Top end
Sole Proprietor
(http://www.thesole.com/), 118 highland av., phone: +1 508-798-3474. excellent seafood and fish market. while entree prices can be quite steep, the kettle menu in the bar area is filled with a variety of appetizer options that can be quite filling.
Pizza
Vegetarian / vegan
Udupi Bhavan
Near 364 maple ave. in shrewsbury, in plaza w/ price chopper phone?. all-vegetarian south indian restaurant. even when udupi was 40 minutes away in framingham, it was still worth the trip more like a pilgrimage for worcester vegetarians. they have many dishes like the crepe-like "dosai" that aren't on the mostly-identical menus of new england's indian restaurants, so it's well worth a visit for any fan of indian food. uses ghee, so many dishes aren't vegan. get the samosa chat and the almond and ice cream dessert. byob on weeknights. closed tuesday.
Tortilla Sams
107 highland st., phone: 508-756-sams. this is worcester's best tex-mex restaurant. it has plenty of vegetarian and vegan options. even the red chili can be made vegan, so just ask your server. they sometimes feature un-chicken, so keep your eye out for it.
Nancy Chang
372 chandler st. phone: 508-798-6688. healthy asian cuisine. you can order any of the chicken or shrimp items on the menu and replace it with vegetarian chicken or vegetarian shrimp. check out their awesome lunch menu, weekdays until 5pm i think. you can also order the chicken & rice soup with vegetables and chicken noodle soup with vegetables without the chicken.
The Living Earth
232 chandler st., phone: 508-753-1896, fax: 508-754-4840. worcester's best and only natural foods store. newly downsized. used to have an excellent natural foods cafe with a few vegan options, and a well run deli with a lot of vegan options. now home to a much larger more expensive restaurant with fancy decor, fewer vegetarian options.
Japanese/sushi
Late night
George's
Grafton st. one of the most interesting cheap late-night eats is a pita bakery on grafton street. it opens each night around 3am to start making pita, and you can buy fresh pitas that look like footballs. the pita bakery is about 5 storefronts up the hill from their daytime, public-facing deli.
Worcester is the birthplace of the diner. The Worcester Lunch Car Company Built Diners from their factory in downtown Worcester from 1906 to 1957. Their serial numbers started at 200 and ended with 850. Many are still in existence. They are characterized by porcelain enamel exteriors with the name of the diner in the enamel. The interiors have mosaic tile floors and tile walls. So there's still lots of "third shift" places to eat, including:
Breakfast
Italian
Wholly Cannoli
488 grafton st., phone: 508-753-0224, (http://www.whollycannoli.com/). as the name suggests, there is a plethora of delicious cannoli offerings, as well as some sandwiches and other italian baked goods available.
Dino's Restaurant
Hard to spot on the busy Shrewsbury street but totaly worth the drive. Romantic dining room with great food and fresh bread.
Inexpensive
Viva Bene Restaurant
144 commercial st. phone: 508-797-0007, (http://www.viva-bene.com/).