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
• food 101, South Hadley, 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 farm table, Bernardston, MA
• the federal, Agawam, 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
• sun kim bop, Springfield, MA

french

• bistro les gras, Northampton, MA

italian

• alina’s, Hadley, MA
• homestead, Northampton, MA

latin flare

• bueno y sano, Amherst, Springfield, Northampton, West Springfield, MA
• mesa verde, Greenfield, 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
• pic’s pub, Holyoke, MA (pizza)
• 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
• the green bean, 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

• bistro at gateway city arts, Holyoke, MA
• blue door gatherings, Holyoke, MA
• pengyew catering, Amherst, MA

frozen

• goberry, Northampton & Amherst, MA
• mt. tom’s, Easthampton, MA