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Hot Tomatoes
Category: Restaurants [Edit]
Neighborhood: North End261 North St
(between Fleet St & Lewis St)
Boston, MA 02113
(617) 557-0033
- Nearest Transit:
-
Aquarium (Blue)
Haymarket (Orange)
- Attire:
- Casual
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Groups:
- No
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- Yes
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good for:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- None
36 reviews for Hot Tomatoes
Review Highlights
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I love Hot Tomatoes! I've been working in Boston for almost a year now, and I get take out from here quite often. Although, they can be very forgetful (forget to include your bread, tomatoes, pickle etc.), I still love coming here. Their sandwiches are very unique and mighty tasty. I always go for the Jersey Exit 24 and I get it hot, you gotta try it!
Oh, and when I eat their "Garlic Knots," I hear angels sing.
Well, I went back - and I (stupidly) ordered the same thing. Again, they were not doing the salad with fresh tuna, as the menu claimed. The substitution was shrimp, which I love, but I could tell they'd been sitting around for a while. I'm sure they're the pre-cooked shrimp for the shrimp scampi pizza. The salad had no potatoes, though the menu said it would, and the dressing was too light and too lemony. But, the greens were fresh which was a big improvment over last time.
I think I learned a valuable lesson here and that lesson is to not order a salad here. My husband loved his spaghetti and meatballs and I had one of his "garlic knots" and it was tasty.
In my previous post I mentioned certain things were overpriced but I will say, spag & meatball, side salad & garlic knots for $9.95 is a steal!
The people are super nice and the atmosphere is adorable and I know certain items are big hits. I just ordered wrong, again. But, I'm not giving up until I can give this place 5 stars I may have to try the pizza for that to happen. it looks amazing.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
-
4/12/2007
First to Review
The people who own Carmen in the North End have recently opened a casual dining place on North St.… Read more »
Meh. Its definitely hit or miss. I've gotten great sauce and then also been given what I swear should have been something for the tomato discard pile. When its right, its super yummy.
The customer service has been a consistent problem. I've been there and given it so many chances. Its mostly kids that work there I think but its not an ideal establishment for no experience with customer service and a complete disregard for common courtesy. I can save my money and go to plenty of other places in the North End. I don't need the attitude.
Back when I lived around the corner Hot Tomatoes used to rock my world. Since moving to the other side of the North End, I can definitely say I miss the stumble around the corner for a great sandwich or pizza. My waistline does not.
The key to this place is really to order the items that are served HOT - no cold tomatoes here! WHY WOULD YOU ORDER A SALAD AT THIS PLACE?!?! They're overpriced and seriously under-satisfying. Same goes for the cold subs.
On to the good stuff. As someone who has eaten here way too much I have a decent list of the old standbys....
The Tomato Soup (Comes with garlic knots, delicious creamy or not)
The Islander Pizza (A veggie pizza even the manly men will enjoy)
The Cowboy (Can't go wrong pulled pork and bbq sauce)
The Big Cheese (A cheesesteak variety that stands up to the best of Philly, and I should know I grew up there)
The Don (Meatball subs are glorious when delivered hot on a cold winter day)
The Nantucket (This sandwich can be hit or miss but when done right is what some might call BA-NA-NAS)
Yum! This place is adorable and tasty.
We ordered the garlic knots (deliciously cheesy and garlicky) and two pizzas--the Islander and the Kendall Square. Both were great. The crust is perfect and fresh, and the toppings were tasty. The location is also off the North End tourist path, so it was calm and quiet on a Saturday night when we were there. Go!
This place is awesome. The Calzones are enormous. The service is great. My girlfriend ordered a salad but didn't expect it to have so many tomatoes in it, so they made something different for her and didn't charge us. Our waitress was really nice. Highly recommended.
After a weekend full of ridiculous food, I decided that the icing on the cake would be to finally eat Hot Tomatoes for Sunday nights dinner. You've done enough damage, whats one more course going to do to you, right?
So we ordered through GrubHub (first time ordering through them and I would definitely recommend them) and within 45 minutes our sandwiches were at the door. Nice.
I had wanted to try the Cowgirl for so, so, so, long.. and well, it tasted like Willow Tree chicken salad from the grocery store. I mean, I love Willow Tree, but if I wanted it, I'd go to Shaws. The Cowgirl just didn't live up to it's hype. By the end of it I was taking the chicken salad out of the sandwich and piling it on garlic knots and finally finding some flavor. The knots were awesome.
He got the Italian sandwich and said it was really fresh but nothing he'd just have to eat again.
So, I tried it, I was happy enough, but I won't be back for more.
My favorite place to go on lunch break. I always get the special. Great deal because the food is great and there is alot of it. I usually go there for my pasta fix (pasta of the day coes with a salad and 2 garlic-knots), but the sandwiches are great too. I love the rolls for the subs.
I love this place. I'm absolutely obsessed with the Cowgirl. I'm a creature of habit and rarely stray from something when I love it. I also love the Hot Tomatoes Salad and think that their balsamic is divine. We ordered a pizza once from here and I wasn't crazy about it but every sandwich I've tried has been absolutely delicious.
I like the vibe of the place as well but it's FREEZING in the winter. They are super quick with takeout and as of now remain my dependable go to for lazy stay-out-of-the-kitchen sort of nights.
Having stayed in the N.End w/the bf when I first moved to Boston, I passed this place a number of times but never went in. Last night we decided to get take-out from there while watching the BCS game. This was mainly driven by our typical pizza-take-out (delivery) place - Upper Crust - becoming kind of shitty. (will describe in Upper Crust review).
We got a large and had caramelized onions (fancy!) on 1/2 of it. And also 2 salads. There were 3 of us, and this was plenty of food. The pizza was hot and the crust was very E-Coast (doughy but not too thick) and the crust was crispy too...yumm. The salads were actually surprisingly good! One was their house salad which had cubes of fresh mozz in it, the other was their other vegetarian salad, which had goat cheese and come on...goat cheese makes everything better! :) Their garlic knots were awesome too. This will definitely be a take-out staple going forward, since there aren't too many good options when we hang out at the bf's place in the N.End.
Oh I had the tummy rumbles BAD! It would take a mean meal o' carbs to fill my mighty void. And what better place to do it then the brick labyrinth of the North End? Yet I hesitated. Take me off of Salem or Hanover and my internal compass and/or good eats radar inevitably fails.
Local buddy to the rescue! I was decisively led to the cutest, quaint holy grail of NE lunch spots. Told to ignore the pizza, we dove into a chick-a-dee salad (sub gorgonzola dressing) piled high with fresh veggie goodness, and a chicken cutlet sandwich accompanied by a firm and chewy penne salad and homemade pickles. Crisp bread with a texture that scrapes the top of your mouth, perfectly mushy avocado, yummy seasoned grilled chicken.
I left a happy girl.
Hot Tomatoes and I have this love-hate relationship. I absolutely love their un-creamy tomato soup, the occasional sandwich, the potato salad, and a few of the salads... oh, and the garlic knots! Yum!
However what I hate about it is: the pasta dishes suck, their pizzas are inconsistent (order one one day, it's fine; order the same a few days later, it's a totally different pie), and everything except the soups is overpriced by at least $2-3.
The service is usually excellent, and the waitresses remember you when you return. To mitigate the high prices, bring a few friends along and then split the overall check; it works pretty well that way and is then actually cheap!
Nonetheless, HT is one of the few unstuffy, fairly reasonable places in the North End, and a happy hangout for regulars who live in the neighborhood. I'd say its only peer (in terms of atmosphere, price, and comfortability) is Boston Beanstock on Salem.
I love the Hot Tomato pie!! Different from your traditional cheese pizza in that it has buffalo mozzarella and basil on top making it the caprese salad of pizzas!! Also My Little Chickadee is an amazing salad, though I have yet to find an avocado in it... strange. They lose points for delievering a regular cheese when I ordered a Hot Tomato pie, and for the fact that they take SOOO LONG that my pizza is usually late and lukewarm when I get it. Better off going there with a couple friends.
Hands down the best tasting and most affordable sandwich shop in the North End. Deal with it.
Hot Tomatoes is a real blessing. My only concern is that my budget and calorie-burning won't be able to keep up with my rate of consumption.
Forget-me-knots = tiny fists of garlic bread; first time they were under-cooked and therefore too gooey in the middle; they tasted much better the second time around, though still a little greasy
Small Box of Meatballs = not on the menu; I order a small container of meatballs and make my own spagetti; balls are small but tasty!
The Hit Sloppy Joey = I love bolognese and I love carmelized onions, but this sandwich was a little too sloppy for me, as the bread gets soaked through with oily greasiness and loses its solid state
Cheesy Tomato Combo = grilled cheese with oven roasted tomatoes and tomato soup; I LOVE their creamy tomato soup, but I'd recommend getting the grilled cheese sans ORT, since they're a little too much for such a basic sammy
Jersey Exit 24 = turkey, ham and swiss; really enjoyed it, but will ask for "slaw on the side" or "light dressing" next time because it was a little too moist
Northender = chicken, provolone and arugula; it was good and decent, but not very memorable
Carmen Cubano = roasted pork with spicy pepperoncini relish on ciabatta bread; split this with a friend--filling and delicious (love its crispiness and pepperoncini spice)!
The Big Cheese = beef, cheese and caramelized onions; haven't tried it yet, but this is my roommate's favorite
Sandwiches come with a choice of side: potato salad, pasta salad or cole slaw. I don't like slaw so I haven't tried theirs, but in my opinion the potato is superior to the pasta salad (which was tasteless and icky)
The restaurant is small but can accomodate about 18 or so people for dining in. I typically just call ahead and pick up my food, but when I did stay and eat I really liked it. The atmosphere is comfy and welcoming, and the staff are very nice. When things get extremely busy, they tend to forget about you, however. Still, they're sweet and apologetic, so I can never be upset with them. Our server suggested a sangiovese blend wine, which was tasty and smooth. I think their prices are a bit high, but almost everything I order lasts me for two full meals (as long as its something that "keeps"). I haven't had their salads, pizza pies or sweetie pies yet, but they all sound good. I guess I'm on a mission to try out all their sandwiches first! Stay tuned.
I'm going to give this place 5 stars. The cheese stands alone.
The North end is riddled with lots of Italian eateries that are great for the dinnertime crowds, but I find that there aren't enough lunchtime/dual purpose joints.
Hot Tomatoes, owned by the same people who own Carmen, serve up a delicious and diverse menu with something for everyone.
They have hot soups(~$4), Salads, Sandwiches, Pizzas, and side items like "Forget-me-knots" and frittatas.
I am a big fan of Monte Cristo sandwiches(roasted turkey, melted swiss cheese, baked ham, egg dipped and sauteed in butter, finished with brown sugar and cinnamon with a side of syrup for $9.50) so I had to try it here. I was not disappointed.
The sandwich came with a side of delicious orzo salad(you could also get cole slaw), a sundried tomato, and I opted to add a mug of tomato soup to the dish(for $2.50 more.)
PLENTY OF FOOD.
The meal tasted like it was made with fresh ingredients and the soup was a treat. I am a big tomato soup fan and thought it was worth giving a shot. A hearty mug with fresh tomatoes and a side of bread knots, I was not disappointed.
I may not bother with the soup on my next visit however because I was just EXTREMELY full by the end of it all. I told myself I needed to do this sampling for yelp. I took one for the team.
My friend got the Yankee Sandwich(roasted turkey breast, stuffing and cranberry mayo on sour dough bread for $8.50). She said it was delicious, and I'll take her word for it.
The restaurant also serves up "Sweetie Pies" which appears to be dessert pizzas?
They offer($11.75 only To-go):
Sugar Pie-5 sugars, fresh ground cinnamon
Oliver and Tallulah-Nutella and Marshmallows(Oh, for me ? You shouldn't have.)
Is a Bella:sweet ricotta, seasonal berries, and drizzled with honey.
I will have to try these when I have more disposable income.
The waitstaff was friendly, helpful, and extremely attentive(didn't have to ask for an H2o refill)
Also-they DO indeed take card, which is always a plus.
Sometimes when you've just spent 10 mins getting fake 'n baked down the street, you emerge from the booth with an extreme craving for water. And pizza.
Came here after work on a Thursday to find no wait, and barely any customers. Good news for us! Our waitress was friendly and fairly prompt although expressed to us that they had no ice? When she delivered our drinks she didn't bring us glasses with our bottled/canned beverages and as someone who waitressed/cocktailed for a number of years, it's just common courtesy to deliver glasses in addition to the drink if it's in a container. It's good form.
Liz ordered her typical Monte Cristo, it's like crack. and I ordered a calzone for $8.50 which includes sauce, 3 cheese blend, and ricotta. It's an extya $1.75 per topping. I got my typical sausage and mushroom and we waited. And waited. And waited. Our waitress kindly brought us some garlic knots to munch on which were quite tasty and helped us blow some time and satisfy out hunger in the meantime.This is one of those places where they put the sauce on the side, which I'm not always particularly fond of. I like it embracing my cheeses encapsulated in a doughy pocket of love. The cheese tasted quality, as did the sausage and it easily made for two meals as I could only manage to eat half.
I really wanted to love this place, I really did. It's right around the corner from my work, the interior is small and cute and the staff is helpful, friendly and the concept is fantastic. However, my calzone was extremely pricey around $15 for a calzone with 4 extras inside Spinach, Mushrooms, Ricotta, Carmelized Onions. This wouldn't be so bad, I don't mind paying more for more. However, somehow this restaurant/cafe didn't rock my world like I wanted it to.
Don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad at all--tasty, but not nearly as delicious as I expected it to be for the price. It was a large calzone though, I will say that, and I ended up saving most of it for later. For such a small establishment, I must applaud the manager (who also owns Carmen) for introducing another lunch spot to the North End, there aren't very many Take Out style restaurants, so a new one is always appreciated.
The menu is very extensive with several sandwiches that, despite this one mediocre experience, I will be sure to explore. Since the restaurant is so new, I know sometimes it takes awhile for it really to start humming.
They serve wine, beer, pasta, pizza, sandwiches, and have about 6 tables inside. My calzone took about 15 minutes to prepare so if you do go there and have a short lunch break, might be a good idea to order ahead and get take out.
Regardless of my experience, I will go back and try something else to see if I just made a bad ordering decision--maybe this shop much better at sandwiches--and I just don't know it yet.
EDIT: Sat in for lunch with a coworker and had the COWBOY aka "Chicken Sandwich"
Okay, this was a much much better choice--not only was the thing gigantic but it was super tasty, fresh and so gigantic I didn't even finish the whole thing. Might be a good idea to come in during lunch and split half with a friend. The pasta salad that also came with it while dining in was super tasty and my meal came MUCH MUCH faster than when I had the Calzone! Bonus. I knocked this up to four stars for that reason not to mention the delicious cookie we received for free for eating in that day.
EDIT: Now, I love this place! I've tried the Big Cheese, Lucky 33 & the Cowboy and god--so delicious. I still think the Calzone sucks, but this is one of my favorite lunch time spots. I love the pasta salad that comes with the sandwiches, too.
EDIT: The best sandwich is the Nantucket. Go for it. It's New England deliciousness.
The pizza is good, but way overpriced.
We got 1 cheese pizza and 1 with 1/2 pepperoni, 1/2 sausage, and it cost about $40 delivered.
I never though I would write such a negative review in my life, but here goes...
As a north end resident I am constantly on the lookout for a place to grab a quick bite, rather than a sit down meal. Which is why I was initially excited for Hot Tomatoes and its high marks, but it was a huge disappointment.
What we ordered:
Forget- Me- Knots -- Garlic and herbs
The Yankee -- roasted turkey breast, stuffing, & cranberry mayonnaise on sour dough bread -- served with potato salad.
Monte Cristo -- roasted turkey, swiss cheese & baked ham, egg dipped & sauteed in butter. finished with brown sugar & cinnamon -- served with pasta salad.
Thoughts:
Knots -- Stale and quite tasteless. With all the different flavors you can order (garlic & herbs, brown sugar, cinnamon & honey) it feels like the make up a large batch and then sprinkle on the ordered flavor.
The Yankee -- My dish. The turkey was wet and soft, the stuffing way too sweet, the cranberry mayo watery, and the sourdough too soft (I lived in SF and have learned to know good sourdough.)
Monte Cristo -- I have never had one before Hot Tomatoes, but it was highly reviewed, so my girlfriend went for it. Its presentation was unimpressive and its flavor was overwhelming and muddled. However, I have nothing to compare it to. Maybe that is how monte cristo sandwiches are supposed to be...
I am actually shocked by how much I disliked this restaurant. The only thing keeping me from giving it a "1 star" is that I have not tried the pizza, which people say is good. I'll try it someday, but for now I'm going to stick with Ernesto's.
Had a hankering for a pastrami sandwich today. Living in the north end...basically my only option on a Saturday afternoon was to go to White Hen Pantry and make it myself. Too much work when hungover and hungry. Had been hearing great things about Hot Tomatoes - so I called up and ordered a 42nd St. to go. 10 minutes later I was indulging in one of the most decadant (read: greasy, but the good greasy) sandwiches of my long sandwich-tasting history. Dare I say better than LaGrassa's pastrami traveler?
Bread - awesome. Toasty, the edges perfectly crisp, but I love Iggy's anyway. Just enough pastrami (not too little, not overstuffed) and perfect balance of meat/fat (gross, I know but true). Pickle - great, only wish they had given me a bigger one but maybe I'll order the side pickle next time. Tomato on the side - sweet deliciousness!! The only minor complaint I had was the cole slaw tasted like it was going a little sour, but not enough to take off an entire star. Gorgeoussss, dahhhling, best decision of the weekend!
I have to update my review of this place because I've now learned it is hit or miss here. A friend and myself both got salads and soups delivered the other night. I got a salad i've had before and loved. But this time it was missing 2 key ingredients, my friend's soup was cold, and they forgot the bread knots thingys that come with it. Her salad was also just average. I think I would go back for the sandwiches and to try their pizza but I probably wouldn't risk it with the salads again.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
-
1/11/2009
I live in the North End and i'm SO glad i found this place. HUGE menu of all sorts of sandwiches,… Read more »
Awesome lunch place in the north end, actually north street. Old school, really bad music, though, but perhaps 70s radio station can grow on you.
I ordered Green monster, like Nancy C. describes it, 'eggplant, zuchini, mozzarella, drizzled with olive oil.'! The portion is huge. I could only eat only half of the sandwich! Others in the group seem happy with their food, the farmers market salad, looked very yummy. We also tried forget me knots, small garlic rolls, greasy and yummy. The space is really small, very few tables. Great lunch place, would not recommend it for dinner though
Hey all, I have to say before I begin this review, that I'm kind of biased. I know Carmen and she gives me free cookies and pieces of pizza every time I walk in there. So take that for what it is, and then read on.
I highly recommend the pizza. I mean, I think it's really good. I think it's better than Ernesto's on Salem too. Hard to beat Galleria Umberto though...but that place is only open for like an hour every day. So try out the pizza. I mean, just try it. You'll like it. It's greasy and has good meat, just like a good pizza should.
Ok, now let's talk sandwiches. I've eaten the meatball sandwich twice and it's tasty. It's the same meatballs you get at Carmen and those are damn good meatballs. My friend (who is very picky and not partial to bribery) ordered the Cuban the other night and he loved it. I'm not sure how it stacks up against Voelle Noelle's Cuban but it's probably comparable.
Now friends, I can't speak for the salads because I've never ordered one.
I hope you all have marvelous days and please take a moment to check out my wolf shirt.
Also, PS, as of my last visit, they only accepted cash.
Had the Carmen Cubano... good stuff
and had a taste of the Lucky 33 another good one!
keep up the good work! : )
I complain about the lack of affordable, easy-in/easy-out takeout places in the North End and BOOM!.....problem solved...or at least a step in the right direction. If it's 1 pm on a Tuesday, what am I going to do? Go to a restaurant that's not open or go to some place and drop $20+? Of course not. For a while, to solve this problem, my options were pretty much limited to Il Panino Express and the lunch menu at Billy Tse's.
Now, add another one to the rotation. They've got a very solid lineup of sandwich choices. I'm a big fan of the 42nd Street, the Cubano, Jersey Exit 24, and Northender. Prices reasonable and portions generous and very tasty. And the pasta salad and tomato on the side are big pluses.
I haven't had the pizzas outside of a couple slices of the cheese in a pinch, so I can't really comment there.
I've sat down there once to eat and the staff is generally friendly and attentive. But don't confuse this as a date place or anything like that. More like a casual place for people who live or work in the North End and want to spend less than $25 for a quick meal for two...God Bless, there needs to be more places like it.
Ehhhhhhh... I almost don't even want to blow up this spot, but what kind of trick would I be if I didn't support their business? I have lived just over the bridge from the North End my entire life and was always completely uninterested in going there. I fancied it a zoo of loosed sweaty ravenous eaters who would shove me and salivate on me and try to make me eat sausage with peppers and onions. Yeah for sure there was some of that, but my other expectations of the impossibility of finding a place to eat that was reasonable and not overflowing were totally obliterated.
This place is out of the way of all the commotion, tiny but comfortable, and actually cheap (suck on that, Reasonable). Four entrees and an appetizer for under $40 -- hooWHAT?!
They lose one star for having only 1 or 2 interesting vegetarian options. I wish I could give them back half of it for the home made pickles. Seriously, don't even talk to me pickles until you've had these pickles.
It's nothing fancy, but, as mentioned in other reviews, it's a great alternative to some of the higher priced, crowded spots in the North End.
A bit off the beaten path, after a long Saturday of sightseeing, we found Hot Tomatoes perfect for what we were looking for- away from the chaos of Hanover St, with pizza and pasta and cold beer, all for a very reasonable price. J. got a Meatpacker pizza which was terrific and I had the nightly special of the pasta bolognese. The pasta was perfectly creamy, studded with chunks of well seasoned meat and came with those tasty garlic knots. I was even impressed with the quality of my salad.
I guess my only complaint was we left way too full to even consider dessert. Alas.
My friends and I were wandering around in the rain trying to find another restaurant as the one we wanted was closed - and stumbled upon hot tomatoes - an inexpensive and delicious sandwich/pizza shop almost to the ocean. My friends both had the Green Monster - which they described as "absolutely scrumptious" (not really, but they loved it), and I had a Northender, which I will describe as "perfect". But there are lots of options - I can't wait to go back and try more of them...yuuuuumm. Plus they had great Chianti that they served in not-wine-glasses, which I thought was kinda cool, actually.
Big fan of Hot Tomatoes. The pizza is top notch, though I admit that's all I've tried, though I have had the pizza numerous times. I just never got around to trying anything else because the pizza alone is worthwhile. The inside of the place is fantastic and the employees are really nice.
Great stop for those days when you're just too lazy to cook dinner and don't feel like spending an arm and a leg to go out. Their subs/sandwiches are awesome (sorry Dino's, but this is my new stop.)
LOVED IT! I got to Boston on Friday to visit my friend. She picked me up from the train, we dropped my bags off in her apartment, and we immediately came here. I ordered the chicken salad, which came on a fresh, chewy ciabatta roll, with roasted tomatos on it. I got the three bean salad as my side dish. It was delicious. The ingredients were so fresh. In fact, I liked it so much that we came back on Saturday for lunch. I ordered the Northender, which was a chicken cutlet on a baguette, with melted cheese, arugula and a balsamic glaze. Again, it was so fresh and delicious. I would probably eat here every day if I lived in Boston
i have been in boston for 3 weeks now for business and this may have been the best meal that ive had yet... i consider myself somewhat of a sandwich aficionado and finding myself in a new city, i definitely went on a quest to find this city's best sandwich. i ordered the lucky 33 and it was spectacular. the hot, rare roast beef was savory and delicious. the arugula was fresh and tasty. the caramelized onions melted in your mouth. the val d'aosta fontina cheese was melted perfectly and a good compliment to the meat. the house dressing was spicy and sweet. the ciabatta bread was soft and fresh baked. i certainly am looking forward to coming back and trying the other sandwiches. only disappointment was the potato salad was a little bit bland. it was missing something that i cant quite pinpoint. some sort of spice or something... all and all delicious!
I got a Green Monster sandwich from Hot Tomatoes tonight. It was great, eggplant, zuchini, mozzarella, drizzled with olive oil. I will definitely go back.
One of the happiest moments of my recent life was when I discovered that this place began taking plastic. Total deliciousness without the hassle of having to go seek out an ATM!!! Nothing short of magical. My only concern is that having it in my neighborhood will result in gaining twenty pounds, but even if that happens, it will be worth it.
Hot Tomatoes is a well-rounded favorite. I'm typically ordering take out here on those nights that cooking or breaking the wallet elsewhere just isn't an option. The true stars of the menu are the one of a kind sandwiches. The Green Monster is a go-to, bursting with fresh veggies, arugula, and slathered in pesto. Northender, The Don and 42nd St. are also great options. You might be skeptical about The Nantucket, but the honey glazed Ham, melted brie and seasonal jam on ciabatta make for an amazing combination. Recently I was in the mood for a breakfast type sandwich and the Comm. Ave was a perfect treat with smoked salmon, cream cheese, capers, scallions, red onions and lemon on a plain bagel. Delish! Can you tell I could go on all day about the sandwiches? The entree specials are decent. They vary each day from shrimp scampi to chicken parm and come with a small salad and garlic knots. The price is a steal at $9.95. The chicken and tomato soups are hands down some of the best I have ever tasted, a compliment to any sandwich in the winter months. Believe it or not, I have eaten my share of their pizzas. Hot Tomato Pie, The Whitey and the Esplanade all come recommended. Take-out never has a wait over 15 minutes and the wait staff is consistently pleasant and friendly. A North End gem not to be missed!



