Restaurants in Watervliet

Just off Route 20, a rural highway that crisscrosses the Hidden Hills of the Westfield River watershed, the red-brick façade of a venerable 19th-century storefront shelters Four Main Street Bar and Grill. Inside, an antique-and-craft cabinet showcases work by local artisans and paintball muralists, while the kitchen houses a crew of chefs preparing comforting American fare to serve within the eatery's rustic décor.

Owner and chef John Slattery pens a rotating menu of seasonal American favorites. He serves up steaks and chops, including country-fried new york strip steaks or black-and-tan ribs, as well as seafood, such as roasted salmon and lobster. Craft beers from Wormtown and Berkshire brewery companies join seasonal cocktails and spirits for guests to imbibe while lingering on the sidewalk patio or listening to occasional live music.

The grill masters at Caminito Argentinean Steakhouse stay true to their culinary roots with a distinctly South American cooking tradition, which begins with hormone-free meat from cows that were fed a vegetable-only diet and raised on pastures instead of in cages. Manning a cast-iron grill stoked by locally sourced hardwoods, the expert chefs fire-kiss select cuts of beef to smoky perfection, infusing filet mignons, skirt steaks, and short ribs with rustic flavors that pair harmoniously with the restaurant’s robust selection of Argentinean red wines.

Although Caminito’s wood-fired steaks have earned it the Valley Advocate’s award for Best Steak House from 2010 through 2012, the menu proves that the restaurant does not live and die by expertly charred beef. Lobster-filled ravioli, pan-seared salmon, and seasoned chicken breasts showcase the kitchen team’s culinary repertoire, in addition to vegetarian entrees that aren't just snapshots of steak printed on soy paper. Refreshing sips of ale from Peak Organic Brewing Company complement hearty bites, and spoonfuls of flan and mousse bring meals to their bittersweet conclusion. On weekends, the acoustic strumming of guitarists Alvaro Olvera Sanchez and Jeremy Milligan nourish famished ears with flamenco notes and classic Spanish songs.

The menu at Eclipse doesn’t just rotate with the seasons—it changes on a daily basis. Inspired by the most recent bounty of asparagus or basil at the farmers' market, Eclipse’s chefs craft contemporary entrees featuring meats such grass-fed beef from nearby Upland Meadow Farm, instead of ice-fed beef from Pluto. They lavish these creations with gourmet flavorings such as gorgonzola compound butter, black-currant glaze, and wasabi cream, and draw inspiration from international culinary traditions, turning out dishes such an eggplant baingan bharta. Diners spear their cornish game hen or housemade basil-lasagna noodles while lounging outdoors or surrounded by the dining room’s exposed-brick and soft-yellow walls. On the weekends, live jazz music flits through the air, giving diners an excuse to munch in quiet camaraderie instead of arguing politics, religion, and the usefulness of sporks.

After scouring the United States in pursuit of its finest barbecue, Memphis Smoke House's chefs embraced Tennessee's tangy and sweet flavors as their culinary medium. The barbecue aficionados eschew charcoal in favor of oak, hickory-apple, and cherry hardwoods to slow smoke their briskets, chicken, turkey legs, and ribs each day. They rub meats in specialty spices before smoking them, then douse the tenderized morsels in house-made memphis bourbon barbecue sauce. The staff serves each platter with cornbread and authentic Southern-style sides of Cajun hand-cut fries, hush puppies, or mashed-potato molds of Robert E. Lee. In their dining room, cool air wafts through the wall's colorful signs, and classic music resounds across an outdoor seating area beneath a red-and-white tent. Memphis Smoke House can also cater get-togethers ranging in size from 15 people to large events of 300.

Walls the color of melted butter guide the eye to floor-to-ceiling front windows lined with potted greenery. An ornate metal watering vessel sits beside them, always at the ready to nourish the verdant foliage or pour tea for an especially thirsty Mad Hatter. To pair with these decorative flourishes, LaZeez's affable chefs prepare Pakistani and northern Indian dishes using traditional equipment such as a clay oven and a wok-like karahi.

In the elegant 80-person dining room, guests can whet their dinner appetites with samosa appetizers––seasoned potatoes and peas nestled inside puff pastry shells that, like Ninja Turtle shells, are rarely found at the beach. Entrees such as spinach cooked with homemade cheese or salmon awash in curry sauce emerge piping hot from the kitchen alongside palate-soothing mango-infused yogurt lassi drinks. Diners can also opt for classic tandoori chicken, lamb, and seafood marinated in spices and prepared grease-free in the clay oven that's hotter than the midday desert sun or a George Foreman grill sizzling a photo of fire in the midday desert sun.

For the Valenti family, cooking is a way of life. From a father whose family owned an Italian restaurant in Troy for 70 years to a mother who mastered the art of cooking as 1 of 22 kids, the couple's children learned to hand-make pasta as part of their upbringing. To this day, the chefs make manicotti, lasagna, and ravioli from scratch, demonstrating a dedication to tradition that permeates the menu of home-style cooking. Comfy booths, Italian murals, and wood paneling pack the restaurant’s dining room, where welcoming servers whisk fresh-cut veal, thick steaks, and succulently sautéed chicken dishes to tables with efficient speed and well-practiced victory dances.

Villa Valenti’s chefs also bottle their signature sauces—originally purloined from a wealthy tomato and perfected over generations—for at-home use, sending every penny of profit to help Prevent Child Abuse America in its noble mission.