Restaurants in Massachusetts

No matter what country her family was living in at the time, Longteine “Nyep” De Monteiro—the wife of a Cambodian diplomat—always heard the same thing when she served dinner at one of her lavish parties: “This is so good! You should open a restaurant!” It wasn't until the rise of the Khmer Rouge forced Longteine and her family to relocate to America that she began to seriously entertain the idea. Longteine finally opened The Elephant Walk in 1991, where she filled the menu with a mélange of her favorite Cambodian and French recipes.

Since then, Longteine’s daughter Nasda and her son-in-law Gerard Lopez helped her expand The Elephant Walk to three locations. All three Elephant Walks separate their kitchens into French and Cambodian preparation lines, each staffed with chefs adept at both traditional and contemporary dishes. Each dish makes meticulous use of flavorful, wholesome ingredients such as ripe plum tomatoes, fresh tuna, Vermont goat cheese, and organic tofu. The Elephant Walk also serves up a host of vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free variants.

The Elephant Walk loves to feed the mind as much as the mouth. During its regularly scheduled Cafe Science series, Brandeis professors deliver compelling lectures on a variety of topics from the Large Hadron Collider to explaining why science alone cannot turn water into chocolate milk. As part of the restaurant's mission to make a positive impact in the community, owner Bob Perry designated the Waltham location as The Elephant Walk’s Benefit Restaurant in September 2009. The restaurant has since given upwards of $200,000 to local, national, and international nonprofit organizations fighting poverty.

Papa John's has carefully crafted a menu of specialty pizzas to satisfy any taste or mouth shape. Order a Hawaiian BBQ Chicken, or go all-out and get The Works, a top-heavy combination of pepperoni, ham, spicy Italian sausage, fresh-sliced onions, green peppers, gourmet baby portabella mushrooms, and ripe black olives. Satisfy herbivores and herbivoyeurs with a Tuscan Six-Cheese or Garden Fresh pie. The full list of specialty pizzas includes several more; take the hassle out of haggling over individual ingredients and boldly cast your straight-ticket ballot for the pizza party that your conscious dictates.

Drawing its name from the Roman goddess of the harvest, Ceres Bistro incorporates seasonal and locally sourced ingredients into its menu of contemporary, casual fine-dining cuisine. These local ingredients complement the slightly elevated versions of American staples—including brined pork chops and grits with aged cheddar—but the chefs also add international flair by introducing distinctive flavors such as wasabi oil or imported spaghetti. To help accommodate specialized diets, the chefs even prepare gluten-free menus and entire entrees without carbon. The wine list embraces a similar worldliness, featuring aromatic whites and robust reds from Europe, South America, and Australia, as well as a selection of domestic producers.

Echoing this commitment to tradition as well as modernity, the bistro uses antique accents to add character to its contemporary smattering of dark wooden tables and floor-to-ceiling windows. Reclaimed oak wainscoting lines the executive boardroom, original Vanity Fair prints from the 1800s adorn the bar-and-lounge-area's walls, and the 90-seat dining room lies beneath a stained-glass ceiling dome that dates back more than 100 years.

"We go to auctions, and we always walk away with enormous pieces. We’re not into collecting teacups,” co-owner Janet Birbara told Westchester Living in 2010.

Drive-in movies. Car hops. Rock 'n' roll. Though human nature compels us to view the past in varying shades of gold, the 1950s almost transcends nostalgia. For those who were there, the smallest of triggers can set off waves of fond memories: a ringing bell leads the mind’s eye back to the polished counter of a soda fountain, and an oldies radio station evokes weekends spent passing quarters through the jukebox slot.

On September 11, 2001, in the midst of tragedy and after 19 years as a flight attendant, Brenda Stranberg decided that she was tired of playing back memories of America’s greatest decade in her head. Looking around her at a cultural landscape that her childhood self would hardly recognize, she teamed up with old friend Naif Makol Jr. and founded Skooter’s, an old-fashioned diner and coffee shop inspired by the simple pleasures of life more than half a century ago. Though somewhat of an anachronism, the diner’s open kitchen has proven wildly popular among the various generations that frequent the sit-down counter to sample thick milk shakes, loaded hot dogs, and burgers topped with fried onions. Between bites, guests can toss coins into the antique jukebox or admonish the diner’s soda jerks for callously dousing their friends with fountain drinks.

Property Location
A stay at UMass Lowell Inn and Conference Center places you in the heart of Lowell, walking distance from Lowell Memorial Auditorium and Merrimack Repertory Theater. This hotel is within close proximity of Lowell National Historical Park and John F Kennedy Civic Center.

Rooms
Make yourself at home in one of the 31 air-conditioned guestrooms. Complimentary wired and wireless Internet access keeps you connected, and cable programming provides entertainment. Bathrooms have complimentary toiletries and hair dryers. Conveniences include desks and coffee/tea makers, as well as phones with voice mail.

Rec, Spa, Premium Amenities
Enjoy the recreation opportunities such as a fitness facility or make use of other amenities including complimentary wireless Internet access.

Dining
Enjoy a satisfying meal at a restaurant serving guests of UMass Lowell Inn and Conference Center. At the end of the day, relax with your favorite drink at a bar/lounge.

Business, Other Amenities
Featured amenities include complimentary high-speed (wired) Internet access, a 24-hour business center, and business services. Planning an event in Lowell? This hotel has 15000 square feet (1350 square meters) of space consisting of a conference center, conference/meeting rooms, and small meeting rooms. Free self parking is available onsite.

No, he wasn't born in Sicily. In fact—according to a 2011 article in the Boston Globe—Doug Ferriman started out in the pizza business without even knowing how to make dough. But he learned fast, besting 120 competitors and two Italian chefs to take second place at the International Pizza Challenge later that year. Ferriman is also one of only two people to have won the International Pizza Expo's Pizza of the Year honor more than once, in 2004 and 2007, according to trade magazine Pizza Today. Finally, in the 2013 competition, Ferriman won first in the non-traditional category in the northeast region.

Today, Ferriman brings his dough tossing know-how to Crazy Dough's Pizza, which he co-owns with his wife, Melissa. Their labor-of-love-turned-small-business-success-story, which has been documented in media outlets such as the Boston Business Journal, can be explained by their commitment to quality ingredients and diverse recipes. Their chefs start with a solid pizza foundation of North Dakota flour, vine-ripened California plum tomatoes, and Wisconsin cheese. Next, they transform raw dough into three pizza types: pan-baked, rectangular sicilian pies; hearty brick-oven rounds; or their specialty fire-grilled pizzas, cooked to a crispy, smoky finish on an open-flame hickory grill.

Finally, guests can choose from a huge selection of off-the-wall toppings and signature combinations, such as cheeseburger bacon or potato bacon cheddar. The shops also attract guests with $5 Pabst Blue Ribbon pitchers, calzones, and Crazy Dough Bowls—salads whose bread-bowl exterior can be eaten or worn as a savory hat.