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MC Slim JB

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Parish Cafe and Bar

A veteran Back Bay restaurant expands to the South End
The edge of gentrification can present some close-minded folks with a barrier to finding good cheap eats.

By: MC SLIM JB | January 13, 2010

Kicking off the New Year right with fine traditional Mexican
Exploring a new restaurant is like baseball: sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and sometimes it isn't available. My Taquería Jalisco rainout was a Tuesday, its regular day off.

By: MC SLIM JB | January 06, 2010

Looking ahead to 2010

Some New Year's resolutions for budget-minded diners
Reviewing a new budget-priced restaurant every week gives me scant time for reflection. (I'd call it a treadmill, but that sounds both dreary and healthy — the opposite of the reality.) Year-end is an exception, so I pause to offer a few resolutions on behalf of Boston budget diners.

By: MC SLIM JB | December 30, 2009

2009: The year in cheap eats

A good year to dine 'On the Cheap,' for many reasons
In the wake of the Bush Recession, it's been gratifying to spend 2009 noting how many good budget-priced restaurants Boston has.

By: MC SLIM JB | December 24, 2009

Fordee's Falafel and Deli

A winning way with the humble ground-chickpea croquette
I've added a new entry to my growing catalogue of "stupid reasons why I waited too long to try some restaurant": the unlikely name.

By: MC SLIM JB | December 16, 2009

Indian Dhaba

Mumbai street-food novelties and worthy fusion cuisine
The phrase “fusion cuisine” inspires dread in me — I’ve been served too many misconceived culinary mash-ups over the years, usually European sauces awkwardly force-fit onto Asian foundations, or vice-versa.

By: MC SLIM JB | December 09, 2009

Fiorella's

A solid Italian-American trattoria with dynamite pizza
Friends are always asking me for my latest cheap-eats "discovery." But amid a million food blogs, 24/7 food television, and amateur-review Web sites like Chowhound and Yelp, I'm rarely the first to sing a good restaurant's praises.

By: MC SLIM JB | December 02, 2009

Vinh Sun BBQ and Restaurant

Cantonese roast meats and much more
Constrained by a small word count, I often choose restaurants with relatively short menus. I correctly took Vinh-Sun to be a Cantonese "BBQ" specialist, a retailer of roast pork, whole suckling pigs, ducks, and chickens. But it's also a spanking-clean Chinatown restaurant serving a broad Cantonese and Hong Kong menu.

By: MC SLIM JB | November 25, 2009

Tavern at the End of the World

Nice surprises in a warm, pubby package
They say there's no accounting for taste, though most folks will agree that if your tastes and mine are similar, then we both have good taste. This occurred to me as I scanned the jukebox at Charlestown's Tavern at the End of the World, a neighborhood bar/restaurant just outside Sullivan Square.

By: MC SLIM JB | November 18, 2009

Elite Restaurant

Eggs, coffee, and salty conversation
Some meals can bring you back vividly to your childhood, perhaps because your sense of smell and long-term memory are centered in adjacent areas of the brain.

By: MC SLIM JB | November 11, 2009

Simco's on the Bridge

A worthwhile old-time roadside-stand experience
Boston has hundreds of food blogs, with new ones appearing every day.

By: MC SLIM JB | November 04, 2009

The Snack Bar and O Senhor Ramos

Soul-satisfying, authentic Azorean specialties — oh, and sub-shop fare, too
Despite frequenting East Cambridge, I’m abashed to admit I overlooked the Snack Bar for years.

By: MC SLIM JB | October 28, 2009

Ducali Pizzeria and Bar

Good Italian-American pies and cheap drafts: any questions?
My old boss liked to say that people are happiest when reality exceeds their expectations.

By: MC SLIM JB | October 21, 2009

Bon Savor

A gifted new chef prompts a rare critical reassessment
With so many worthy unreviewed restaurants out there, it’s difficult to re-review a place the Phoenix has already covered.

By: MC SLIM JB | October 14, 2009

Boston Kebab House

An oasis of fresh Turkish and American food in the Financial District desert
Dozens of lousy fast-food chain outlets dot the Financial District. (If I worked there, I'd frequent Chinatown for lunch.)

By: MC SLIM JB | October 07, 2009

Buddy's Truck Stop

That increasingly rare bird: the honest-to-goodness old-time diner
The modern truck stop typically sits in an interstate-adjacent service area with a parking lot that can accommodate scores of big rigs.

By: MC SLIM JB | September 30, 2009

Rino's Place

Old-school, groaning-platter Italian-American meets authentic Italian in Eastie
I often chat up local chefs about their favorite restaurants, usually over drinks at late-night watering holes.

By: MC SLIM JB | September 23, 2009

Zo

An old friend in new digs still slings an outstanding gyros sandwich
There are many reasons to silently mourn the closing of Filene's in Downtown Crossing, but I know I vociferously wailed at the accompanying evictions of several worthy take-out restaurants that operated at the famed department store's sidewalk level.

By: MC SLIM JB | September 16, 2009

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