Mezcal Tequila Cantina

Last night I got home form work, and My wife said lets go to Mezcal for diner. Who am I to argue such a great idea. And besides this is probably our last chance to get out during Worcester Restaurant Week.

Appearance: Mezcal is located right on Shrewsbury Street in Worcester, and has outside sidewalk seating. When you enter there is a small bar area to your left, and a small dining area to you right. I also noticed another dining area located upstairs. All tables and lined with brown paper, and have a bowl of fresh avocado's on them. There is a guacamole bar right in the restaurant where you can watch the guacamole being made.

Food: We have been here before, and really liked it. This time we ordered off the Restaurant Week Menu. It was not a very large menu, so we chose opposite each other to try all they had offered.

For appetizers we had Fried jalapeno & jack cheese rice balls with chipotle lime aioli (Very Good), and Made to order guacamole with fresh tortilla chips. I love there guacamole, it is a must have when you visit Mezcal.

For the main course my wife chose the Chicken Quesadilla, and could not even put a dent in the amount she was served. I went with the Blue corn crusted tilapia over bbq pinto beans with
bacon & spinach topped with creamed corn sauce & mini cheese quesadilla. OMG it was so good!! My son got the Kids Cheese Quesadilla's with about a pint of sour cream.

The dessert was Coconut crusted fried ice cream with strawberry sauce, whipped cream & shaved chocolate. It was excellent, though I did have to send back the first one as it had no ice cream in it. But I had a new, and lager one within minutes.

Service: Great service!! Our waitress was very pleasant. Food came promptly, and hot. The dessert error was quickly resolved.

Value: I think the value is great. Excellent Mexican food with large portions. How can you go wrong! And once again the Guacamole is the best value.

Obviously I would recommend Mezcal to anyone that likes Guacamole, but I would also suggest you give the place a shot even if you don't. Great food!!!!

Mezcal Tequila Cantina
166 Shrewsbury St
Worcester, MA 01604
http://mezcalcantina.com/

VIA Italian Table

Another night out enjoying Worcester Restaurant week. This Time we went with 2 other couples. After looking at lots of menu's online, we made a group decision to try VIA on Shrewsbury Street.

Appearance: VIA is located right on Shrewsbury St in Worcester. You enter from the Street behind the building, walking through their large enclosed Patio. When you walk in, there is a nice looking Bar to the left, and a fairly large dining area. There were a lot of fancy half moon shaped booths, and the lighting consisted of a lot of flameless looking candles hanging from the ceiling.

Food: Everyone just ordered soda's on this night, though they did have a menu for drinks. We all chose to order off the Worcester Restaurant week menu. I am pretty sure between all of us we tried all the offerings off the Restaurant Week menu.

For Appetizers had a few very good sized portions of Fried Calamari that were excellent. There was an order of Jumbo Shrimp cocktail that consisted of 4 or 5 shrimps. My neighbor ordered the Asparagus, Toasted Walnut & Goat Cheese Salad, and our only complaint was the goat cheese was very soft. And my wife went with the Zucchini with Almonds & Truffled Pecorino. She did not like the cheese, but the rest of us did.

There were 3 choices for the main course, and we did get them all. There were 3 very good sized Chicken Parmesan's, 2 orders of the Split roasted sirloin of beef served over pea Risotto, and 1 order of Tuscan Shrimp Scampi. Everyone raved about how good their meals were, and of course some of tried others meals. multiple people took home dogie bags.

For Dessert, we had 1 order of Homemade Gelato, 2 orders of Creamsicle Panna Cotta , and 3 Cannoli's. I would say the Cannoli's were a bit disappointing. The filling was to soft, and the shells all fell apart. The Creamsicle Panna Cotta was very good, and almost to much to finish.

Value: I can not speak for the regular menu, which looked pricey, but the Restaurant week menu was a great value. The portions were large, and I assume the regular menu portions would be ass well. How often can 6 people go out to eat a good meal for $140.

Service: We had 2 waiters that were both very attentive. The only error made was an Ice tea was brought when a Pepsi was ordered, but that could have been the bar, not our waiter. They were quick to apologize and get another beverage.

I hope many of you are enjoying Worcester Restaurant week which ends tomorrow, so if you get a chance, give VIA a shot, and I am sure you will be satisfied.

VIA Italian Table
89 Shrewsbury St.
Worcester, MA 01604
http://www.viaitaliantable.com/

Flying Rhino Cafe & Watering Hole

Last night my wife and I got together with some friends to go out and experience a new Restaurant during Worcester's Restaurant week. We wanted to try someplace we would not usually go as this would be a good opportunity to try a 3 course meal for the reasonable price of $20.09. we decided on the Flying Rhino Cafe & Watering Hole.

Appearance: Flying Rhino Cafe & Watering Hole is located on busy Shrewsbury St. They have outside seating both on the sidewalk, and they have a good sized deck. Inside is a small cafe looking restaurant with a large handful of booths and tables.

Food: No complaints in the food department, except the wait and there was a tiny loaf of bread sliced into 3 pieces for a party of 4. I would say there was about 30 minutes between appetizers, and the main course. 3 of us ordered off the Pre Fixed Menu for Worcester's Restaurant Week. We all had different appetizers. The girls tried the Cucumber, Tomato and Feta salad, and the Crab Ragoons. I went with the beef and Mushroom Barley. We also ordered an order of Thai Chicken Lettuce wraps, and pot stickers. I would say all appetizers were very good. for the main course, both girls got the Chicken Charmondy dish, and I tried the Prime rib. My friend ordered off the regular menu and choose the Everything Tuna. Once again all very good. For desserts, we had the White Chocolate Croissant pudding, and the Fried dough, and had no complaints. I will get into the drinks during the service part of my review.

Value: The pre fixed menu was not a bad value at $20.09 for the 3 courses, and the portion sizes were bigger then I had expected. I would stay away form mixed drinks here as a sangria cost $9. Beers were about average priced. The Tuna steak was about $20, and appetizers ran around $8 each. Our bill came to $132.01 for the 4 of our dinners with drinks.

Service: This is where I was greatly disappointed. Have you ever gone inside to a Dunkin Donuts, and had the one person working the counter, and 6 people working the drive up window? Well that is what it felt like. We sat inside, and watched out waitress service the outside dining area all night. We started the evening by ordering our first round of drinks. Before Appetizers were served we ordered our second beers. While eating our appetizers another tables appetizers were delivered to our table. A few minutes later our waitress showed up with a glass of wine asking who ordered it. I said we ordered Beers, and she said they would be right up. Now we are done our appetizers, and still have not seen out drinks., and our waitress uses the excuse that they had to change the Tap. I might have believed that if she had brought my Buddy's Bud bottle and said that, or if when my beer showed up it had any foam on it. It must have been sitting at the bar for quite some time after it was poured to have no foam left. I am pretty sure that is the last time we saw out waitress again until the bill was brought. Approximately 30 minutes after our appetizer plates were cleared someone brought our main course. By the time we were done the main course we had been there an hour and a half. we wanted to ask for our desserts to go at this point, but that was not an options as we never saw our waitress. Also the menu said coffee was served with dessert, and we were not offered any.

I left exact change $132.01, and wrote on the Bill poor service no tip. How do you call yourself a watering hole, if you can't Even get a beer. I heard from our friends that the waitress was in the parking lot holding a slip in her hand when they drove away. I would hoe it was to apologize!!

I can not say I would recommend Flying Rhino Cafe to any of my friends.

Flying Rhino Cafe & Watering Hole
278 Shrewsbury St.
Worcester, MA 01604
http://www.flyingrhinocafe.com/

At Flying Rhino, and it is going bad. Review to come