In my neck of the woods (western MA), the following are the places that we like to frequent/drool over/sometimes even travel an hour to get to. In my eyes they are the super-heros of my hood. It took quite a while to try these all out and determine who would make this list and who would not. I’ve attempted to break them out into categories for you, but some certainly fall into more than one.
general
- belly of the beast, Northampton, MA
- blue heron, Sunderland, MA
- hope and olive, Greenfield, MA
- post. eatery & bar, Lee, MA
- sutter meats, Northampton, MA (they prepare one daily lunch special)
- the bistro box, Great Barrington, MA
- the dream away lodge, Becket, MA
- the gill tavern, Gill, MA
- the roost, Northampton, MA
- the sierra grille, Northampton, MA
asian
- coco & the cellar bar, Easthampton, MA
- little trúc, food truck, catering & pop-ups
- oriental flavor, Amherst, MA
french
- bistro les gras, Northampton, MA
italian
latin flare
- bueno y sano, Amherst, Springfield, Northampton, West Springfield, South Deerfield MA
- mission cantina, Amherst & Easthampton, MA
- mi tierra, Hadley, MA
pub
- daily operation, Easthampton, MA
- hillside pizza, Bernardston, Hadley and South Deerfield, MA
- local burger, Northampton, MA
- northampton brewery, Northampton, MA
- progression brewing, Northampton, MA
- riff’s joint, Easthampton & Turners Falls, MA
- the peoples pint, Greenfield, MA
raw
- iya, South Hadley, MA
- moshi moshi, Northampton, MA
breakfast
- esselon, Hadley, MA
- jakes, Northampton and Amherst, MA
- sylvesters, Northampton, MA
bakery
- bread euphoria, Haydenville, MA
- florence pie bar, Florence, MA
- hungry ghost bread, Northampton, MA
- small oven bakery, Easthampton, MA
- tart baking co., Northampton, MA
- the black sheep deli & bakery, Amherst, MA
- woodstar cafe, Northampton, MA
catering
- blue door gatherings, Holyoke, MA
- pengyew catering, Amherst, MA
frozen