<p>We're coming for Jumbo days on Sunday and Monday. We want to go out to eat somewhere near campus on Sunday night. Does anyone have any suggestions? It doesn't have to be 4 star dining, but I don't want a fast food joint either. Just a nice place to eat and not too expansive.</p>
<p>Here is a list from the Alumni office. Prices are usually listed on the restaurant’s webpage.</p>
<p>[Tufts</a> Alumni - Restaurants and Cafes](<a href=“http://tuftsalumni.org/who-we-are/faqs/restaurants-and-cafes/]Tufts”>Tuftsalumni.org)</p>
<p>Here are my favorites, although I have not tried them all. Others can chime in…</p>
<p>Davis Square</p>
<p>*Dave’s – for gourmet sandwiches - closes early
*The Flatbread Company - for Organic Pizza/candlepin bowling/interesting atmosphere
*Anna’s Taqueria - Burritos and Tacos - inexpensive
Martsa on Elm –Tibetan (recommend the almond chicken)
*Boston Burger – for gourmet burgers
*Diesel Caf</p>
<p>We thought the BBQ at Redbones was pretty terrible. My favorite place to go is Central Square for Ethiopian food, but it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. [Asmara</a> Restaurant, (617) 864-7447, 739 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139](<a href=“http://www.ethiopianrestaurant.com/massachusetts/asmara.html]Asmara”>http://www.ethiopianrestaurant.com/massachusetts/asmara.html)</p>
<p>For Tex Mex try Rudy’s on Broadway in Somerville, it is not too far from campus
If you head into neighboring Arlington, you will find many nice restaurants…Flora, Olivios, Not Your Average Joe’s.
In Davis Square, try Orleans</p>
<p>We will be there Sunday night as well. I have been looking things up on UrbanSpoon and Yelp. There seems to be many choices at every price point in Davis Square. I was reading about a couple of Sushi places, a couple of Mexican, a middle eastern and a couple of Indian. If the weather holds out we might head over to Cambridge since its really close also.</p>
<p>Somerville restaurants for foodies . </p>
<p>Beantowngirl - did you see that Steves has recently been reincarnated at Taza Chocolate !!?? Time to make up an excuse to visit Tufts !</p>
<p>[A</a> sampling of Somerville restaurants - Boston.com](<a href=“http://www.boston.com/yourtown/somerville/gallery/somerville_restaurants/]A”>http://www.boston.com/yourtown/somerville/gallery/somerville_restaurants/)</p>
<p>Mastadon: That is awesome, thanks! Will have to check that out, though at this point I am more interested in the chocolate than the ice cream. But I do remember the wonderful hot fudge sauce they had at Steve’s. Even better than the mix-ins. </p>
<p>All this reminiscing makes me feel old :-(</p>
<p>Just thinking about Steve’s ice cream makes me feel 18 all over again. I was in the Boston area in the early 80s (Brandeis) and Steve was definitely one of my favorite thing. I am looking forward to sharing it with my son.</p>
<p>Eating ice cream makes me feel young :-)</p>
<p>Who remembers chocolate fondue at Grendal’s ? I don’t think they serve it anymore :-(</p>
<p>[Harvard</a> Square - - Restaurants](<a href=“http://www.harvardsquare.com/restaurants.aspx]Harvard”>http://www.harvardsquare.com/restaurants.aspx)</p>
<p>On the other side of town from Tufts in Medford, there is a restaurant called “Not your Average Joe’s” that is a chain and we liked it very much. Very American choices, much nicer than some other chains. Lots of appetizers, soups, salads, entrees, burgers, pizza…something for everyone and not too pricey. Also, the bread is fantastic! It’s maybe just a few miles from the campus. We’ve been twice already (S is a freshman) but everyone enjoys it because the menu is so diverse and everyone gets what they want!</p>
<p>[Not</a> Your Average Joe’s](<a href=“http://www.nyaj.com%5DNot”>http://www.nyaj.com) </p>
<p>Enjoy this trip or another time! :)</p>
<p>@chocolatechip cookies</p>
<p>For the next time you are in town:</p>
<p>[chocolate</a> chip cookies - Greater Boston Area - Chowhound](<a href=“http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/537129]chocolate”>http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/537129)</p>
<p>Note there are a few places in Somerville mentioned</p>
<p>Enjoy!</p>
<p>Grendel’s Den! I can’t believe it’s still around. Not a favorite of mine, if I went out I either went to Elsie’s for divine chicken salad or Ferdinand’s for slightly fancy sorta French food.</p>
<p>I think the only thing I ever had there was the chocolate fondue. It consisted of a large plate of fresh cut fruit, toothpicks and a big bowl of warm, rich, chocolate dipping sauce. It was a little pricey, but it was a portion big enough to feed multiple people for a snack. We would get a small group together and go to the upstairs at Grendals just to talk and split a chocolate fondue. Great for chocoholics hence I thought that Beantowngirl might have had it!</p>
<p>Too bad about the Redbones experience. I haven’t been there in a while, but it generally gets very good reviews. The standard for barbeque is probably higher in NYC than Boston.</p>
<p>We’re still looking for good BBQ in Boston. The place in Harvard Square is so so and the place near the Museum of Fine Arts isn’t much better. DH is a BBQ fanatic, but unfortunately we don’t travel to the right parts of the country often enough!</p>
<p>Try Blue Ribbon Barbeque, Mass Ave, Arlington</p>
<p>Thanks for the info re: chocchipcookies, Mastadon! 
I’ll be sure to hunt some down sometime!</p>
<p>Keep the restaurant ideas coming…I’d love more choices and where to look…is that famous burger place in Harvard square worth the wait? We tried getting in there once, but the line was wrapped around the block. My S1 said that the burger place in Davis square was very good!</p>
<p>We took D1 out to [Sabur</a> Restaurant - 212 Holland Street, Somervile MA - 617.776.7890](<a href=“http://www.saburrestaurant.com/]Sabur”>http://www.saburrestaurant.com/) for dinner during fall semester, and we all really enjoyed it. Mediterranian inspired food.</p>
<p>@mathmom </p>
<p>I remember Elsies and loved it. Did you know the owners retired to Falmouth and opened up shop there for a few years? </p>
<p>[Elsie's</a> Tradition Endures in Falmouth | News | The Harvard Crimson](<a href=“http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1983/10/18/elsies-tradition-endures-in-falmouth-pfalmouth/]Elsie’s”>Elsie's Tradition Endures in Falmouth | News | The Harvard Crimson)</p>
<p>I remember Ferdinands, but I dont remember eating there.</p>
<p>BBQ tastes tend to be very personal and BBQ lovers very passionate. I am not a fanatic, but I used to do a lot of traveling to NC, so I have had the good fortune to sample some very good BBQ. </p>
<p>The word on Redbones and Boston BBQ in general is that it is inconsistent. Here is a list of BBQ joints in the area, reviewed by a passionate type:</p>
<p>[Pigtrip.net</a> Directory of BBQ Joints](<a href=“http://www.pigtrip.net/Directory-main.htm#Boston]Pigtrip.net”>http://www.pigtrip.net/Directory-main.htm#Boston)</p>
<p>Other names that bubble to the top:</p>
<p>Blue Ribbon (already mentioned) in Arlington (next to Sommerville) and West Newton (Boston College is in Newton). Passionate types debate the relative strengths of the two locations.</p>
<p>East Coast Grille in Cambridge</p>
<p>Soulfire in Alston (across the river from Harvard Square)</p>
<p>Lesters in Burlington (it has some sort of link to Blue Ribbon), which is a few towns away in the Rt128 high tech beltway but not that far (for a BBQ lover) by car</p>
<p>Thanks, ST! May have to try it sometime. How is the spice level? S1 likes spice, the other 3 of us don’t. Even if I ask for less or no spice, some restaurants still make it too spicy. An Indian restaurant near our home has a wonderful eggplant dish, but even when I ask for no spice, it’s still too spicy, even when I mix it with rice! So unfortunately I don’t go there anymore…</p>