Parkway Diner: Worcester, MA
The Parkway Diner in Worcester lives across the street from the much more famous Boulevard Diner, but that doesn't mean it should be ignored. Sadly, its first impression is pretty poor. The exterior, which I can only assume used to look like a classic Worcester car (the Parkway is dated to the 1930's according to Gutman, owned by the Evangelista family since the 50's), was at one point torn off and replaced with this '80s-looking bit of sad frontage. However, on walking inside, you get the classic diner ambiance.
The actual diner portion of the restaurant is very small and has no booths, only two rows of counter seating, which is pretty rare to see in a Worcester car. It's not actually suitable for anything more than dining solo or with a friend. Three people would be pushing it.
Fortunately, the Parkway features an adjacent dining room suitable for parties of any size. While you don't get the ambiance, if you want good diner food as a big group, this might be the place for you. Even the Boulevard can't boast a dining room.
Anyway, on to the food!
Since the Parkway is an Italian diner, I wanted to order an Italian breakfast. You know, two eggs, red sauce, Italian sausage, toast, home fries. But I spotted something I'd never seen before: a meatball omelet! I had to order it, so I did. And boy was it good. The omelet came out bulging with meatballs, and had a little tiny hole where it was bleeding marinara sauce, like a wounded, delicious animal. Oh yes. It was awesome.
Our friend Scott thought the home fries sucked, as there was no seasoning or onions or anything. I didn't hate the home fries, but I didn't really notice them at all since they were so middle-of-the-road. But Scott's right, they're basically potatoes and butter.
The toast was really great. Done just right, nice amount of butter on everything. We couldn't stop eating it.So if you're in Worcester, don't judge a book by its cover: you should definitely give the Parkway a try. They're open for breakfast and lunch, and they do dinner Fri/Sat/Sun.
Parkway Diner
148 Shrewsbury St
Worcester, MA 01603
508-753-9968
(Google map)
posted by Darius Kazemi @ 6:24 PM
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