Joshua B.'s Profile

I'm a big pinball fan so anywhere that has good working pinball machines are a treat for me. The Norwood Monster Golf has a great Simpsons Pinball Party, a Stern game from 2003. It's been in perfect condition since I started playing it several months ago. Maintaining pinball machines requires effort, so someone there must be a pinball fan.

There's a lot of options in this plaza--Panara, Sushi, and Indian, plus some chains in the area.

Five Guys is as close as we have to In-N-Out Burger

What they do well:

* Juicy burgers cooked to order with a great selection of veggies and condiments

* Overflowing french fries

* Friendly service without overdoing it - fast, competent, and efficient

* Free peanuts in the shell

Cleanliness is alright, but not stellar.

I can get away with a burger & fries here about once a month. :-)

As long as they provide pinball machines and maintain them, I'm a fan. The current lineup is: Star Wars (Pinball 2000), Ripley's Believe It Or Not, Elvis, Monopoly, and South Park. Great pinball tables like these remind me of the days when pinball machines and video games were at arcades. Now, "arcades" are mostly filled with redemption games where kids get tickets to trade in for glow rings or jacks. Acton Bowladrome's arcade has a bit of variety with the pinball, NASCAR, another sitdown driving game with two networked machines who's name I forget, DDR, skee ball, and the usual annoying redemption games.

Unfortunately, yesterday (Saturday) it was a zoo. The counter where you get a bowling lane or pay for your bowling was crawling with little ones deciding what to choose from their redemption game winnings. Two young teen girls were manning the counter with occasionally someone older there helping. Needless to say it was a pain just to get to the counter and a longer wait to get a lane and then later, pay for bowling. Lots of parents too. All bowling lanes filled even after my wife and I had bowled two strings each.

Bowling is $4 per string and $2 for shoe rental.

My wife and I have our own shoes so we didn't rent any when we put in our name for a lane. It was about a 15 minute wait so we happily played pinball until I heard an employee (one of the young teens) asking around in the arcade if anyone was there to bowl. When my ball drained, I hustled back to the counter and said I heard her asking around about bowlers in the arcade. She said our lane had just opened up.

The bowling was fun. Loud pop music was playing. To our left, 4 teens and to our right, a father with a toddler and two probably 18 month old twins, all in their lane at once. I felt embarrassed for all the parents there when the unedited version of "Holla Back Girl" blasted away complete with multiple s-words. Once the people to our right started bowling, there was a ball shortage and we'd often have to wait for a ball to be returned. Twice, the automated pinsetter only set up a few pins instead of 10. Minor quibbles. I love candlepin bowling so again, I'm a fan. After about 1/2 hour, the lights went down and the rock 'n' bowl atmosphere was complete.

When I went to pay, it was more waiting at the counter, again, filled with parents just hanging around and children choosing their little prizes. I am pretty patient and I don't like to cut in lines, so I waited. Luckily, someone else cut and gave *me* an opening to pay. A father and son wanted to bowl and asked if any lanes were open. I spoke up and announced that my lane was free. One of the young teens girls (now with a baby in one arm) said no lanes were open and there was a wait, so I spoke up again repeating my lane was free. The father said, "I'll take his lane!" He got to bowl and I got to pay and get out. :-) I was charged $20 for 4 games so I payed with my card and asked if prices are higher on the weekends. After a little discussion with me continuing to ask questions, she said, "Oh that's right, you didn't rent shoes." She nicely gave me $4 back in cash. Basically, I think all the employees here aren't bad at all. When it gets busy, it's tough for anyone to handle. But then again, a young girl with a baby in her arm manning a crowded counter with just one other girl her age--I think anyone would agree, not the best.

To wrap up, I'll definitely be back for bowling and pinball, but probably not on a Saturday afternoon.

I had $16 and change left on a Christmas gift certificate so my wife and I decided to go for lunch this afternoon (a Saturday). Their prices are a bit above average so we thought we take advantage of lunch prices. It turns out they don't offer a lunch menu on weekends, even though they are open specifically from noon - 2:30 for lunch, before closing and then reopening later for dinner.

I love spicy food. I asked if they had a Spicy Basic Fried Rice dish. They don't, but the waitress offered me the vegetable fried rice cooked spicy. She asked "How spicy?" I said "medium." My wife ordered your run of the mill basic pad thai with chicken & shrimp. My spicy vegetable fried rice came out burning hot, quite a bit more spicy than a hot basil fried rice would be (usually one of the spiciest items on a Thai menu). I asked for a lime to cool it down but got kind of a blank response. So I asked for sweet & sour sauce. The waitress agreed but asked me if I'd like the dish to be recooked for me. I should have taken her up on it. I ended up eating less than half the dish and not taking it home.

My wife's pad thai was just fine and I shared that with her.

The meal came out to $20 and change, and the waitress informed me that after the gift certificate, I would owe less than the $10 minimum for credit card orders. I didn't have enough cash on me to leave a reasonable tip, so I said, "That's ok. I'll use the gift certificate another time."

I'll use the certificate at some point, but since I am *always* pleased with Mueng Thai on Main Street, I'll go there exclusively when I want Thai food in Marlborough.

My wife, my mom and I walked to this new spot after getting a menu in the mail. It's a big space. There are three thin panel TVs on the walls and games to use at the tables  We ordered and then were told it would be a 35 minute wait. It turned out to be over 50 minutes. We played dominos to pass the time. Two of the containers were mislabelled so we started eating each other's sandwiches. My wife and I ordered BBQ sauce on our pastrami sandwiches and asked for wheat rolls which was a choice on the menu. Neither had sauce. Our sandwiches were in wraps, not rolls. After we ate, I asked at the counter about the wrap/roll thing. The sandwiches were supposed to come with rolls. The staff were all trying hard but it seems they need a little more time to learn.  Otherwise, the pastrami was good. It's black lean pastrami and it was nice and tender.

First time at Quincy location; I usually go to Marlborough. Texas Beef Brisket was way too fatty, grossly so on some edges. Waitress was nice but overcharged on a lemonaid charging as a $6 alcoholic beverage. Was happy to fix it when I brought it up. Sides were great as usual. Fatty Brisket killed it for me.

I live 1.5 hours away but I consider it my home mountain. Any weekend, I know the family owned Berkshire East will be my most satisfying ski experience because of the steep terrain and lack of crowds.

The Diamond Express double was replaced with a used triple that might be operating as of the time of this review. They were working on it on Sunday Jan. 17, 2010. The new chair goes to the true summit, even a bit closer to Outback than the current triple.

Other improvements include a zip line for the off season and a small gear shop in the lodge.

Where I choose to spend my money, I always expect a proper level of customer service. Tonight, I was pleasantly surprised, starting with a positive experience placing my order over the phone. When I walked in to pick up, the same young man actually said, "I'll be with you in a minute." It was funny because two seconds later he asked me how he could help me. I think the brothers are reading their Yelp reviews and instructing their staff to apply some customer service with their other responsibilities. Good work!

Last month, My wife booked the Balcony Room for us to celebrate our December birthdays. It was very cold out and there was snow on the ground. The inn looked beautiful in this setting.

The owners are a husband and wife team and are very warm and friendly. Their family eats their evening meal in the same cozy dining room as their guests enjoy wonderful home cooked breakfasts. Their friendly and gentle cats share the sunny room as well.

The Balcony Room is beautiful and romantic with a fantastic whirlpool. It has been recently remodeled. The TV is a very small flat panel. When we arrived in the early evening, the room was cold. My wife and I understood that heat is expensive and it was freezing out. We turned up the heat and went out for dinner. When we returned the room was still chilly and took a while to heat up. So we filled the whirlpool with piping hot water and the bubbles that were provided. The room did warm up and we enjoyed a good sleep. In the morning, we took in the river view from our room.

In the dining room, our host presented a tasty breakfast quiche, bacon, tea and coffee, and fruit. We enjoyed our breakfast and a conversation with another couple who were also guests.

If we're planning to ski at Pat's Peak, we would easily consider staying here again.

They've moved one unit to the right. A Portuguese sit down restaurant is now in Silva's former location. The staff has always been friendly with me and seem to know which customers to speak English or Portuguese without trying the other. I've been tempted to suggest they raise their prices but so far I've been able to keep my amazement to myself. Earlier this week I picked up 6 or 7 little treats for about $5.

On my first or second visit, I asked the young lady behind the counter her favorite. It's a custard with sweet cheese in a small, round crust. Of course I ordered it and yes, it's very good. She keeps reminding me of the name but I can never remember. There are other varieties of this dessert including sweet bean.

They now accept credit cards.

In the new location, they have a long counter mounted to the wall so you can sit and eat if you choose.