Tag: pizza

Lynwood Café – Bar Pizza Restaurant Review

Lynwood Café in Randolph, Ma is arguably THE best bar pizza in New England. Bar Pizza is a thing in here and everyone has their favorites. Lynwood Café is a small, neighborhood pizzeria that I began attending as a toddler with my parents and I now bring my grown children. There is a key to longevity with Lynwood Café and it is consistency, they know what works and they stick with it.

Lynwood Café opened in 1949 as a neighborhood bar and once they decided to start making bar pizza, they never looked back. When you walk in, you are walking back in time. The old time charm of the place with its old phone booth, which now houses an ATM (they are CASH ONLY, so this is quite useful) and the shuffleboard game that every child remembers forever.

Love Fades, Pizza is Forever

-unknown

We do not live local anymore, but recently we were in the area and went for the first time in about ten years and we were not disappointed. The warm and friendly atmosphere and the fantastic pizza is just to die for. My lifetime favorite has always been the pepperoni and green pepper, but the hamburg, which I would never order anywhere else is amazing too. My late father was a big fan of the Linguica pizza, which I have never seen in any other pizza place. I have always wanted to try the Boston Baked Bean but I haven’t taken the leap yet.

One tip: skip the bottled beer. I am not usually a draft beer person, but the draft beer at Lynwood Café is the coldest beer I have ever had and it always has been. Another tip: the draft beer comes in little glasses, so order two. Beer and pizza have never been so good.

When I met my husband I told him I was taking him to have the best pizza in Massachusetts and he thought I was crazy. We joke that after he had it was when he decided I was the one he wanted to marry.

REMEMBER: CASH ONLY!

I would highly recommend checking out Lynwood Café if you ever have the chance. If you want to see more restaurant reviews, check out my blog Sunday Chefs.

Cafe Assisi cover pic

Café Assisi, Wrentham MA – Restaurant Review

Now that life is getting back to normal (Crossing my fingers here, that we keep on a positive trend) it is time to start to returning to our favorite restaurants. As a recent cancer patient, I think we have held out a little longer than most. But we are active take-out customers. One of our favorite haunts, that was our regular Friday night destination before Covid hit, is this cute little, local, Italian restaurant in Wrentham, MA called Café Assisi. It is so important to support our local businesses, they have struggled so much and for the ones that made and survived we need to make sure they thrive. These are our friends and neighbors, the ones that make donations for school fundraisers and pour their heart and soul into their business and make this our community. For a couple that loves nothing more than going into the North End of Boston for dinner, this hidden gem in Wrentham, MA is a godsend and most likely responsible for some extra pounds I have been trying to get rid of.

When you support a small business, you support a dream.

-Unknown

Café Assisi is a little Italian bistro hidden in a corner of Wrentham, Ma, right around the corner from the Wrentham Outlet Malls. It could be very easy to drive by unless you knew it was there. The owners have committed themselves to doing it right and it is working! I have never had a bad meal there. Café Assisi does a vibrant take out business and the pizza is fantastic.

A few years ago, we had them cater our daughters’ Confirmation and everyone raved about the food. We called last minute and had multiple food allergies to deal with. They pulled it all together, it was reasonably priced and a lot more food than we anticipated. People are still talking about how good it was. I am very loyal to restaurants that are open to helping with food allergies and they have always been very respectful and upfront about what they could and could not do and I completely respect that.

It’s important to support people who put their heart, soul, and last dollar into something they believe in.

-Unknown

On the spur of the moment we decided to try and get a table and completely forgot that they recommended reservations. Luck was on our side and we got a parking spot right in front and they were crowded but said they could seat us outside. Over COVID, they built a beautiful outdoor seating area with heaters, lights and plants. It is very beautiful and romantic.

We got the shrimp and pasta in a red sauce special, which my husband adored and could barely finish because there was so much food. There was lots of shrimp and it was fresh and cooked perfectly. I got the Cod in spicy, tomato sauce over sauteed spinach which was fantastic.

I am not one to get dessert, but the craving for anything lemon lately has been overwhelming. Walking in to get a table I spied the dessert case and that limoncello cake was calling to me and it did not disappoint. It was out of this world!

I cannot recommend Café Assisi any more highly. So much so that I am afraid to post this as it may get busier and I will never get a table…..but they deserve all the business they can get.

Trattoria Il Lucano – Rome Restaurant and Food Allergy Review

As we were walking back from the Pantheon one night on our recent life-changing trip to Rome, the kids were starving and I didn’t have any idea where we could eat. Before our trip I studied and searched for restaurants that would accommodate our family and their food allergies (Peanuts, tree nuts, carrots, cucumbers, soy, gluten, legumes, eggplant and zucchini). Italy is known for being very food allergy friendly but information on specific restaurants is hard to find, so I tried to find blog information and there was a few, but it was outdated and limited. So I looked for restaurants that were recommended by friends or had good reviews and reached out to them. Then I made a master list of the places that I wanted to visit and nearby restaurants that were food allergy friendly. (We made the food allergy cards and they were great but only used them once). It was good old fashioned leg work that got the job done. I will share my hard work with you all to save you some time.

I did a lot of prep work, but on this day I had run out of ideas. It was raining and we took a risk and stopped in at Trattoria Il Lucano and asked if they could accommodate us. We lucked out and it was a fabulous meal.

Our waiter was named Mimo and he was so much fun. He suggested that my husband try the steak which they cook at the table. We got the caprese salad, cacio e pepe, pizza and lots of house wine! Always get the house wine. We sat outside under the awning and had a fabulous meal despite the uncertainty at the beginning. My husband is still dreaming of the steak!

The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook. – Julia Child