Fun atmosphere. Servers in engineer overalls Excellent food and service…read moreGreat family place for those who love to watch trains.

We've never been 'steady customers' of the Steaming Tender, but we go there three or four times a…read moreyear. We've always had good experiences and have told others about it. We had an unfortunate experience this past weekend. I had scheduled a birthday party for about 45 guests at a local venue with a private room. About one hour before the guests were to arrive I received a call from the venue saying there was a catastrophic electrical failure and the facility had to close- including the kitchen, bar, and restrooms. I was now faced with 45 people milling around a closed facility waiting for a decision on how to continue the celebration. My stress level was the highest on record. I was considering a few places to move the event to, but being 6PM on a Saturday night I knew the chances were slim. It was then I thought of Steaming Tender and gave them a call. The hostess who answered was incredibly compassionate and spent a tremendous amount of time with me on the phone. She assured me that they would be able to accommodate us and started to reserve several tables. The entire group arrived about 25 minutes later and we were all greeted like old friends. We had to wait less than five minutes for the tables to be arranged and menus distributed. The evening couldn't have gone better. The food was as excellent as it's always been and the waitstaff was incredibly attentive. The guests were amazed at how quickly we were taken care of, and the quality of the food and service. The drinks were made perfectly and the food was served hot. About two thirds of the guests had never been to the Steaming Tender and were saying they would be returning. Kudos to the entire staff and management of the Steaming Tender at their professionalism and compassion at saving us from a total disaster of an important event. We will always be grateful and will continue to extend our recommendations. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

Not sure what KP is talking about. Family owned and run. Spotless grill at bar they personally…read morecook for you and then clean and shut down each time. Hand pack ground beef burgers. Friendly bar tenders and owners. We live over an hour away. I stumbled across this place accidentally over 5 years ago and visit atleast 5-10 times a year. They treat you like family. There are a lot of regulars but they are the characters that make the place interesting. Yes there are bikers that come and go but they are all good people. Wife and I stop in on way home from visiting kids a UMass Amherst. awesome rest stop if traveling from east to see kids out there. Keep doing what you do Gin Mill we love you. Dusty

Gross, dirty and not very pleasant. They get all of their business for local biker groups. So if…read moreyou're into that then I guess they're for you. But not for the average customer

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.

Incredible experience. From Cindy at the desk who got us a window seat as promissed, to our…read morewaitress all very professional, even funny. The food was incredible. To die for lobster bisque with meat and a bread built in! Portobello mushroom as a solid cap side dish! I've eaten around the world and I can say... "I just had the best swordfish I have ever tasted in my life." The chef is Wayne Taylor. I am very picky about my gimlets. Rebecca knew the bartender nailed it when she saw the look in my eye before I even tasted it. My wife had the shrimp linguine it was delicious and there was so much of it she took it home! We're going back next week. I'll let you know. BTW, this is on the historical register. It's an old working farm, country estate. A true treasure! You might want dress nicely. I noticed most folks did!

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.

My book club did a we can get away in Connecticut so we could come here and the service was great…read moreour waiter was so sweet and you could tell they're not used to large parties they don't combine tables but they were so nice about it however the food was pretty good average kind of diner food we did miss breakfast so we were a little sad but we were disappointed in the books collection most of the books that come free aren't even worth it most people didn't take any books with them which kind of defeated the purpose of coming here and they did have books for sale which were better books however we all already have large collections and weren't interested in buying more all in all pretty decent experience and the price is not bad

I've passed by The Traveler Restaurant my whole life on road trips up north, but only just stopped…read morein for the first time last night! There weren't too many people there, but it made for a lowkey dinner. The food arrived quickly, and everything we had was actually much better than we were expecting. Cool concept with all of the books lining the dining room, and we appreciated that you could take 3 for free. Also walked around the book cellar too. There weren't really any titles that grabbed us though. My main critique is that it was pretty dusty... we looked at one of the lights and the cobwebs on it made it look like a Halloween decoration. You have to wonder if the dining room is that neglected, how bad is the state of the kitchen? Wouldn't be in a rush to come back, but glad I can say I've been to what's considered such an iconic roadside stop.

I try and spread my business among all the breakfast places in town. They all offer a different ,…read morespecial ambiance that make them endearing and the Day & Night diner is one of those. It is a classic 50's diner and was established in town in 1952 or there about . It's simple. Not the menus you are used to. One page is all Carl needs. When I order and I always order the same thing. I hadn't been here since the sixties. Now that I have come for a few weeks I no longer have to order Carl just gives me a nod and I nod back. Three eggs over easy, hash browns and a pancake instead of toast. Then I put the eggs and hash browns on top of the pancake. It's great. . There are no eggs Benedict . The people here are an eclectic group of people from all walks of life. It's an old diner feel! Most of the people are old friends . Carl's wife is the only waitress. The service isn't slow but deliberate. There are stories etc. that you have to hear. It like being at a neighborhood party . Carl likes to pun or says things with a double entandre and see who catches what he says. There are many different newspapers. I haven't gotten myself to the point where I feel comfortable voicing my opinion. Carl's wife kinds of operates around Carl . They do dinner on Friday nights and I heard it's great. Fish etc . I haven't gone yet. Plenty of parking. Not handicap accessible .

This place is not as bad as people make it out to be. If it was, place would have been shut down…read moreyears ago. Diner car is 80ish years old so has seen plenty of people walk through its doors. One of the oldest, if not the oldest, businesses is Palmer. I use to come here often, especially in my high school / college days. Always got the blueberry pancakes, in my opinion some of the best I have sunken my teeth into. Can put plenty of butter and syrup on them and they still soak them up. Today, no different. Was in town for a haircut and was really early so stopped here for breakfast. Blueberry pancakes, sausage patties and some hash. I am really just starting to eat hash. Cannot compare to many places, I enjoyed it enough to where I ate it all before eating anything else. Pancakes just as I remembered them. Would have eaten a triple stack but those days are over. They are big and fluffy to begin with as pancakes should be. Missed this place and happy to have made it back here. Cash only still I believe so hit the atm up the road if need be and leave a nice tip. Hard working family here in town who love their customers and would be honored to serve you and your family. Have a golden day.

My family ordered takeout from this place. We ordered burgers, Texas toast BLT's, Texas Toast…read moregrilled cheese, Buffalo chicken tenders, potato skins, fries, and onion petals. The food was really good. We haven't really found a lot of good restaurants out here in mid- Mass so this one is probably the best so far. When I called the order in, the person was friendly and accurate. She also took the time to ask the kitchen how long the order would take to make. 25 minutes. That's not bad considering anything out this way is a bit of a drive in comparison to where we live. So hats off the Russo's. We will be back!

The scallops smelled like ammonia…read more Just got back from dinner at Russo's Lakeside in Palmer. I ordered the fried seafood combo. According to the internet, when I searched to see if they were safe to eat, it says "No -- throw them out. The ammonia smell is a clear sign of spoilage, and eating them puts you at risk of foodborne illness (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, cramps, etc.). Even if they were fried and look/taste okay otherwise, the decomposition has already started." The rest of the meal was "ok" but when I brought the potentially spoiled scallops to the attention of my server, she discussed it with her boss. The boss said they comp me a beer I had drank. Now, I don't own a restaurant, but I would assume that those scallops were a much larger portion of my bill than the draft beer. I mentioned that to the server and she went back to the boss lady, only to come back and offer a $10 discount. Perhaps if the boss lady would have come out and talked to me about it, I would have been ok with that but she stayed in her office because she was "very busy". This is when I started to get annoyed. I could hear them talking on the other side of the wall and mentioned to the server that I was really surprised she didn't come out to talk to me about this problem. She reiterated that the boss lady was very busy. However, the server wasn't able to apply the $10 discount so boss lady had to come out and do it. To add insult to injury, the woman completely ignored me as she stood about a foot or so in front of me. I had to ask her if she was the manager or the owner and her reply was just "I'm married to him." Then began telling me that the scallops my wife had were from the "same batch". I had smelled those scallops and they did smell fine but that doesn't mean there wasn't a problem with the ones in my order. I said I was surprised she didn't come out to talk to me and she just said "it's been a very long day!" I replied with "You serve FOOD to customers." Then she just threw her hands up and walked away. I wasn't rude, didn't raise my voice and was still disrespected as a customer. First time there, and will never return not do I recommend anyone else does. Hopefully I don't get sick from eating there.

Love this place. Amazing good. Not really into the bar scene but it seems like there are groups of…read morepeople who go regularly here. Love live music when they have it but we keep going back for that amazing food!

Nah. Food ok. Service @2PM on a Sunday was incredibly slow and unfriendly. No apologies or…read moreexplanation for the long wait. Menu was enticing, but the food was not that great. Salad even had some rotten pieces in it. Ambience was OK. On the plus side, they do have outdoor seating that accommodates dogs.

worst food and dining I've had from a restaurant in a looooong time. I went in on my hour lunch…read morebreak and the place was pretty much empty besides a few people outside and around the bar. I was the only one at a table. I ordered their mac and cheese and it was not only absolutely HORRENDOUS AND FLAVORLESS, but it also took my entire hour lunch break for them to manage to figure out how to put cheese on noodles. The waitress responded by offering me to take longer to make it back to work by making me wait to have it replaced with chicken tenders. I said yes and they were most as bad as the Mac and cheese. horrible. 0/10. stay away!!!!!!

We had a graduation party and I could not have asked for better service! Sarah made the experience…read moreso easy for us and our guests. The food was excellent! Thank you Sarah!!

Maria is a wonderful waitress! She made our experience here so amazing. We will be back!read more

$5 taco Tuesdays can't be beat, absolutelyfantastic.. Great menu and awesome service…read more 5 out 5 stars. Highly recommend..