There’s something about familiarity with a high quality neighborhood restaurant. It may not be the most amazing food in the world, but the consistency is key. You want to know that no matter what day you show up, your expectations will be met. It’s also helpful if you can get a decent portion for a decent price. Cafe on the Common (COC) is about 2 miles away from our house. Close enough for a nice bike ride, but a little long for a weekly walk. This is a restaurant that we’ve been frequenting ever since we moved back to MA and it’s always provided good food at a good price.
On this occasion, I ordered the western skillet without ham, home fries, and toast. I had never ordered a skillet at COC before and wasn’t let down. The egg/cheese/onion/pepper combination was near perfect. I had to mix the ingredients up a bit to get full cheese coverage, but I don’t typically mind a breakfast mess as long as it tastes good. the home fries were good as usual. Here, the home fries are seasoned and always cooked well. I’ve never had any issues with the home fries, which has actually been an issue as of late at other diners.
Kelli ordered Cape Cod pancakes and a side of “extra crispy” bacon. For the uninitiated, a Cape Cod pancake is a plain battered pancake with cranberries and nuts. While cranberries and maple syrup sounds like a weird mixture, it actually works quite well. Kelli notes that the pancakes were “tasty and cranberry-esque… light and fluffy with a little cranberry sour.” Um, ok. Since this was originally a post that was on her docket to write as it was her turn to pick where to go, I’ll leave it at that I guess. The bacon is “mediocre” as it is “not very flavorful.” Kelli thinks the bacon has been better here lately, but she has really been underwhelmed.
So, if this a place that we’ve had breakfast at about 15-20 times and have even been to a few Friday night dinners, why have we not decided to end our search? The decor is ok, but really bland. It lacks personality. It sometimes feels a little dark, but that really isn’t a problem for us. It’s family friendly, but you’ll need to skip showing up between 10-11 as it has a rather big rush. However, if you show up closer to noon, you’ll have a choice of any table you like. We don’t mind waiting though. At Wendy’s Place, we’d wait 30-45 minutes most weekends and it wasn’t a bother. The waitstaff is attentive, but often impersonal. The food is good and we always leave satisfied, but it hasn’t ever had a wow factor. The portions are large and the bill is light. There isn’t one particular thing that stands out in favor or against COC.
We really want to like this place. The menu is large and has numerous and varied options for lunch and dinner. We’ll keep coming here for years to come, but if we find “the spot” it will be with much greater infrequency. We’ll recommend COC to anyone. We’ve brought family and friends here. It’s just missing something (not counting hashbrowns) that I can’t quite put my finger on. Maybe it’s just the combination of everything I’ve already mentioned. It’s a good breakfast, but isn’t the pinnacle that we’re looking for. Maybe we’re just too picky…
