If you want good Chinese, Red pepper. If you want perfectly shitty Chinese-American takeout, I love Chef Ho on Millbury St. And that’s not bullshit. I love Chef Ho. I grew up eating “Chinese” take out. It wasn’t until a decade or so ago that I realized that Chinese food and Chinese-American takeout were different things. I love Chinese food and will keep exploring it wherever I can. But sometimes I just want a dinner combo of Gen Gau with your choice of app on a huge bed of fried rice. Chef Ho does this and does it reliably well.

Also, I know it’s a lil out of the way, but Meiji in N Oxford makes some damn good food. I’ve only been twice but both times I left pleasantly surprised. Menu isn’t anything special. Standard Chinese-American plus sushi, but the food quality is very high.

I went to Soho today! Got the sushi and sashimi lunch. 6 assorted sashimi, 4 assorted sushi, Cali roll, $15. Great simple sushi lunch.

I asked about Kisoro because I haven’t been either. I was hoping for feedback.

Parkway Diner on Shrewsbury St makes a damn good breakfast, is relatively inexpensive and they have a full bar. Other than that and Via, I agree. There’s a lot of restaurants on Shrewsbury but they are mostly only ok.

I like Baba for exactly what it is. I generally prefer simply prepared Japanese sushi, but sometimes I want a chef to throw something different out there. I like the sauces, but agree they are a little heavy handed. That’s why I like Yama Zakura too.

Soho does look good and the prices are nice too! That’s in the old Friendly’s on Park right?

While we are in that part of town, have you been to Kisoro?

Issue with Baba?

Based on…? The fact that I prefer cleaner, safer neighborhoods?

The reality is, you don’t know me. I could be a doctor. I could be an HVAC tech. I could be a beer salesman. I could work for the railroad. I could be an EMT. I could be a student.

Yeah I’m from the boroughs. Still love Worcester. I’m happy it’s on the upswing. Why aren’t you?

Fair warning, I know multiple people who had horrendous experiences with prefab. Delays, scheduling issues w/ tradesman, crazy hidden fees and surprise price increases.

I know 2 who were happy with the end result but won’t recommend prefab to anyone because of the issues. 3rd person walked away. Prefab guy wanted the contractual $15000 cancellation fee, but she hired a lawyer and once they started going through all of the contract violations the prefab guy had, they got out fee free (or maybe settled for significantly less, don’t remember). Found a company to custom build for only like $20000 more than the prefab. They had to cut a couple higher priced amenities but got the exact house they wanted.

Not trying to scare you off prefab. I know a couple people who had no issues w/ design and build and love their homes. Just do your research and definitely have a lawyer go through your contract before signing.

Disregard all the people jumping on you for being “young professionals”. There is a portion of people who long for the “good old days” when Worcester was more blue collar and, let’s be honest, dirtier, poorer and, depending on the area, dangerous. (I know this comes off as elitist. It’s not how I mean it. When I was younger there were a lot of neighborhoods I wouldn’t go into. Now they are fewer and more spread out).

I grew up 15 minutes east of Worcester and have been going there for my entire life. It’s on the upswing. The city has a massively diverse restaurant scene, with a wide variety of different cuisines and restaurant styles. Don’t be afraid to go into some of the smaller counter-style restaurants. Some of the best look like dirty holes-in-the-walls. (Hien Vuong on Green St is still the best Pho I’ve had). Shawarma, Indian, African, Caribbean, and Asian food is all represented throughout. I avoid chains and corporate restaurants and have rarely had a bad meal.

I’m not a club guy, so I can’t speak to the scene, but the bar scene is solid and ranges from dives to upscale, craft cocktail focused. There are several excellent breweries in town. There are a couple different arcade bars/esports cafes.

Whatever your interests are, either Worcester has it, or you can find it within a 20-30 drive. Worcester is the hub of Central MA with major highways going in all directions and the surrounding cities and towns have a ton to offer.

Public transit is pretty terrible. I definitely recommend a car. Parking generally isn’t an issue, other than downtown where you will often need to use a garage or pay lot.

Also, if you aren’t familiar with the general area, just know that the people here are generally great. I’ve worked in/around Worcester for the majority of my adult life. I’ve never not felt welcome. You will encounter a fair share of assholes, but that true anywhere.

Feel free to reply with any questions

It’s by county. If you’re in the same county as Lowell, ya gotta go.

They have had a hard time retaining kitchen staff, so they haven’t served food up there for a while. Additionally, the manager has been away a lot due to an ailing family member, so it hasn’t been open for alcohol service much as of recently.

I just googled “Marlboro men’s softball” and 3 or 4 different things popped up. There was also a link to Marlboro’s city rec website

I haven’t played in years, but there’s always been rec softball leagues in Marlboro. They play weekends at the high school.

Second this. Whiskey Wednesday at Julio’s is great. I went nearly every week for 2-3 years straight. They have a very nice tasting room in the basement. They bring in reps from distilleries or just lead the tastings themselves. Julio’s also has several single barrel offerings from different distilleries under their Loch and Key society label. Ryan, the owner, will go to a distillery, taste different barrels and select one to sell as L&K special selection. It sucks that they charge now, it was free when I was going. But if you watch their event calendar and wait for something that interests you, I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Clinton’s ER can’t handle anything serious. I used to work for the ambulance company that was contracted to transfer out of Clinton. If any even remotely seriously ill person comes in, they immediately send them out to UMass, Leominster, Marlboro or Boston. During COVID they were sending people as far as Hartford. It’s a glorified band-aid station and part of the reason UMass is always so packed. Leominster and Marlboro can handle anything short of high level trauma and MI/CVA that may require a catheter or interventional radiology. I once picked up a transfer from Clinton for an elderly woman who fell. X-ray showed no fracture, patient was stable and only complaining of minor pain to left hip. When asked the reason for the transfer, the Dr stated “It’s a trauma. We don’t do that here.” We took the lady to UMass. She was Xrayed again, which was negative again. They gave her an Rx for pain and transferred her back to her facility in Clinton.

Lilac Hedge Farm. It’s either in Holden or Rutland. Great meats. GREAT meats.

Sir Loins is a catering company

There’s a Treehouse location in Sandwich now. It’s just across the the bridge on Cape Cod. If that’s too far, Night Shift makes some great beers and is widely available in the area. Their hazy IPA is Fluffy and it’s excellent. They also make a hazy pale ale called Whirlpool. It tastes great and is only like 4.5% ABV.

Hike Wachusett Mountain. Seriously, it blows my mind that the trails up there aren’t swarmed with leaf peepers.