The Boynton is probably one of the most well known places in Worcester for friends and families to gather for food and spirits. For me, The Boynton has been a staple of so many fun nights out in Worcester. The restaurant is huge and can accommodate a number of people, however, it is always packed and the popular restaurant does not take reservations.
The décor is what you would expect in a pub, and the atmosphere is boisterous and energetic, full of people laughing and having a good time. Located on Highland St. in Worcester, the prime location has become a stomping grounds for the college student and Worcester professional population for the last 8 decades.
The Tugboat sandwich was delicious! I chose this roast beef sandwich for dinner because I had heard really great things about it. Also, I am a fan of anything with bread and cheese- especially mozzarella. And the au jus dipping sauce was just incredible! The beef was tender, but maybe a little too overcooked for what I would normally expect from roast beef. The caramelized onions and the peppercorn spread provided a nice sweet and tangy cut that was very nice with the beef and mozzarella. While the au jus was perfectly warm and salty, flavoring the meat and soaking in the bread for each bite! I would say the bread was a little big, and though I normally would love a grilled Italian loaf, I may have preferred thinner bread to get a crispier, Panini crunch.
The service was good-neither totally impressive, but not horrible either. Our waitress was friendly and attentive, and given the large size of our party (15 people), she handled herself quite well. I give the wait staff a lot of credit, because they must be constantly busy. There is also a very large menu that must be quite a challenge to become familiar with.
The Boynton for me has always been an enjoyable experience. The food is good and the drinks are good. Every time I have dinner there, it is always a nice time. If I was to make one recommendation, it would be that they may want to minimize their menu a bit. It was quite large, with a number of selections for everything from Italian, to seafood, to sandwiches, and pizza. I think that if they were able to pick a couple signature dishes and maybe do a rotation of specials it would be better for them, and would allow them to perfect everything on the menu. The menu is also very overwhelming as a consumer, I think it was about 6 pages, which was a lot! Normally I usually just go and pick something off the appetizers or because it was a recommendation from someone else because it is just so much to look at. I would also say that they should start taking renovations, but clearly they are doing something right! For a restaurant to succeed for the amount of time that it has without any wavering of the customer numbers, they certainly know how to keep the people coming in every night of the week.