National if you join their Emerald Club. It’s free to join and you get discounts (which you can combine with coupons) and use of Emerald Aisle, which lets you skip the counter and go directly to the lot and pick any car you want. I used to work for the company in college and I still think they are the best rental car company around.

Anyway, I was looking to visit a real, original diner and my friend Elker suggested the Miss Worcester diner in his town of Worcester, which has stood on the site since 1948 across from the Worcester Lunch Car Company, one of the biggest diner manufacturers. The factory is closed but the diner lives on. I ate a light breakfast there to save room for the next stop.

My friend also told me don’t miss George’s Coney Island, and am I glad I took his advice! This place is an amazing time warp, mostly unchanged from 1940. The restaurant opened at its current location in 1918, but in 1938 George Tsagarelis purchased it and remodeled it in Streamline Modern style, adding a huge 60-foot neon sign designed by Romanoff in 1940. It’s still in the same family, and this is the look that remains today!

On the right is the luncheonette, which is a large room with a counter you order at and several wooden booths. I ordered their specialty, a hot dog with the works (mustard, chili sauce, and onions) and a beer. Delicious! Total cost: $3.82. (The franks come from Kayem, opened in 1909 in Chelsea, Mass., and still owned by the same family.)

Even more amazing was the bar next door! Practically unchanged since 1938.


I wished I had time to go back at night to see that enormous animated neon sign in all its glory! Next time… Meanwhile, there are pictures on their website, and a video, though it’s not dark enough to see it well.

George’s Coney Island
158 Southbridge St, Worcester, MA 01608
508-753-4362
Open Sun 10am – 7pm
Mon, Wed, Thu 10am until around 8pm
Fri, Sat 10am until around 9pm
Closed Tuesdays

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Ken’s Steak House, Framingham, MA

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You have probably seen Ken’s salad dressings in the supermarket before. This is where they originated. Ken and Florence Hannah opened Ken’s Steak House in Natick, MA in 1935 and moved to its current location along Route 9 in Framingham in 1941. Ken’s son Timothy and his wife Darlene now run the restaurant – it’s still in the same family!

Florence’s salad dressing recipes and baked goods became locally famous. The breads, rolls, cakes, and pies are still baked in-house. The Fireplace Room opened in 1941, The Lamp Post Room in 1945, and The Hickory Room in 1957. This place is huge! There is also a bar which has been remodeled.

Fireplace Room?

Lamp Post Room?

I had lunch in the front dining room (The Hickory Room?) that had dark wood walls with great stained glass windows of local fauna. Nice vintage chairs, too. My Delmonico (rib-eye) steak was good, cooked just right but a bit on the thin side. The fresh house-made rolls and breads were excellent, but the other sides weren’t particularly memorable. The prices are reasonable, so the food was a good value. But don’t go expecting upscale steak house fare. Lower your expectations a bit and you won’t be disappointed.

Hickory Room?

Ken’s is the last old business on a strip lined with chains and big box retailers, so go while you still can!

Ken’s Steak House
95 Worcester Rd (Route 9), Framingham, MA 01701
(508) 875-4455
kenssteakhouse@rcn.com
Hours: Sun 1:00pm-9:00pm, M-Th 11:30am-9:00pm, Fri-Sat 11:30am-10:00pm

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Parker’s, Boston

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Image from the Ford Treasury of Favorite Recipes From Famous Eating Places, 1955

The Parker House (now the Omni Parker House) hotel opened in 1855 in the heart of Boston, making it the oldest continuously operated hotel in the United States. Parker’s restaurant, which dates way back to 1832 when Harvey Parker took over Hunt’s Cafe, introduced or popularized many now famous recipes, including Parker House rolls, Boston cream pie, lemon meringue pie, and Boston baked scrod (arguably it is not a specific fish, instead it is the best local white-fleshed fish available, though often it is cod).

In the second half of the nineteenth century, many notable writers and intellectuals met for dining and drinking at Parker’s on the last Saturday afternoon of every month. The men-only Saturday Club included Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Francis Parkman, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, and many others.

Very fresh, tender Baked Boston scrod with soft & fluffy Parker House rolls

Many famous politicians and stars of stage and screen have stayed at the Parker House, but perhaps the most notorious guest was John Wilkes Booth, who stayed there and ate at Parker’s a few days before he assassinated President Lincoln (his brother was a successful actor in New England and was appearing at the Boston Theater). More trivia: Ho Chi Minh (future leader of Vietnam) baked Parker House rolls in the bakery in 1911-13, and Malcolm X was a busboy at Parker’s in the 1940s.

Boston Cream "Pie"?

On my recent visit for a late lunch (to a nearly empty restaurant) I enjoyed the delectable baked Boston scrod with Parker House rolls (which I could not stop eating!), but I was somewhat disappointed after ordering Boston Cream Pie when the waitress brought me their new, single serving version of the “pie”. She assured me that the ingredients are the same, but this was more like a cold, dense vanilla cake. I looked up the recipe online and the basic ingredients are sponge cake, vanilla custard, and a chocolate glaze, which didn’t seem to be the recipe served here. Is this the original, which has been modified over the years?

A brief history of the Parker House and restaurant.

Omni Parker House
(617) 227-8600
Parker’s Restaurant hours:
Breakfast M-F 6:30am-11:00am, Sat 7:00am-12:00pm
Lunch M-F 11:30am-2:00pm, Sat 12:00pm-2:00pm, Sun – bar only
Dinner Mon-Th 5:30pm-10:00pm, Fri & Sat 5:00pm-10:00pm, Sun – bar only
Brunch Sat & Sun 11:30am-2:00pm

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How does Katz’s stack up to Langer’s?

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Katz's pastrami on rye with russian dressing

I just got back from a trip to Boston and New York City (posting from my phone did not work, but I will figure it out before my next trip). Finally made it to Katz’s deli in NYC. Here is their formidable pastrami sandwich on rye with russian dressing. Katz’s pastrami is on a par with the pastrami at my favorite deli, Langer’s in Los Angeles, very tender and thickly sliced. And Katz’s tangy, relish-filled russian dressing is wonderful, perhaps better than Langer’s. But Katz’s sliced rye doesn’t come close to the fresh-baked rye at Langer’s, sliced for your sandwich still warm, with its crispy crust and soft center. Now I’m a Katz’s fan, but Langer’s still has the best pastrami sandwich anywhere. On my next visit I will try Second Avenue deli and see how they compare.

Katz’s Delicatessen
205 East Houston Street, New York, NY 10002
(212) 254-2246
Open Mon-Wed 8:00am-10:45pm
Thurs 8:00am-2:45am
On Fridays they open at 8am and stay open until 10:45pm Sunday night!

 

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