Greg's Restaurant
- Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: No
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: No
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Good for: Dinner
- Alcohol: Full Bar
13 Reviews for Greg's Restaurant
Greg's isn't the coolest place (it felt a little geriatric...not that that's a bad thing, necessarilly) but the food was great, especially for the price. You can't go wrong with the chicken parm, and they have some great lunch specials (sausage sub is ginormous and tasty). There isn't anything too fancy on the menu, but if you're in the mood for some great Italian comfort food, Greg's is an excellent choice.
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Yeah, yeah, this place is a blast from the past but it's a past that i'd rather not revisit.
The place is filled with senior citizens. The ambiance is...old? dirty? Checkered table cloths that have probably been there for 3 decades, back when the other diners were still middle aged.
This would all be cool with me if the food was good. I came here hung over with my man once for some Italian goodness. The food was gross! For some reason, certain foods remind me of vomit, they literally put a bad taste in my mouth. They include crappy iceberg lettuce salad and tomato sauce that tastes like it came from a can or a squeeze bottle. YUCK. My pasta was overcooked, the sauce tasted like regurgitated contadina, and the chicken was rubbery.
I wanted to like this place, but the food just wasn't good. I'd rather spend an extra $3 and get something palatable than get a lot of mediocre food for my money.
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Greg's meets with my Dad's approval. The drinks are strong, the waitresses feisty and the food is comforting.
Greg's isn't everyone's idea of Italian food - it's specifically an old-school New England red sauce joint. The American-Italian kind our grandparents and young parents used to dine in back in the 50's and 60's (anyone remember Tony's near Newton Center? Like that.). In fact, the same family has proudly owned Greg's since the 1930's. Why change what works? So, in that checkered tablecloth, free soup or salad with your meal way, Greg's is homey and unsurprising.
And that doesn't mean the food's bad. My Chicken Marsala was just right and there was plenty of it. Dad liked his Chicken Parm a lot, plus his side of butternut squash was better than I get at Thanksgiving! And Mr Mike's steak was more medium than medium rare, but it was tender and tasty, served in classic New England style with three little not-quite-overcooked pieces of broccoli. Plus, the Scali bread was soft and the waitress even helped Dad open the butter pat he mangled with no small amount of sarcasm (believe me, Dad was asking for it).
Yes, those same people who used to come to Greg's in the 50's and 60's are *still* sitting at the bar, laughing loudly and hooting at the Sox game. And it's one of the friendlier bars in town, as long as you nod hello. The drinks are strong and large; the bartender made Dad's Rob Roy and served it in two glasses (he'd poured extra by mistake and put the remainder in the mixing glass on the bar like he was serving a frappe.)
All told, by the end of the meal, Dad was insisting we come back to Greg's soon - and that's fine by us.
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Very much a local spot that has great early bird specials. With the bouncy plastic booths and the friendly waitstaff, Greg's reminds me of what it would be like to eat in the old days. I sometimes feel out of place coming here because most of the clientele is 45+ but they have always made me feel at home.
Both the prime rib and the chicken parm were so huge that I had to take the leftovers home and had enough for lunch the next day. The prices are very reasonable and they have their own parking lot which helps. They offer beer, liquor, and wine so there is something for everyone. My one pet peeve is that they close early, and I eat dinner late.
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Oh Greg's. It's so delightfully suburban. It's so hoppin' in that Early Bird Dinner Special, Senior Citizen's Discount kind of way. Even on a weeknight! There was even a wait for a table! You get to wait in the 'lounge' area. Fancy!
The food here is so what I grew up with in suburban Massachusetts...it brings me back to going out for dinner with my parents as a kid in the Kingston/Plymouth area, from the Italian scala bread with sesame to the free iceberg lettuce salad that comes with your meal. The portions are huge and yummy-- after the chicken parm with a side of linguini I am deep, deep within a food coma.
Greg's is not gourmet by any stretch, but the food is really really good, especially the traditional Italian offerings. It is total comfort food. The service is friendly yet no nonsense and very efficient. I wish I had gone here more when I lived in the neighborhood!
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I have been eating at Gregs since about 1982 and I have NEVER, yes NEVER had a bad meal. The food is great and the wait staff very friendly. A perfect meal: start with the cheesy garlic bread, salad with creamy peppercorn dressing, eggplant & chicken parm combo (extra sauce) side of ziti...you will be stuffed! Don't forget at least 2 glasses of red wine. The seafood dishes are also great. Be prepared to wait at Gregs;I usually wait and go about 8 pm to avoid waiting for a table. Excellent!!
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The pasta they served at my college cafeteria was better than what I've had at Greg's. Well the pasta itself was about the same--totally overcooked. I had a fish special once that was not special at all--cooked to death like the pasta and covered in a bland, acidic tomato sauce.
I do like that they have self serve Ritz crackers and Velveeta over the in the lounge, but I don't get the hype from so many of these reviews--seems like they were either raised on floppy pasta, or the 'teeheehee we're eating next to old townies' factor has affected their judgment for the worse.
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Love it. You can not go wrong with the Early Bird Special. Kids friendly. Shrimp Scampi was nice and garlicky. Loved every bit of it from the roll they give you to the sweet desert.
Stepping out of my car into the first "real" cold evening and into the warmth of Greg's was very nice. I felt like I was stepping back in time. The front door leads to the bar area, and you need to walk through the bar to get to the hostess. There was wait for a few minutes and my friend and I were STARVING. We walked to the "lounge" to wait. I was actually happy for the wait, because there is a basket of ritz crackers and a whole vat of spreadable cheddar cheese. This was a nice touch, it was a very nice snack before dinner. We sat down and the dining area is very small. I wouldn't say intimate and most of these people seemed pretty rowdy, but the cheese and crackers that I was still scarving down made me happy. The bread is so soft and had sesame seeds, that was goooood. The butter was not frozen so it easily could spread on the soft bread. I got linguine w/ meat sauce and a glass of ruffino. The prices are cheap and the portions were good, the quality was good too. My salad that came with dinner was okay, typical iceberg, one tomato wedge (why do I always get the gross green top of the tomato (just cut that part out already), the dressing of parmesan pepppercorn was okay to. But overall, it was a nice place. Service was good too!
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Greg's is what it is... a neighborhood place where most of the men at the bar know the waitresses names, and probably went to school with them. That being said, you can get a pretty filling meal here for a song, and be treated like you've been coming there forever.
And isn't that all we really want anywhere?
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As everyone has noted, this is definitely a LOCALS spot. However, after being prompted by many longtime Belmont, West Cambridge, Watertown locals to try it, we did.
We loved it. It's just cheesy enough with the free cheese spread and crackers while you wait to be seated, to be endearing.
The EARLY BIRD SPECIALS are amazing. Where else can you get a tasty steak, salad, and baked potato for $9.99??? The food is actually good! Mind you, there are mostly senior citizens in for the Early Bird Specials, but does it really matter?
If you're short on cash, and want a hearty, filling, meal served in a nice, non-pretentious atmosphere- this is your place! We saw lots of people ordering and enjoying the Italian dishes. Seems like the concensus is everything is good!
Here's the thing about Greg's -- you either love it as it is or you take it off your list after one visit. I have been going to this place since 1999 and can say with confidence that little has changed except the smoking policy and the removal of the little stand near the door that used to sell lottery tickets. That's pretty much a good thing because Greg's has a lot to offer.
First of all, Greg's has good, uncomplicated, inexpensive Italian and American dishes. They make some great veal dishes as well as prime rib and fish dishes your grandma probably likes -- lots of break crumps on top of various haddock-like varieties of fish. Entrees come with either a small salad or soup of of the day, which is usually minestrone. You also get a choice of side starches or veggies. I am a huge fan of the butternut squash personally.
Remember how I mentioned your grandmother? Well, Greg's usual clientele consists mostly of Watertown natives able to be members of the AARP at least earlier in the evening. The real upside of this is that Greg's has a super selection of early bird specials. When I recently brought a friend there for an early dinner he looked a bit wary of the crowd in the small lounge sipping Manhattans and eating the free spreadable cheese and ritz crackers. All the animated Christmas dolls seemed to alarm him. His doubt turned to admiration after he waddled out the door completely full and with his wallet barely lightened.
One other thing worth noting, Greg's really feels like a neighborhood place. Even if the same hostess has seated you a hundred times you don't seem to earn a place in her memory unless you attend Watertown High reunions. That's ok with me -- just keep the good food at a reasonable price coming.
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ok, so it's a townie joint, but it's a really, really good townie joint. this place gets packed on friday and saturday nights and is closed on sundays, so plan accordingly!
it's true, most of the clientele are old folks who have lived in watertown forever - but there's nothing wrong with that. greg's offers really well done italian dishes, and if you're an eyetalian like me, it'll more than likely make you think of your grandma. the chicken parm is super yummy and cheesy, and with most of the entrees, you get a choice of soup or salad... get the escarole soup, it's AMAZING.
there's a bar and a dining area, and although it's small, it's very cozy. i love this place.
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