💙 | $$ | The saddest thing that’s happened to the Northampton restaurant scene in the last two years has been closure of Sylvester’s, a restaurant that I recommended in my first Gazette column ever. The good news, though, is that the owners of Sylvester’s also run Roberto’s, just a bit further down King Street, so not all of the greatness is lost. It’s just re-focused. So if you were a Sylvester’s lover, like I was, then you can still support the family.
Roberto’s is a baby by Joe’s standards but a local stalwart by any other, founded in the 1960s. The place is simple and folksy inside, with a balanced bustle of activity that puts you in the mood. They’re good at accommodating big groups. Roberto’s is also a sleeper hit for outdoor dining: you can sit out on a gracious patio next to the big old house and watch some hipsters across the street sell outrageous vintage clothes. They might even sing or rap.
The antipasto is a necessary way to start. It’s a generous spread, a massively tricked-out Italian-dressed salad with marinated mushrooms, ham, cheese, nicely acidic banana peppers, and pepperoni fried to a delightfully chip-like crispness.
Antipasto with fried pepperoni, Roberto’s, Northampton, MA (Photo: Robin Goldstein)
A well-coated Caesar salad is straightforward, and just what it should be.
Caesar salad, Roberto’s, Northampton, MA (Photo: Robin Goldstein)
Cheesy garlic bread and thin-crust pizza are two more eternal favorites here. They’re both in the greasy, pile-it-on school of culinary art in American pizza and garlic bread, which was really flowering in the Northeastern U.S. around the time of Roberto’s birth in the 1960s.
Pizza, Roberto’s, Northampton, MA, with Ansel Rosenblum in background (photo: Robin Goldstein)
But the best thing on the menu is what my grandmother, Nonnie, would order every time: eggplant parmigiana, crispy outside and melty inside and absolutely addictive. Most mains, including the eggplant, come with a choice of pasta, of which cavatappi (squiggly, mac-and-cheese-like noodles) are the best by far.
Eggplant parmigiana with cavatappi pasta and red sauce, Roberto’s, Northampton, MA (photo: Robin Goldstein)Baked lasagna, Roberto’s, Northampton, MA (photo: Robin Goldstein)
Ravioli are another strength of the kitchen: butternut squash ravioli comes lusciously sauced and generously layered with grated cheese, while buffalo chicken ravioli is stuffed with minced chicken and served with blue cheese. These are hardly 1960s dishes, but they too may live long lives.
Ravioli, Roberto’s, Northampton, MA (photo: Robin Goldstein)
💙💙💙 | $$ | My go-to for a great, fun downtown meal has always been this lively house with intimate booth seating. The raw bar is fresh, sweet potato ravioli rich and seductive, gumbos deep and mysterious. A stellar Gorgonzola-vinaigrette house or Caesar salad comes with every full main, and half-portions are served. The well-chosen wine list sometimes includes great local reds from Mineral Hills Winery in Florence.
When I think of fried seafood in my hometown, the first place that comes to mind is Eastside Grill, a restaurant that opened in 1985 and has aged with exceptional grace under the leadership of a management and culinary team that’s been around for decades. Inside a gracious old white house, a series of warmly lit rooms draw you in with a pleasant buzz every night, and a kind and informal staff that treats every customer like family.
But there’s so much more than the indoors. Over the past few years, Eastside has helped spearhead the Summer on Strong program, which for several months transforms Strong Avenue in downtown Northampton into a giant pedestrian-only piazza, an outdoor-dining block that rivals Boston’s North End for vibrancy. Beyond Eastside, Summer on Strong includes its neighbors Local Burger, Homestead, Familiars Coffee & Tea, the Tunnel Bar, and Progression Brewing. Summer on Strong kicks off in May and continues into the early fall.
On a warm spring or summer evening, Eastside’s lamp-lit alleyway behind the building, spread with tables, gives off an aura of romance that evokes New Orleans. This dovetails well with the restaurant’s unique culinary concept, which is to cross New England seafood with New Orleans-style creole and cajun. This might not seem like the most obvious move, but the northeast Atlantic and Louisiana Gulf coasts happen to be two of the greatest seafood-frying regions in the world, so it’s no surprise that Eastside is a champion at this.
Start with a well-mixed bloody mary (the house version comes with two juicy cocktail shrimp), a generously sized dry martini, or a local draft beer, or order from one of Northampton’s best-value wine lists. One time in late 2023 I found the Mineral Hills Cabernet from Florence, which was my #1 local wine pick of the year.
Bloody mary with cocktail shrimp, Eastside Grill, Northampton, MA, USA (photo: Robin Goldstein)
Next you can move on to some of the city’s best oysters on the half shell—if you sit at the bar, you’ll be treated to a full frontal shucking. The classic American spinach-and-artichoke dip, a favorite for all ages, is also done right here.
Spinach and artichoke dip, Eastside Grill, Northampton, MA, USA (photo: Robin Goldstein)
Better still are Eastside’s fried oysters: big, indulgent Gulf-style delights, plump and well-seasoned, not too briny, with a pink rémoulade that gets some peppery heat from Tabasco and stands up to the deeply flavorful batter.
Fried oysters, Eastside Grill, Northampton, MA, USA (photo: Robin Goldstein)
Fried popcorn shrimp, like fried oysters, are well crisped and bubbled hot and fast enough to preserve the moistness of the meat inside.
The star of the show still awaits: I would challenge you to find a better gumbo anywhere on the East Coast than Eastside’s rotating gumbos of the day, almost all of which incorporate smoky andouille sausage.
Chicken and andouille sausage gumbo, Eastside Grill, Northampton, MA, USA (photo: Robin Goldstein)
The kitchen also has a way with Gorgonzola, starting with their famous Gorgonzola garlic bread, which absorbs tangy cheese crumbles, melted butter, and garlic so richly that they penetrate every bite of bread.
Gorgonzola garlic bread, Eastside Grill, Northampton, MA, USA (photo: Robin Goldstein)
Big crumbles of Gorgonzola also show up in a pleasantly acidic vinaigrette on the house salad that comes with every full-sized main. You can also upgrade to a well-executed and (optionally) anchovied Caesar salad. If you’re in a party of two or more, I recommend sharing at least one of each.
Caesar salad, Eastside Grill, Northampton, MA, USA, with my nephew Azai Dugger and sister Rosie Goldstein (photo: Robin Goldstein)Caesar salad with anchovies at Eastside Grill, Northampton, MA, USA (photo: Robin Goldstein)
Among mains, the fried chicken, served with buffalo sauce, is always a winning choice, even though it’s a breast with no bone—a light, crunchy batter coats the juicy meat well. Rotating vegetable sides might include garlicky green beans with an al-dente pop.
Fried chicken and green beans, Eastside Grill, Northampton
That same expertise with the deep fryer does good work with cornmeal-crusted fish and chips, and there are also expertly blackened steaks (though boneless), and other New Orleans-themed fare. I have always been less impressed, however, with jambalaya, étoufée, and sautéed-chicken-breast dishes.
Rich, sultry sweet-potato ravioli, smothered in a gorgonzola cream sauce with wilted spinach, is my mom’s favorite order here. As a result, she’s always a frequent fork-jacking victim of all the flex-Ketos at the table. The ravioli dish, like several other mains, is also available in a half-portion for smaller appetites, but my mom has learned from experience not to do that.
Sweet-potato ravioli with spinach and gorgonzola cream, half-portion, Eastside Grill, Northampton, MA, USA (photo: Robin Goldstein)
