Tag: diner

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Antipasto

I drive by the renovated Parkway Restaurant and Bar almost everyday and I see the new dining area and flat screen TVs but I just haven’t had the opportunity to stop in and try the food. Well thank goodness for Worcester Foodies because now that I have eaten there, I will definitely add the Parkway to my rotation of casual dining options. The new room is great, with a large bar, booths along the wall and high-top tables in the middle of the room. Large screen TVs and lots of sports memorabilia adorn the walls.

Anxiously I looked through the menu and saw exactly what I expected to see…casual pub-style choices, appetizers and lots of salads and soups but the menu also included great Italian dishes, steak and fish options, all at unbelievably cheap prices. This is not the old Parkway Diner menu (although that menu is still available from 6:00am – 2:00pm in the dining car). A few things caught my eye, but I decided to start with a cup of Pasta Fagioli soup and ordered the Antipasto for two as my meal. The soup was outstanding, in fact it was so good I was disappointed I didn’t order a bowl! Served spicy and hot with lots of beans and pasta, you can tell this recipe has been passed down a few generations. Up next came my antipasto and once I shared a little with my dining companions, I dug in and made myself a nice big dish. There are a lot of good antipastos in Worcester and this one can hold its own against any of them. First off, it was huge and had everything including olives, roasted peppers, pepperoncini, salami, tomatoes, pepperoni and plentiful slices of provolone cheese all on top of fresh iceberg lettuce. I ordered mine with blue cheese dressing on the side and dipped each and every bite into the creamy dressing and enjoyed it thoroughly.

My dining companions were a little more adventurous than I was ordering Grilled Salmon, Grilled Sausage and a huge plate of pasta, meatballs and veal that all looked outstanding. I will be back to the Parkway Restaurant and Bar, the service was great, the value was outstanding and the tastes were fantastic! –JG

 

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Pasta with a Meatball and Eggplant Parmesan

The Parkway Diner; your typical looking diner from the outside, inside was pretty much what you would expect, nothing fancy.  While I wasn’t disappointed with the food I ordered I also wasn’t blown away by the place, I was hoping for a specialty of the house, or something that would make this diner stand out from the vast assortment of other diners in the Worcester area, unfortunately it was just what it advertises to be a Diner pure and simple.

The wait staff was efficient and personable. We started with an order of the bacon cheese fries, they were good and came quickly to our table and I have to admit they were greasy and cheesy with plenty of bacon added and exactly what I had expected.  After perusing the menu I asked our waitress what she would recommend and she told me any of the “gravy” dishes were what most of the regulars came back for. I ended up ordering the “Pasta combo” which offered a pick two from a selection of a Meatball, a sausage, chicken Parmesan or eggplant Parmesan. I chose the meatball and eggplant Parmesan, both were excellent with the eggplant parmesan not being overly thick with batter and it was cooked perfectly, the meatball had that slight creamy texture to it that caused it to fall apart when I stuck your fork in it, quite delicious. My meatball and eggplant were served over my choice of pasta, I chose good ole fashioned spaghetti. While I enjoyed the Red sauce or “Gravy” as any good Italian and as the waitress called it I thought it was just a bit salty, however I still enjoyed my meal.

If I’m in the mood and in the area, I might return, I wouldn’t put it on the top of my list, however I would go back to try out the breakfast options. –RL