Dinnertime!

Going to school in Boston has TONS of perks, the biggest is that you truly can never get bored here. Newbury St is only a few blocks down from campus (my personal favorite), The T can get you anywhere, there are 52 institutions of higher education (I Wikipeda-ed that to find out the exact number) so it seems like everyone in Boston is our age, and there are so many different parts of the city that you can explore and find new places on any given day!

I really feel like I have taken advantage of living in a city in the few years that I have been here so far! I try to get off campus at least once a week to do something fun or run an errand, and I am very familiar with so many different parts of Boston.  I love to walk around, and see and try new things, and whenever I have visitors I am always so excited to show off my knowledge of Boston and show them around all my favorite places. BUT…

The one thing I have not taken advantage of, (and probably will never)…food. As an incredibly picky eater, I am not very willing to try new foods, and I am certainly not adventurous at all when it comes to restaurants. Here is where I confess something that is somewhat embarrassing…

I love chain restaurants.

My friends love to make fun of me, but I strongly believe in this philosophy…the restaurant must be SO good that there are so many of them! Chain restaurants are safe, easy to select a meal, and provide absolutely no anxiety when I open the menu. Perfect!! And to be honest, I usually order the same dish every time I go! A few of my favorites…

California Pizza Kitchen

The website says “Authentic California-style cuisine” but I would simply classify it as good American Food. My favorite dish…Chicken Piccata.

Cheesecake Factory

One of the BIGGEST menus I have ever seen! But of course I order the same thing every time I go…Pasta Da Vinci! Chicken, mushrooms, onions and garlic cooked in an amazing wine sauce!!

And my absolute most favorite restaurant ever…

PF Changs

The most delicious food in the world. (Is that sad?) I happen to have an intense love for Asian food, I love noodles and chicken and vegetables and everything at PF Changs is delicious. I prefer to go with people who share my love, and also love to share dishes…some of my favorites include the chicken lettuce wraps, orange peel chicken, mangolian beef, veggie fried rice, lo mein…. truthfully, I have tried almost every chicken dish (loved them all.)

When Mike (my handsome boyfriend in case you didn’t know) comes to Boston to visit, we love to go out to eat. I have to admit, freshman and sophomore year we went to PF Changs for dinner almost every time he came. It was almost too sad and pathetic that we began to lie to my friends when they would ask where we had dinner. We would look up the name of a fancy restaurant and then would attempt to keep a straight face when they asked what we ate.

Recently, we have attempted to branch out a little bit, and break our chain restaurant streak. It was harder than we thought…

For Valentine’s Day last year, we went to eat at a restaurant on Newbury St called Papa Razzi. Seemed fancy, the food was delicious, the service fantastic! We thought we did it…until we got home and realized that it is in fact a chain, Papa Razzi has locations in MA, NJ, and even Washington DC.

Papa Razzi

 Earlier this year Mike decided to take on the job of finding restaurants in Boston. He came up with a list of a few and let me choose. We decided to go to Rock Bottom Brewery near the Boston Commons. It was AMAZING. It was such a cool atmosphere (which Mike especially loves in a restaurant), the food was delicious, and we couldn’t stop ordering! We ordered appetizers and drinks and the entrees were fantastic and we even ordered dessert...And then we got home and my sister informed us that my family had actually eaten at Rock Bottom many years ago…in Atlanta. We had found another chain.

This past weekend Mike came to visit, and once again, he wanted to pick the restaurant. He looked up a lot of places online and read many reviews, and finally decided on a restaurant called Silvertone Bar & Grill, right near the Park St T stop. They didn’t take reservations so we ended up having to wait about 20 minutes which wasn’t really a big deal. Small restaurant, cool vibes, and amazing food!!! We started off with an order of wings, and then Mike ordered steak and I ordered chicken stir fry with vegetables. Our waitress was not the best, but we had lots of laughs over the funny things she said to us, and the couple sitting at the table next to us. Overall we loved it, and raved about it to my roommates when we got back that night. Finally we were successful!!

Even at non-chain restaurants, I tend to order similar dishes, but I have really begun to understand why people love trying new places. Of course, eating at PF Changs is always delicious and satisfying, but there’s nothing exciting about it anymore. Finding new restaurants is fun, and even though I don’t love trying new foods, I do love eating the foods that I love at different places! Especially now that I am off of the meal plan and cooking for myself everyday, I love getting new ideas for things to cook!

 XOXO

Jenna


*all of the pictures are from google! I'm usually too busy eating to take any pictures of the restaurants or the food... oh well!