Simard's Family Restaurant/501 Newburyport Turnpike (Rt. 1)/Rowley, MA 01969

Simard's Rt. 1

Simard's Family Restaurant and Seafood Village

There are a plethora of diners and breakfast joints that dot the North Shore of Boston.  I ended up at a wedding in Rowley a few weeks ago and upon waking up in the morning the only thing that was going to cure my nighttime fun-turned morning misery was a lot of bacon.  The woman at the hotel where I stayed was more than seemingly a local and when I asked where to go for breakfast she didn't hesitate in telling me that Simard's was obviously the only choice (and there are a lot of places to choose from in those parts) for anyone that knew anything.  It is not often that I take any one's word on whether or not food will be good in one place as opposed to another, but her surety was so convincing that I decided it was worth a shot.

Pepper, Onion, Tomato, and Cheese Omelette w/Homefries and Bacon

Wow.  Simard's is one of those places that you would have gone to with your grandparents if your grandparents had only know about it.  Breakfast is only the beginning here.  This is the type of place that you want to come back to because you are sure that the Prime Rib must be worth the trip up to Rowley for on a Friday night.  No, I didn't try the Prime Rib, but I am guessing that it is much better than average.  Now I'll get to what I had for breakfast.  These pictures are from the second time I ate here, because I simply had to go back again.  I had the same thing both times.  Granted, bacon is seldom bad, but the bacon at Simard's is some of the most memorable I have ever had.  It's so greasy and wonderful that I have a feeling the cooks actually deep fry it.  It's just that good.  The omelette that I ordered may very well have had 1/2 dozen eggs in it.  It was an odd mix of greasy wonder and super fresh and crunchy peppers, onions, and tomatoes.  Well, the tomatoes weren't crunchy nor were the 3 pieces of American Cheese, but this omelette would have been worth writing home about at half its size.  The home fries were thinly sliced, hand cut, not frozen potatoes with a hint of garlic, salt and pepper.  Simple but truly amazing.  The prices are ridiculously  low at Simard's, but my omelette wasn't exactly on the menu, so it was around $9 dollars for a huge wonderful breakfast.  I'm a sucker for good coffee, but there is a nostalgic place in my heart for bad coffee that can't possibly be drunk without tons of cream and sugar.  Sadly, no amount of cream and sugar could make this coffee taste good.  But they have Moxie, so who cares?  The food is good enough to balance out the lack of coffee (lack=don't even bother ordering it), and tea is a good substitute for coffee 2 or 3 times a year. I'll be heading back to try the Prime Rib sometime in the near future.

Century House/ 235 Andover St. (Rt. 114)/Peabody, MA 01960

Unexcelled Food

Cajun Style Chicken Caesar 

Century House is one of those places that you went to with your grandparents as a child and wondered why in the world you grandparents liked such grandparent-like places.  If you walk into Century House on any given afternoon, many of the people sitting at the bar are the age your grandparents were when you used to go to these type of places with them.  And if you can find a seat at the bar on a Tuesday at 1:30 (you heard that right) your love for them will only grow whether or not they are still with you.  This place is...unique.  If you like a good stiff drink or four with your lunch, there are few places on the North Shore that are better than here.  The three martini lunch is alive and well here.  They also happen to have one helluva good lunch menu.  Unexcelled is not a word the last time I checked, but a place like this has the right to create its own words when they pertain to food.  Everyday is a difficult day to find a seat at the bar here, but Tuesday is arguably the most popular because of the $13 cut of prime rib.  The pictures here don't really do justice as to how much food you are provided with.  The "Regular Cut" of prime rib on this day was upwards of 20 ozs.  That's not a fluke here.  And if it were big and bad then it would not at all be worth mentioning.  This is old school write-home-about-it type prime rib.  The potatoes are big and perfectly cooked.  The coleslaw is good enough to order instead of whatever veg may me on tap, and the Caesar is formidable, especially with the "Cajun Style" chicken on top (although that is definitely a meal in itself).  This is a place that is hard to leave because the drinks are so generous.  Just be prepared to wait for a seat for 10 or so minutes if you want the full afternoon bar/lunch experience.

"Regular Cut" Prime Rib

Baked Potato and Coleslaw