Review: Big Papi's Grille

Ok let’s get down to business. The first restaurant I reviewed happened to be owned by Boston’s beloved Sox player – David Ortiz. His restaurant, appropriately named “Big Papi’s Grille” is located in Framingham right on rte 9. I was very curious on how it would be perceived, and what kind of menu he would have, but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. The décor was extremely tasteful, and not overdone with Red Sox paraphernalia. And the food…in 3 words I would sum it up by saying – not too shabby. I figured since he was Big Papi & all, the burgers & steak would be pretty good – so I put my focus on ordering some items that most fans probably wouldn’t order.

I started with the tuna tartar: it was ok. The tuna was a slightly watery, BUT I was impressed with the portion size. It came with these yummy, crunchy potato-chips that were pretty good too. A few friends of mine ordered the lobster & crab cake duet – and it was very tasty. Although funny, because the portion of the crab cake was not impressive, especially if you plan on splitting the apps.

Onto dinner…I had trouble deciding, but I landed on the Chicken Oscar. I’ve actually never had Chicken Oscar before, so I had no basis of comparison. But overall it was very delicious! But of course, the chicken to seafood ratio is like 3:1…you get these 2 huge chicken cutlets…and then 2 pieces of shrimp and meat from about 1 lobster claw. Can you say annoying??? I hate when restaurants do this. And I know, the dish is called CHICKEN Oscar, but c’mon! I want me some shrimp dammit! And I also wanted more of the lobster tarragon sauce! Tarragon happens to be my new favorite spice (esp. on chicken salad – yum!) so I figured I would want to lick the plate clean, which I did.


In summary, if you happen to be on Rte 9 looking for a place to eat & maybe watch the game – it’s definitely worth checking out Big Papi’s Grille. Would I make it a point to go again? Probably not. But I do tip my hat off to Big Papi for overseeing a very classy, but not pretentious restaurant vibe, and a friendly menu to appeal to anyone’s taste. Below are some links to check out, Mr. Ortiz also sells hot sauce.


http://www.bigpapienfuego.com/

http://www.bigpapisgrille.com