Top end
Coral Seafood Restaurant
225 shrewsbury st., phone: 508-755-8331.
The Harlequin
363 plantation st., phone: +1 508-754-5789. at the beechwood.
Maxwell Silvermans Toolhouse
Worcester center blvd. near lincoln sq., 508-755-1200. restored factory building.
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.
Too often, fine dining in Worcester just means paying more for a superficially fancy setting, so beware.
Pizza
Juniors Pizza Grill
346 shrewsbury st., phone: 508-459-5800.
Tech Pizza
137 highland st., phone: +1 508-752-2133.
White City Pizza
120 boston tpke "+1" 508-757-1022. booths & beer on tap.
Road Runner Pizza
3 hamilton st., phone: +1 508-797-0314. open 11a.m.-2:30a.m.
Blue Jeans
270 park av., phone: +1 508-753-3777.
Greek style:
Franco's Pizza
1105 w boylston st., phone: "+1" 508-853-7700.
Fantastic
910 main st., phone: +1 508-798-5577. also has falafel.
Thinner crust:
A&V Pizza
344 grafton st., phone: "+1" 508-757-5016. nice seating with window booths.
Wonderbar
121 shrewsbury st., phone: +1 508-752-9909. great pizza, one of the best pizza restaurants in worcester. some of the notable dishes are its hawaiian pizza and antipasto.
Mikey's Pizza
370 burncoat st., phone: +1 508-852-5255.
Pops New York Style Pizza
1102 pleasant st # d., phone: +1 508-754-7365.
Gourmet Pizza:
Diamond Pizza
848 main st., phone: "+1" 508-755-4449.
Vegetarian / vegan
Belmont Vegetarian
157 belmont street, 508 798-8898. great jamaican cuisine, all vegan, the mock fish is particularly delicious. real nice guys. get the "whatever" not on the menu. open mon-sat 10-8, closed sunday.
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.
Saigon
976b main st., phone: 508-799-5250. vietnamese with exciting vegetarian offerings. don't even look at the menu and order the #92 warning: spicy. after that, get the vegetable hot and sour soup.
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.
Duck Yao
872 main street. duck yao is an elegant backyard vegan restaurant run by two hip young women and a chinese taoist family. fake meat like no other. now plotting bigger things.
Quan Yin
56 hamilton st., phone: 508-831-1322. an all vegan fake meat restaurant by run by followers of suma ching hai the "suma" is a contraction for "supreme master". great mock foods. the fake cheeseburger is a secret item: not on the menu but always deliciously available.
Also see "Middle Eastern" for more delicious vegetarian meals.
Inexpensive
Coney Island Hot Dogs
158 southbridge street, phone: +1 508-753-4362, open w-m. best hot dogs, best sign if you go to coney island, make sure you go into the bar. the bartender will get you your hot dogs and beer, letting you skip the line.
Long Island Hot Dogs
68 stafford street, phone: +1 508-753-9223. best burger a true diamond in the rough. a real greasy spoon dinner hidden in a stripmall.
Late night
Kenmore Diner
250 franklin street, phone: +1 508-792-5125. this dinner is located in the shadow of i-290, an elevated highway, and has a wonderfully edward hopper vibe, especially late at night. highly recommended.
Boulevard Diner
155 shrewsbury street, phone: +1 508-791-4535.
Miss Worcester Diner
300 southbridge street, phone: +1 508-757-7775. terrific liver and onions at this diner, for the inner truck driver in you.
Parkway Diner
148 shrewsbury street, phone: +1 508-753-9968.
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.
Tortilla Sams
107 highland st., phone: 508-756-sams. open late everyday: su,m until 11pm, tu-th until 12am, f,sa until 3am.
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
Corner Lunch
133 lamartine st., phone: +1 508-799-9866. a famous deraffelle diner.
Parkway Diner
148 shrewsbury st., phone: +1 508-753-9968.
Jeans Place
136 cambridge st., phone: +1 508-753-9466.
Annie's Clark Brunch
formally known as wendy's. regulars are allowed a tab.)
Boulevard Diner
155 shrewsbury st., phone: +1 508-791-4535 a favorite among college students, open 24 hours.
Gold Star Restaurant
68 w boylston dr., phone: +1 508-852-7900.
For breakfast the wealth of diners opens up and it is near impossible to choose. Here are some of the most cool and comfy:
Japanese/sushi
Haiku
258 park ave., phone: 508-459-3033.
Takara Restaurant
10 kelly square., phone: 508-791-1140.
Italian
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.
Leo's Ristorante
11 brackett ct., phone: 508-753-9490.
VIA Italian Table
Italian restaurant. Moderately priced with outside eating and great service.
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.
ethnic restaurants
You could spend a lifetime going to the following restaurants in rotation:
Viva Bene Restaurant
144 commercial st. phone: 508-797-0007, (http://www.viva-bene.com/).