Restaurants in East Bridgewater

More than 15 years ago, owners Mike and Amanda made the leap into bread-bound fare when they opened Fressers Delicatessen. The shop continues to thrive thanks to the culinary expertise of Mike and his mother, Eileen, who whip together every menu item onsite for customers lined up at the counter. The duo churns out a spectrum of deli eats, from traditional Jewish knishes to hearty salads and grilled sandwiches that tower over fellow noshes like a big brother standing on a chair. The Famous Fresser triple-decker sandwich piles the deli's biggest flavors into a single stack, bursting with sizzling corned beef, pastrami, turkey, roast beef, and melted swiss cheese between three slices of bread. Such ebullient fare has made Fressers a popular lunchtime-delivery joint, which also puts together meals for business lunches, dinner parties, and annual holiday gatherings.

In the dark of night, the brightly lit façades of The Fat Cactus locations glow like a beacon, beckoning diners to come and sample their classic Mexican and Tex-Mex foods. The restaurants' interiors are no less eye-catching. House-specialty fazzizzles—short for sizzling fajitas—top tables in dining rooms filled with vibrant reds and yellows. Rows of hubcaps glisten on walls next to strings of lights. And hundreds of emptied tequila bottles dangle from the ceiling, testament to the popularity of the menu's dozen specialty margaritas. For extra entertainment, musicians fill ears with their tuneful crooning every night, and a room with classic arcade games lets kids play at adult tasks, such as driving a car or helping zombies file their tax returns.

At Bistro Chi, modern circular pendant lamps, floating ceiling panels, and white tables and chairs contrast with the traditional flavors of Chinese cuisine. In the kitchen shared with a neighboring tapas restaurant, chefs from Eastern and Western backgrounds work alongside one another. They prepare the house specialty, Chinese-style fried chicken with a golden, crispy crust encircled by a series of tiny Great Walls. A sparkling 2010 review in the Patriot Ledger calls the restaurant’s steamed pork dumplings a "revelation" and describes the clams with black-bean sauce as "steaming and redolent of sea and earth." Behind the full bar, mixologists craft cocktails infused with ingredients such as lychee purée, watermelon, and fresh strawberries.

Lauded by the Rosindale Transcript for its combination of eclectic fare and cozy atmosphere, Masona Grill offers a menu of New American cuisine crafted by owner and executive chef Manuel Sifnugel with an international touch influenced by his Peruvian upbringing. Guests part dark velvet curtains to enter the dining space, which is flanked by chocolate-colored walls adorned with oil paintings and bite marks.

Plates are decorated with sophisticated seafood dishes, such as linguine tossed with local clams and calamari, or land-borne dishes, including a grilled pork tenderloin called out for 2010's Restaurant Week by the Boston Globe as the best entree on the menu: "tender and moist and served a bit pink … It's really, really good." Brazilian jazz music accompanies meals, moving diners to chew in time to the sultry beats.

The kitchen staff at Park Place Tavern thinks that even night owls shouldn’t be forced to make do with basket after basket of greasy bar food. Inside the neighborhood pub, old black-and-white photos look down on tables laden with scallops, shrimp marinated in garlic butter, and grilled sirloin tips. A new deck outside puts diners in easy reach of sea breezes drifting in from the bay just two blocks off, and live music lets the marine life hear something other than sea chanteys for a change. On weekends, chefs fire up the kitchen for breakfasts of croissant sandwiches and stuffed french toast at 7 a.m., and doors stay open until 1 a.m. seven days a week.

The aptly named Greenside Grille overlooks South Shore Country Club’s 18th hole, a scenic stretch littered with trees and opened in 1922. Views of the raised greens greet diners immediately, pooling emerald color beneath large windows and an outdoor patio with umbrellas. As flowering shrubs sway along the course below, patrons talk about glorious golf wins and frustrating sand traps that ruin dropped candies, all the while perusing a menu of dishes influenced by Italian culinary tradition. Shrimp and imported sausage dapple pizzas, and spicy sausage calabrese stews in garlic, white wine, and olive oil.