Friendly Eating Place

49. 10-30 Friendly Eating Place, 985 Massachusetts Ave (two blocks past the Crate & Barrel furniture store toward Central Square, on the left). Summary: Basic sub shop.

The name says it all, I think; this is a place where you can can get basic food at low cost. No pretentions to be ethnic or upscale. And sure enough, the workers are all sweaty and in white tee shirts, working their butts off by the grill or the oven or at the cash register, while the patrons are a mix of ethnicities and white collar/blue collar (probably more of the latter). The pizza smell permeating the shop is of the thick cheese that makes a pizza taste really good.

We were all satisfied with our food. Unfortunately they forgot about my order and so Tom, Rob, and Jennifer had to wait for me, their food getting colder by the moment. Despite that, the portions were good, the prices low, and the food quality decent - not great, but decent. Jennifer didn't think the steak in her steak n'cheese n'egg (I've never seen one of these before!) was of great quality; Tom liked the initial taste of his pizza slices, but seemed to regret the size and ingredients after finishing. Rob and I (grilled chicken sub) were content.

So, nothing special, but a good dose of "reality" in lunch spots - the kind of place I imagine most of America goes to. About $6 per person.