Cafeteria - Easy Night Out

Finally, Nick and I went to Cafeteria down in Back Bay.  I had been hearing about Cafeteria for a while now as an easy go-to for a cheaper dinner.  Walking in, the restaurant is fairly open and airy with a trendy flair.  It was bustling for early on a Thursday night.

They had a pretty big drink menu, including many vodka lemonades, sangrias, and beers.  Taking advantage of that, Nick went with the Chocolate Stout.

Beer

Going a bit more out there I had a Rose Sangria. 

Rose Sangria

The drink itself was great, however, I thought there would be more fruit in the drink.  I actually chose this one because of the fruit in it - if this is your thing, my recommendation would be to ask for the fruit if possible.

Rather than traditional specials, Cafeteria does daily dishes that they have each week.  On Thursday's, the special is Chicken Parmesan.  Cafeteria had actually sent me a tweet before heading out recommending this dish, and when we sat down we saw someone at a nearby table with it.  It looked so good that Nick had to go with it.

Chicken Parm

The dish was HUGE and the chicken was great - very moist and the breading was tasty.  However, the sauce was a little thing.  It just was not thick enough to really stick to the pasta or chicken.

Having heard things about the menu, I decided to test out their burger.  They have a number of types including grass fed beef, lamb and Tuna, that you can add a variety of toppings to.  I decided to go with a beef burger with Cheddar, fried onions and avocado.  If avocado is ever an option I will add it!

The Burger

Generally the burgers come with Cafeteria sauce, but not being a big fan of creamy dressings, I asked for it on the side.  It looked like Thousand Island so I steered clear, but Nick said it was good.  The burger was good, especially for the price of about $12, but it just did not do it for me.  The beef was tender and flavorful, but something seemed to be missing.  I was enjoying the toppings more than the burger itself.  I will say the fries and onions were great.  They had a lot of flavor.  The batter on the onions was great - it actually had some taste to it.

Overall Cafeteria makes for an easy night out.