Tales of the Hungry Traveler

Fresh Roasted Garlic

Name: Vinny T’s of Boston

Location: Boston,MA

Meal: Fried Mozzarella, Linguine with White Clam Sauce, and a Martini

Type: Italian

The foodie in my wants to abhor chain restaurants. Commonsense should tell me that if a restaurant is good enough to be franchised it means it is probably pretty good. Vinny T’s in Boston is an example of one of these chains restaurants worth visiting. I was in Boston, luckily with a friend who used to live in the neighborhood and knew that I’d enjoy Vinny’s. Let me preface my next comment by saying that I really enjoy Maggiano’s; they do Italian and service really, really well. My short description of Vinny T’s is that they are the restaurant that Maggiano’s tries to be. I understand that the pictures that decorate the walls don’t actually have any connection to anyone actually involved with Vinny T’s but it does come off a lot less contrived then Applebee’s and Fridays (to be honest, that’s pretty easy to do). One of the great things about good Italian restaurants is that they bring you bread and olive oil when you sit down. Vinny T’s takes this to the extreme, they bring you bread and an entire fresh roasted head of garlic in olive oil. Roasted garlic is one of those foods that is just plain good, sure it often has negative outcomes and side effects but its just so good. Our waitress let us in on a secret as we made our way through our second bowl of garlic. She encouraged us to mash our garlic, some Parmesan, and crushed red chili peppers together and spread it on the bread. The skies briefly parted and the sun shone down, that’s how good it was.

My visit to Vinnie T’s was a rarity; I was actually there with people I know. More than 90% of my Hungry Traveler meals come from my solo adventures. We decided to start with an appetizer (no, two whole roasted bulbs of garlic was not enough). Fried mozzarella was the general consensus and I was alright with it, albeit with low expectations due the prevalence of pre-made frozen mozzarella sticks out there. What we got was some of the best fried cheese I’ve ever had. They start with fresh buffalo style mozzarella so it light, they then only slightly bread it and give it a quick fry. The cheese is then placed on a nice light marinara sauce. Fried yet not heavy; I’m quite glad we decided on the mozzarella.

Being in a seafood city, I went with the linguine with clam sauce. My expectations were perfectly met, it had the strong but not overpowering seafood taste. The clams were piled up on top of the pasta, way out numbering the shells also sitting in the pasta like they’re supposed to. All told, I was quite happy that we wound up at Vinny T’s. The service was great, the food was tasty and well executed, the drinks strong, and the overall experience quite enjoyable. At the end of the day, yes Vinny T’s has a few locations, 7 to be precise and no, Vinny doesn’t work behind the counter. Its classification as a chain does not nothing to hinder its ability to deliver a great meal you’ll be sure to enjoy next time you find yourself in the Boston area.

Fresh Fried Mozzarella

Linguine with White Clam Sauce