Telegraph Hill

Telegraph Hill

289 Dorchester Street
South Boston, MA 02127

Atmosphere: Brand new local bar, GREAT place to watch any game. Not a bad seat

Food: Bar apps, Entrees, Burgers, Salads, New England inspired, New Orleans inspired, even some California inspiration. Something for everyone.

Prices: Lot of good food at a fair price.

Kid Friendly: Come on now, it's a bar.

Unlike most Dear John letters where the guy is being told to get lost because you found somebody new, I want to write a Dear John letter to John Lovett, owner of Telegraph Hill to say, "Please don't go anywhere!!!"

Telegraph Hill is the new bar and restaurant in town and they opened just a few blocks from our house. The block they are on is not the nicest one in Southie. In fact, it is filled with vacant store fronts and run down businesses, but John saw what we all want to see, promise, and he built a beautiful place.

Lou and I stopped by on Halloween to grab a bite to eat. It was an early dinner/ late lunch, around 3 and the bar was empty, so we got to choose where we sat. There were 11 flat screens filling the walls. There isn't a chance you will miss a game no matter where you sit.

Besides the bar, there are hightops scattered throughout which can sit 4 people comfortably. I have to admit, I have never seen a bar without low seats and booths. It isn't too large in here though and I imagine they wanted to be able to pack a bar crowd in, so if that is case, the seating makes sense.After being seated our waitress, Erin greeted us immediately. There was only one other couple in the whole restaurant, but it was that in between time so, I thought that made sense. Lou and I aren't huge drinkers, so we just got water, but Telegraph Hill offers a great selection of draft and bottled beer.

For our in between meal, I got the shepard's pie and Lou got a burger. I took the picture above when our meals first arrived. Both dishes were massive, so I took the two below to try to show some scale.

My shepard's pie was really tasty, with a cheesy, potato crust on the top. They cook it in the same bowl they serve it in, and because of that, it took a while for our food to arrive. At least that is my theory. It was delicious, but I can see the shepard's pie throwing off the kitchen on a busy night.
Lou's burger was really good as well. He loved that they had a California burger with avocado on it. That mound of fries is not only plentiful, but they are fresh. I caught a glimpse of one of the cooks preparing the fries in the kitchen.

The menu at Telegraph Hill is diverse. They have some typical bar food, some with a bit of a twist, like the fried mac and cheese. Most dishes seem like a mixed influence between New England, and New Orleans, with choices like the Southie Po'Boy, Battered Cod, onion strings, house slaw, garlic mayo, serves with the house fries. They have a raw bar, and they also have Sunday Brunch. The most expensive thing on the menu is the Black and Bleu which is a 12 oz sirloin for $19. I would say perfect price points for this neighborhood.
This is Lou after somehow finishing the majority of his giant meal. The reason I really took this picture was the flowers. I loved them. I thought they were original with a nice fall theme. They were fake, but didn't scream fake, but the most interesting part to me was the water. The water was fake too! I like when restaurants come up with an interesting way to keep atmosphere, but make it simple on themselves. Telegraph Hill could have these pre-made vases for every season.

As we neared the end of our meal, the Patriots game started and a few more people began to file into Telegraph Hill. I was a little disappointed to be honest because I expected a bigger crowd. This is a GREAT place to watch the game. There literally is not a bad seat in the place, and the interior is beautiful. The walls are all custom wood panel, and the wall of windows in front can open to the street on warmer days. The bathrooms are newly renovated, and overall it is really clean. I know it's new, but sometimes even new places have signs of uncleanliness. Best of all the service was awesome from the minute we walked in the door. Erin gave us the type of service where she was always available, but in no way pestering us. She even said to Lou at one point as she cleared my plate,"Please don't let me rush you." The whole experience was pleasant.

When we left, I drove past two other bars where people watch the game, Stadium which is around the corner, and Stats which is up the street hoping they had smaller crowds, but both of them were packed. I am hoping it is because Telegraph Hill is new and not too many people know about it yet.

Come on people of Southie! Get out there and check out Telegraph Hill!

Let's be honest, John Lovett did a great thing by opening this beautiful place in a less desirable block. I hope people realize it is there, that it has great food, service and atmosphere and frequent it. I also hope it inspires other future business owners to invest in Southie as well.

Dear John,

Please don't leave!

Stats South Boston

Stats

77 Dorchester St.

South Boston.

Atmosphere: Casual

Food: Well done creative sports bar food

Kid Friendly: Not really

Cost: Inexpensive for the area, most dishes were between $8 and $14 dollars

Over the last month I have realized, certain things don't mix well with blogging, like Summer,especially the month of August, or working more than one job....

But the Summer is over, and Lou is making me retire from some of my part time jobs, so now I can update you all with some of the lovely places I have visited recently.

We start with J.A. Stats. This place just opened up about 1/2 a mile from our house, and we couldn't be happier. Southie is not known for it's outstanding restaurants. Sorry Amrheins and Farragut House, I do not include you in comment. When we saw another sports bar was opening, to be honest, we were a little disappointed, but then we decided to check Stats out, and we were pleasantly surprised.

The atmosphere is casual but not too casual that you couldn't hit it up for drinks after work. The space is big and TV's abound, but it isn't horribly loud in here like some sports bars can be. The windows up front also open out to the street.

The menu is what I would say upscale sports bar food. Sure you can get paninis, burgers, sandwiches and pizza's, but they aren't the typical recipes you see in every restaurant around town.

There are small plates that are great for sharing, like these goat cheese stuffed artichoke hearts.
and there are interesting sandwich choices. Lou got this Sesame encrusted tuna with ginger and a side of sweet potato fries.
The sides were one of my favorite parts of the menu. These days a lot of people like to substitute the fries with other choices. Stats gives the choice up front, a side salad, sweet potato fries or regular fries.

I got the salad with my California wrap below. The wrap was done right with just the perfect blend of meat and veggies spread evenly throughout. I don't like a wrap that isn't plentiful or is over powered by one ingredient like the wrap itself.
For drinks we tried the Seasonal Pumpkin Spice beer which was served with a nice sprinkle of cinnamon. It was that little added attention to detail which made a big difference.

Stats uses all Boar's head cold cuts for it's sandwiches. It's most expensive entree is steak tips for $14.95. Not bad at all for a place in the city.

You can tell the owners know their audience.

The only thing which may be a hindrance to Stats' success is the parking. There is none. You can park around the corner off West Broadway in a lot or take your chances on any of the side streets nearby. There is a small lot behind the bar on Dorchester St., but I am not sure it is theirs. Don't let that stop you from going there though. It is a small inconvenience for some really good, inexpensive food. Besides it's football season!

Atlantic Beer Garden

Atlantic Beer Garden

146 Seaport Boulevard

Boston, Ma 02210

617-357-8000

http://www.atlanticbeergarden.com/

Menu: Upscale bar food

Kid Friendly: Weekend days, or weekdays, nights seem to be older crowd/

Prices: Average for the area portions are large for what you pay

Atmosphere: Typical sports bar. Waitstaff where's local football, baseball, basketball jersey's Very Loud.

When the weather starts to get cold, but the sun is shining, I have this desire to go for long walks and shop. Today was one of those days. Lou and I took a walk over to the Seaport District to hit up the Christmas Festival at the World Trade Center. He wasn't too thrilled about going, but once he was there, he thought it was a pretty cool event. As craft like festivals go, I think this event has some of the better items to choose from. My favorite buy was wind chimes made out of a Jaegermeister bottle for my brother on law. Red neck wind chimes. Who could ask for more? Here's a shout out to the woman who makes them. The Crafty Peddler http://www.uniqueglasschimes.com/.

After all that shopping we worked up an appetite. Since we had walked to the Festival we figured we had been on our feet for about 3 hours so we opted for a close restaurant. The Atlantic Beer Garden. This restaurant opened about a year ago in the Seaport district where there used to be a Chinese restaurant for years. The location is at the top of the parking lot for Anthony's Pier 1. Although Anthony's has a huge parking lot, don't think you can park there for the Atlanic Beer Garden. There is a parking lot attendant in the paid lot next to Anthony's who is like the parking police. He will flag you down as soon as you try to pull the okey doke. Good thing we were walking today. We had been at the Beer Garden about a year ago when it first opened. We hit it up after work and there was a HUGE after work crowd. The acoustics aren't the best in the restaurant and that night it was extremely loud. Drunk people always get louder and louder, and when sports are involved it ups the ante. Surrounding the restaurant on ever wall, and every few feet are flat screen tv's to watch the games. Boston is a huge sports town. The one thing I can say is the guys who opened this restaurant made a wise choice of location and theme.

I never visited the chinese restaurant that was in this building previously, but I imagine these new owners were working with good bones. Across the back of the restaurant is a wall of glass doors that opens to a patio overlooking the harbor. There is a stairway inside that leads to a roof deck with great views of the Boston skyline, and in the front of the restaurant there is a patio for al fresco dining. The main room is very large, and with the back patio, the roof deck, and the front patio, it makes for a lot of dining space. The other thing that stands out to me about the Atlantic Beer Garden is there is no place in the Seaport with as laid back a vibe as this place to go after work and have a drink. It gives off a little more of a party atmosphere than other places in that area, and no other bar features sports. You would have to go fairly far into Southie to find another sports bar in the area, or brave the traffic and parking prices of Faneuil Hall. Parking in the Seaport District is only about $8 to $10 a day, when 1/2 a mile away in downtown Boston it is anywhere from $30 to $45 a day!

One of the reasons we chose the Beer Garden today of course was our tired legs and feet, but Lou also had a hankering for some good fish and chips, and we assumed they probably had that on the menu. We had been there once before, and most good pub like places in Boston have a fish and chips entree. We were right.

The restaurant was loud again just like I remembered it from our first visit. It wasn't AS loud, but the acoustics really are bad in the place. I wonder how it is when the back doors are opened. For drinks Lou went with our typical water, but I ventured out and got an unsweetened tea! Ooh so dangerous. I guess we just don' t want to waste calories drinking them. For lunch, Lou was hungry so we started off with some boneless buffalo chicken tenders. These got an A+ in my book. The tenders themselves were each a healthy portion. There were about 5 on the plate. The blue cheese was plentiful. The breading on the chicken tenders was light and not overpowering. The sauce wasn't too hot, and the carrot and celery sticks on the side were fresh and crisp. Chicken tenders are a staple on a lot of menus these days, but not every place pulls them off well.

For lunch I opted for the veggie panini. It had strips of eggplant, squash, zucchini, and even though the menu description didn't say it, I swear there were pickles in there. It said it was topped with a marinara sauce and mozzarella. I tasted the mozzarella, but if there was marinara sauce, it was very light. I didn't mind that much. The panini was good, the vegetables were a bit tough to bite through, especially the eggplant. I think it is just hard to to do eggplant on a sandwich like this. Lou got the fish and chips he had been craving. Both meals came with the choice of fries or curly fries. I got regular fries, Lou curly. The curly fries were $.95 extra which I think is wierd, but whatever. Honestly, I think all restaurants should offer something healthier from fries to choose from. I know you can often substitute, but I just don't think it should be the norm. The fries were nothing special. I am sure they get the typical Kraft foods frozen fries most restaurants get. The portions were very large. Lou really liked his fish and since it was so much, he brought half of it home to enjoy later.

The price for our meals was $35 for one ice-t, chicken tenders, fish and chips, and a panini. I would say that is about average for the area. The portions were well above average. The staff at the beer garden is always attentive and friendly. I remember on both visits seeing a manager actively involved in managing the front of the house of the restaurant. This is always a good sign of a well run place.

To sum it up, the Atlantic Beer Garden is what it is. A neighborhood sports bar, in a cool location with solid food, solid wait staff, and tv's galore. it is clean, the staff is friendly. A great place to hang out after work or have a casual weeknight dinner.