Dining Delights

Three weeks ago a new restaurant opened in town.  And I just learned that two more are on the way.  That will bring the total to about 70 eateries in a village of 24,000.  We’re not underserved.  Being an upscale community it’s hardly surprising that folks in our town eat out often, together with those from surrounding areas.  We are, after all, living in an age when self-described foodies abound, chefs are celebrities and when restaurants of all kinds overspread the land.

Here’s what’s on the menus around town.  We’ve got an array of chain establishments – including McDonald’s, Subway, Taco Bell, Friday’s and Panera, and the predictable coffee houses – Starbucks and Dunkin donuts, plus an independent Java Joint.  Pizzerias – they’re everywhere (gluten-free if you request it).  We have our ever-reliable diner – everything you may ever want to eat – open twenty hours a day (there is a second one that closed after a fire, but promises, unconvincingly to reopen).  Several luncheonettes are sprinkled here and there, and add a “bagelry” and a delicatessen.

We feature more than a half dozen bar-restaurant establishments, complete with beer, bottomless chips, fields of flat TV screens and real food.  We’ve got the obligatory steak houses and a venerable clam bar.  We were, for a time, without a fish place, but that vacuum was filled with two recent entrants.  Naturally international cuisine is ever present – French, Italian, Mexican, Chinese, Thai, Asian-Fusion, Sushi, Greek, Mediterranean and Middle East, and not just one of each.  The selection was once even broader, but our Portuguese and Indian restaurants both left town.  And let’s not forget deserts; available are ices, ice cream, frozen custard, frozen yogurt stores, as well as an eat-in bakery.

Always, there’s talk about how many restaurants our town can support (the only reliable answer rests with the marketplace).  And as we’ve noted, some don’t make it.  Still, in their place quite predictably, you will  find yet another restaurant opening its doors.  Around here, eating out is definitely “in”.