Boston Market -- Not your standard fast-food joint
Written: Aug 20 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: good value, good fresh food
Cons: it is a fast-food restaurant setting
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| poseidon's Full Review: Boston Market |
Twice in the last week I’ve had an opportunity to eat at the same restaurant. That’s unusual, especially taking into account that I don’t eat out all that often to begin with. The first time, I ate there because I was hungry and it sounded different. The second time around (24 hours later), a friend of mine had a massive craving for the restaurant and pretty much begged me to eat there.
Your typical fast-food restaurant serves burgers, chicken, fish and fries. Some offer salads and pasta dishes. They usually have the food prepared beforehand and serve it to you within a minute or so after you place your order.
Boston Market, on the other hand, is still what I would classify as fast food but they have upgraded the process a touch.
All the food is pre-prepared. However, the product line they offer is, unlike most fast food restaurants, very fresh.
Take into account the most basic meal they offer – chicken. When you think of a fast-food restaurant, you probably think of a chunk of chopped and pressed chicken served in some semblance of a patty (even if they do change the shape) and then either grilled or fried. The chicken may come in nuggets and be served with a variety of dipping sauces. The chicken may be slapped between two pieces of bread and have a few salad condiments tossed on top to help kill the taste.
When you’re talking Boston Market, you’re discussing an entirely different bird.
At Boston Market, when you order a chicken meal, you get real chicken. While it is pre-cooked, the chicken is pulled out of a rotisserie oven and cut in front of your eyes. There is nothing fake or pre-packaged about the chicken. It is tasty, moist, juicy and tastes similarly or better than what you can make at home.
You are served either a quarter chicken or a half chicken, depending on what you order. If you order the quarter chicken, you can choose between all dark meat and all white meat.
But wait! There’s more.
The chicken meal is also served with cornbread and your choice of one, two or three side dishes. We’re not talking french fries or onion rings, either. We’re talking real food.
Every Boston Market location offers mashed potatoes, herbed sweet corn, steamed vegetables, stuffing, cinnamon-spiced apples, coleslaw and garlic dill new potatoes.
However, you’re still not done with your choices, because every Boston Market location also offers a variety of side dishes that they are allowed to pick and choose from to keep in stock. These items include baked beans, black beans and rice, broccoli and red peppers, broccoli rice casserole, butternut squash, cucumber salad, cinnamon applesauce, coyote bean salad, cranberry relish, creamed spinach, fresh fruit salad, glazed carrots, green bean casserole, green beans and garlic butter, Jumpin’ Juice Squares (gelatin), macaroni and cheese, Mediterranean pasta salad, potato salad, oven-roasted potato planks, penne marinara, red beans and rice, rice pilaf, squash casserole, sweet potato casserole, tortellini salad, baked sweet potatoes, wild rice medley and zucchini marinara.
All the side dishes can be seen behind a protective glass case, and you simply tell the clerk how many sides you want and what you want.
But wait! There’s more.
Boston Market isn’t limited to chicken selections either, however, that’s how they got their start. When the restaurant started to expand, they changed their name from Boston Chicken to Boston Market to reflect the updated menu.
Boston Market also serves Double-Sauced Meatloaf, which is fantastic. It is a spiced a bit with herbs and is better than anything my mother made, even with all the crazy concoctions she tried. You can also choose a Hearth Ham or a Rotisserie Turkey meal.
All the meals come with the same rules. You get cornbread and a choice of one, two or three side dishes.
If you aren’t interested in any of the main courses, you can also get what’s called a side-dish meal, which includes three side dishes and an order of cornbread.
Finally, there’s a kid’s meal, consisting of macaroni and cheese, a kid’s-sized serving of chicken, turkey, meatloaf or ham, cornbread, and a soft drink or milk. I’m pretty sure there’s no toy as there would be with many fast-food restaurants.
But wait! There’s more.
Not everyone is happy with just four selections. They want more. Boston Market caters to those people, offering a chicken potpie – which is absolutely delicious – and a selection of soups. The soup choices are chicken noodle, chicken tortilla, homestyle potato, tomato bisque and a chicken chili.
You also have to realize that to limit the menu to those items, you’d still not please everyone. Some people who come in on their lunch breaks are convinced they want a sandwich and aren’t interested in a platter. That’s not a problem at Boston Market, because they offer what they call their Carver Sandwiches.
They offer a Chicken Carver, which is served on a white or wheat bun, topped with cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato and a creamy Dijon sauce. If chicken isn’t your game, try the Turkey Carver. It comes with Swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato and a creamy Parmesan sauce. Still not convinced? Well, their meatloaf is available as a Carver Sandwich, too. It is topped with hickory ketchup, cheddar cheese, lettuce and tomato. If ham is something you’re craving, Boston Market can accommodate you, too. The Ham Carver is topped with Swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato and the Dijon sauce.
You may be thinking to yourself you want a club sandwich, and those choices just don’t float your boat. Well, never fear. Boston Market hasn’t forgotten about you, either. Their Turkey Club Carver is topped with bacon, Swiss cheese, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato and a creamy Parmesan sauce.
The Carver Sandwiches can be converted into a combination value meal if you order a drink and a side dish. That way, you can still get that value meal feeling from the Drive Thru Window at your other fast-food joint.
But wait! There’s more.
One of my favorite meals as a kid was an open-faced turkey sandwich. Sometimes, I still crave it. Guess what? Boston Market has that, too. It is served with a cranberry walnut relish, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, and all of it is piled on a slice of white bread.
I also used to love an open-faced meatloaf sandwich. Boston Market thought of that, too. The meatloaf is piled on a slice of white bread and then smothered in mushroom gravy and is served with a side order of mashed potatoes.
But wait! There’s more.
You see, not everyone likes meat and not everyone wants to eat three side dishes as a full meal. For the clientele that fit this category, they offer a Caesar Salad or a Chicken Caesar Salad, both of which are served with a side of cornbread.
Some people don’t think a meal is complete without dessert. Boston Market understands this, and offers a choice of apple crumb, pecan, French silk, or pumpkin pies. They also have chocolate and carrot cake, along with chocolate brownies and a small cookie selection. The pies and cakes can be purchased either by the slice or in whole.
Of course, no meal is complete without something to drink. The fountain drinks are Coca-Cola products, but they also serve bottled water, lemonade, iced-tea, coffee and milk. Fountain drink refills are free if you dine in.
But wait! There’s more.
Boston Market knows that they are still fast food. If you’re not interested in leaving your car on your daily race homeward, they let you get anything you want from the Drive Thru window. If you’re dining in, your meal is served on plastic plates and you’re eating with plastic utensils. The inside will remind you of what you’re normally going to see in any fast food restaurant. There are no tablecloths, no fancy furniture, and wall-to-ceiling windows that overlook the parking lot.
The average cost of a meal per person is $6.00, plus the cost of a beverage. Beverages run anywhere from $0.99 to $1.39 each, and the pies and cakes run around $1.39 each. It is a bit pricier than your average fast-food eatery.
As I stated earlier, unlike most fast-food places you’re going to find very fresh food at Boston Market. For the freshness and the taste, I have no problem paying this premium. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants something above your typical fast-food restaurant.
As a final note, be sure to always check out the Sunday newspaper coupons. I can almost always find coupons that will knock a few dollars off the cost of a meal.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
poseidon
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 - Top 200 |
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Member: Jeffrey Schwartz
Location: Sunrise, FL, USA
Reviews written: 511
Trusted by: 1097 members
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