Margarita's

          Margaritas feels like an old school classic for me. I grew up eating here, and one of my first jobs in high school was a server at one of the NH locations. In my brief stint working there, I learned that most (if not all of the dishes) are made from scratch including the guacamole and sauces (servers actually had to learn every single ingredient in case some asked or had a food allergy). As a teenager I was not the adventurous eater I am today, and didn't touch meat aside from chicken or vegetables outside of salad. Margaritas introduced me to some firsts including guacamole which I never would have tried if my coworkers hadn't practically forced me. Now guacamole and avocados in general are some of my favorite foods, and it's one of my first memories of really branching out and trying something new.

          Whenever I eat at Margaritas, I order the tomato and garlic nachos with chicken and bacon (sadly I dove into these before I could grab a pic at my last visit). These are not your traditional American nachos loaded with cheese, refried beans, sour cream, etc. These are much more simple and I think more flavorful. Everyone who's been with me has been skeptical at first, and ends up loving them!

         I usually order some sort of combination plate for my main course so I can try a little bit of everything. At my last visit I tried the "From the Land" taco combo, which came with one chicken taco with onion, cilantro and mild three-pepper sauce, one pork carnitas taco with pickled onions and chipotle BBQ sauce, and one braised beef taco with salsa fresca and crema. They were all good, but my favorite was definitely the pork carnitas.

          The fiancé ordered an enchilada combo with red, white, and green sauces, black beans, and rice.

           Over the years the menu has remained pretty consistent, and I appreciate being able to oder old favorites as well as try new dishes. As much as I love the hole-in-the-wall authentic taco spots I've discovered in Waltham and East Boston, Margaritas is still my favorite higher end restaurant for American-Mexican and of course great Margaritas!

           

John Harvard's

          Last night the Fiance and I tried John Harvard's in Framingham for dinner. It's a brew house with great craft beers and comfort food. I started with this mid winter imperial stout, which was malty with hints of coffee and chocolate.

          We shared an order of boneless wings with their stout bbq. I loved the sauce, which was the perfect combination of sweet and savory.

          I ordered a French dip for my main course, which was made with beef pastrami, Swiss cheese, all pressed on a French baguette. The beef pastrami was delicious, and made this much more tender and juicy than the standard French dip. It didn't even need the au jus on the side, but of course I dipped it anyway!

          The Fiance ordered the Shepard's pie, which I stole a few bites of. The conbination of ground beef, potatoes, and gravy was exactly what you'd hope for when ordering a dish like this-comfort food at its best.

           We didn't have room for dessert, but brought home a growler of caber toss, a full bodied ale with just a hint of hoppiness. It was perfect to drink at home, and now that I know they do growlers to go I'll definitely stop by more often!

Capo

           I've lived in Southie for about two years now, and enjoy both Lincoln and Loco. I was excited to check out Capo, the newest addition to the family. Since all of the restaurants are always packed, the fiance and I showed up 15 minutes before opening on a Friday afternoon. There was already a short wait, but we were seated right away as soon as they were ready to open for dinner.

          We shared a meat and cheese board, which comes in two sizes. Our small was loaded with prosciutto, salami, capicola, parmesan, robiola, and blue cheese all served with toasted bread, olives, and fig spread. Everything was delicious - though I can't even what a large board would have looked like!

          I ordered the veal saltimboca as my main course. The veal was incredibly tender and flavorful, served in an amazing white wine sauce with cipollini onions, and pancetta.

          The fiance had the malfatti pasta with sausage, red pepper, and fresh pesto. I stole a bite and really enjoyed the unique combination of flavors, as well as the kick of spice from the red pepper.

 
           Capo is a great addition to the neighborhood; Southie has been missing a good Italian restaurant and this is exactly what we needed!

The Sixth Gear

          Last week I stopped by The Sixth Gear for some apps and cocktails. They just opened up a few weeks ago, and the space has a cool steampunk feel. The cocktails were creative and tasty; I tried their take on a mojito which was made with vodka instead of rum and the artificer a martini with honey gin and fresh cilantro. 

           We tried the salty and sweet, which came with four spoonfuls of roasted pear, pancetta, goat cheese and balsamic. Each bite was the perfect combination of flavors; achieving that contrast of sweet and savory.

          We also tried the bacon wrapped dates which came stuffed with goat cheese and hazelnuts, and was topped with a coffee glaze. Bacon and dates is a classic tapas dish, and I loved the twist of the hazelnut and coffee.

          We finished with an order of beef skewers topped with peanuts and served with a side of peanut sauce. These were seared perfectly, and the peanut sauce gave them a bit of a Thai feel.

          I enjoyed the check presentation in addition to the creative food and drinks! The bartender handed it to us tucked inside a copy of The Great Gatsby!

  

          As we were leaving, I saw a burger being delivered to another table... it was definitely impressive and made the top of my list for when I go back!

Legal Seafoods

          Legal has always been one of my go to places for classic seafood that's consistently high quality. The fiance and I went to dinner this week at the Framingham location, and had a great experience. We started with a dozen oysters, and I was excited to see kumamotos on the menu which are always my favorite. They were incredibly fresh and perfect with just a light squeeze of lemon.

          The fiance ordered the stuffed shrimp, which were huge and came with tons of crab meat stuffing. I stole a bite of the stuffing and it was delicious.

           For my main course, I ordered the tuna sashimi appetizer on top of a house salad. This came with TONS of tuna, and it was a beautiful piece with just a slight sear and topped with a wasabi vinaigrette.

 

          We shared the Boston cream pie for dessert; Legal's version has always been one of my favorites and they recently added a rum caramel sauce and toffee bits that made it even better!