Stopped in for a quick lunch yesterday. In their clam chowder. It was awesome. Was with my…read moregrandson and great grandson. They were so kind. Brought him a sliced orange that he loved and then some ice cream. Their service was very attentive.

Food was pretty darn good if I'm being honest, and she was good about refilling my coffee too, but…read moreI don't go out to eat to be waited on by someone who looks miserable, barely acknowledges me, didn't even smile when I asked her to compliment the chef (We got the loaded potato fries and a French dip, which, I've never liked anywhere, but it's what my wife wanted and we share as she's had the bipass surgery and can only eat a few bites)...I admitted to her that I don't like French dip, but it was PHENOMENAL. I don't even like au jus, but it was so good, I would've been happy just to drink it. Who doesn't even smile at a compliment like that? Especially as I later found out she was one of the owners. She should have been over the moon. I'd say it wasn't technically a bad experience, but it also wasn't a good one. Also, it was right at the end of their first open mic and we knew the host personally. You'd think after seeing we knew their entertainment, she could have, at the very least, faked a smile. Kind of her loss as I'm a DJ and could have easily boosted their clientele, but I'm not going to recommend a place that makes it seem like it's a chore to wait on you. Even though she didn't know that, as someone who has also been in the restaurant industry for a large portion of my life, the very first rule of customer service is to make them feel wanted, no matter how you're feeling, and smiling at them is the easiest way to do it. Even if you're only doing it for the tips, being nice to people is one of the easiest things you can do. And being nice to others, will almost always make you feel good in return. It's a win win. As for the ambience, top notch. It's a very comfortable and relaxed atmosphere and it's not crowded like a lot of other restaurants (meaning the tables are properly spaced and you're not on top of other customers)

My first time back since the new owners took over. It was still very loud inside even though we…read morearrived on the earlier side for dinner the bar was pretty full already. Maybe with some rugs layed down it would help the noise? The name and the vision inside don't match, nothing really special to see inside. I ordered nachos as my meal last night, they looked yummy but once I started eating i realized that the chips were very toasted from the oven and crispy and any specks of cheese were dried and burned into the chips (see photo). Not until I dug to the bottom did I find any cheese. Really I could have just done that at home. I didn't send it back because my husband & daughters meals were there and they were enjoying and didn't want theirs to become cold. Being our second time trying the restaurant we decided we wouldn't make it a third. The waitstaff were very pleasant and attentive.

Hitchcock Tavern has had its ups and downs (over 265 years in business, it happens). The Tavern is…read morein a small town, with not a lot of big business's or industry nearby, so it's primarily a transient (on a major state route) and local population venue. The town does roll-up the sidewalks at 500pm...so I know it's a tough business wherein to make a few bucks. They upped their menu options a few months back (yeah!) and have altered hours a bit, now opening at 11:30am every day. (also yeah!) The menu is a bit limited (which is not bad; work the interesting offerings, update when needed), but very good. I live local to the HT, and stop in maybe once a month for a lunch or before dinner (I avoid Friday and Saturday, as it can get very noisy in there). Today, my wife and I stopped at 300pm for their smash burgers (2 patties, lettuce, onion, tomato) on a Caprese roll. Great roll for the type of burger. I think they can source better tomatoes, as we are in the middle of a farming area, so summer and fall they should consider local produce and make the slices bigger. French fries were good, but not unique. We ordered a bowl of sweet potato fries as a starter, and they were good. Enough to take home and try with some various cocktail sauces we have. I usually get their edamame dumplings, but they were out. If you order their nachos and cheese, it is a big plate, so be warned. They have a few local craft beers, but it would be nice to see a more expansive list. I understand most locals go for the generic beer basic brands, but still...Plenty of craft brewers in Central Mass. Same with the wine; there is a local winery the next town over (shameless plug: Hardwick Winery) that is quite good, and I'm sure a bit of support both ways would be eventful. We have a local cider grower too, that could pair nicely (shameless plug: Ragged Hill) The pricing on the lunch-time specials make HT an easy option to go to. I know that server staff is tough to get, let alone retain, and I often give a bit more slack in the expectations in that area these days. Our server, Holly, also does early opening bar duty, and she made a great dry martini. And those are tough to make, and so easy to screwup. Thanks, Holly. Parking in the lot can be tough on a busy night, but, plenty of free and safe street parking within a 1-3 minute walk. The Tavern is not a romantic venue, exquisite, nor super-fine dining. It is a reliable, local, historic, restaurant to get a solid meal, a good drink, meet with friends, and relax. They do a great function offering I will say (have used it several times), and I am glad to see changing weekly-monthly specials, holiday meals, and have flights when a new liquor hits the shelf. They now have an outdoor tent for the ending summer and fall nights. So to the owners and chef, keep thinking outside the box, and you'll make this a solid start for your next 265 years.

Besides Hannah Devine's on Main, Mimi's CoffeeHouse of Hardwick, and possibly Janine's Frosty down…read morethe street, you're going to want to make Crystal Springs a destination restaurant diner for your daytime brunch or breakfast needs, plus milkshakes and ice cream. Crystal Springs brings a consistency of food quality, time, and care that has kept the restaurant in good hands in the last decades. Walk in and walk beside the bar, noting the diner is cash only, and into the two booth sections near the back so that your waitstaff can have easy access to take your order. The diner, near the back, updates specials and has a few consistent winners that keep recurring. The wall opposite your entry has a wall with a blown up photographed depiction of the town of Ware from the air many decades ago. One of the pluses of this all-day breakfast diner is that they also are a dairy bar, serving ice cream and milkshakes specifically. Expect Crystal Springs to be busy with locals and other out of town travelers at the corner of the plaza strip they're located at. They're near a busy entrance and exit way, and there's parking near enough to that ingress to be mindful of. Thank you for many meals, Crystal Springs, and I hope I find great photos I took of your diner one day to fit a review for a staff as reliable at 5am as you'd want in a diner.

Great American food. Excellent prices. Kind staff. What else could you want? it's a great place to…read moregrab lunch or breakfast. old style diner that feels like you're at your friends moms kitchen.

Every time I go, I have enjoyed it! The coffee is excellent, I have tried every cookie and they are…read moretoo die for!! Cute, clean little place with great service!! Love it!!

These beans. THESE BEANS!…read more This is a black woman owned small business with amazing coffee. You can pop in and buy a bag of beans or you can get a freshly brewed cup to go. Joy also sells pastries and such from small local bakeries. There isn't much seating yet inside but Joy has specific plans to grow the space over the course of this year. But the seating that is available is cut and comfortable. Unless she's at a festival, this is the only place to get Joy's beans. They don't sell them in any other shops and aren't likely to soon so if you're in the Brookies on the weekend (or check hours to see if she's extended to any days M-Th in the future) swing by and grab yourself a cup or some beans to go. And if you're friends with me, yes, I will deliver beans for you while I'm out visiting my mom.

Wonderful diner with excellent food. And great service…read more Stopped for dinner last evening and came back for breakfast

The food was ok the home fries weren't the best the bacon was very salty and even though the fries…read morewere frozen they were still good the ambiance was really cool if your into the old style of restaurants half of my chicken was good but the other half was dry Haley was our cook and instead of talking to us she should have made good food our server Paige was amazing she paid attention to us and treated us like family and let me take a extra creamer she did a great job but Haley on the other hand only had a good omelette our server was the redeeming quality of this place.

Absolutely had the best experience on Father's Day!! My parents and I loved our waitress Emily, and…read morealso Kayla who was so accommodating and welcoming!!! The food was incredible, raw oysters, fish and chips, shrimp scampi, chicken wings!! We sat outside and loved every minute of it! Can't wait to go back!!!

Delicious food, great service and nice lake view. Definitely will be back if we in Palmer area…read moreagain.

This is a must to get pastries from when we visit home. They are only open Thursday thru Saturday…read more They are packed out the door. Good for a small town. Got apple danish a few others items. Also cheddar cheese and something else biscuit. That biscuit was very good along with the apple danish. Of course we well be back. My son loves their coffee as well there

As someone who stops often the parking lot and small Amount…read moreof tables could possible make you think you'll keep on going and stop somewhere down the line. Don't. The lines move quick, you'll miss excellent food because you won't find anything out of place. Plus the kind attention you get up front with drinks and ordering and questions to all the goodies answered. And then go sit next to someone and strike up a conversation. Another lovely visit, wonderful cuppa tea, met three neat people and completely enjoyed the corned beef special. Chefs Kiss

We purchased tickets to the fireside feast at Salem Cross in November and have been looking forward…read moreto it since then. We arrived at 5:30, went downstairs, checked in. Checked out the fireplace and roasting jack, and immediately went outside for a sleigh ride. It was fun, and lasted about 10 min. We headed back in and had some cheese spread and crackers which were good and a drink from the bar. Soon it was time for warm mulled cider and wine. It's cool how they heat them up, with a plunge of a hot poker from the blazing fireplace. The mulled wine was very good. Shortly after the mulled wine the prime ribs came off the roasting jack, the fire built up, and the cauldron put on for the seafood chowder. All the ingredients went in, and people were offered the opportunity to stir it. Things wrapped up downstairs and the crowd headed upstairs to the dining room. I'd say there was ~150 people. Tickets were $90 each. It's communal dining which I typically like. It's cool to talk to different people and see where they come from etc. Not tonight. The person sitting next to us was like a radio you wish you could turn off for 2 hours. Not the restaurant's fault of course, but it did distract from the evening. Bread was served, white bread rolls and sweet potato muffins, I didn't try them but they looked nice. The seafood chowder came out, it was very good. The main course was brought to the tables, it was prime rib, 2 salted roasted potatoes, and a healthy dollop of mashed butternut squash. Unfortunately this is where the real disappointment started for me. My prime rib was so tough that I couldn't cut through it with a steak knife, and raw. I ate one of the potatoes, and it was fine. The butternut squash had thanksgiving type spices and the taste I had of them was nice. The myoglobin from the raw meat turned everything red and watery so I didn't eat apart from that. Dessert was hotel pans of apple pie, I didn't try it. Not being a quitter I took the prime rib home and after cutting off the hard fat with a proper kitchen knife was able to salvage ~4.5 oz. I tried to coax some tenderness into it with a quick sear and it worked. Unfortunately it was livery so into the trash it went. In my humble opinion the experience was very nice, with the food taking a back seat. That said, other people seemed to enjoy their meals, mine may have been the outlier. I won't be back.

It was a fun experience watching the fritters being fried. The fritters, steamers, lobster and…read morestrawberry shortcake were my favorites. Lovely evening outside enjoying a cocktail while waiting for the lobster feast to be served. Dinner was served in the old barn, which is nice and cozy. I highly recommend booking the lobster feast before all of the dates sell out.

Always the kindest service along with great food…read more Today was my first in trying the jalapeño bacon and OMG it was delish!! Along with a grilled English muffin and their homemade corned beef hash. Yum yum yum Clean tables, clean bathrooms to go with an awesome spot for breakfast/lunch

If you are not a regular don't waste your time. We sat with…read morethe hostesses direction, and watched the waitress and hostess bring menus and ask about beverages to 3 tables that sat after us. The food is good, but the service is slow and getting your food takes 30+ minutes. Apple barn in brimfield is a good option instead of masons

Hi, we returned to Tables to find out if anything had changed…read more I had a western omelette, another person had an egg sandwich, and the 3rd had an egg Benedict with veggies and avacado. We all raved about the food. Spent a little time with Tara wishing he luck and good health. I will definitely will return. The atmosphere was the same as it was before. New waitresses were very cordial.

Decent food, poor service. We were seated right away, but it…read moretook a while for a waitress to take our order. Then it took a long while to actually get our food. The meal I received (Eggs Benedict Florentine, a regular menu item) was not what I ordered (Tara's Benedict, on the specials menu), but by then I was so hungry that I just ate it. It was good. However, after a runner delivered our food, our waitress never checked in with us, or even made eye contact with us, until we were done eating. When she finally came, I told her (politely) that I had ordered Tara's Benedict but had received Florentine. She seemed to not know what to do with this information - but she did want me to know that she correctly submitted my order. Okay, I said, I just wanted to let you know that there was a miscommunication somewhere. She brought us our bill promptly (the incorrect meal was not taken off the bill), but then there was more waiting for her to come back and take our credit card. Finally my dining companion went up to the register to pay the bill. While there, they tried to explain to him what happened - apparently the chef had a different specials list than the specials menu that was given to customers. This does not really explain the mix-up. Plus, it was 11am on a Saturday - near the end of the breakfast period. How did they not realize sooner that the chef and the wait staff had different specials menus? This establishment is a little off the beaten path; you have to make it a destination - something I will not be doing again.