The Herald just ran a piece yesterday on the dining scene in Quincy, including mentions of the Quincy Food Truck festival, and Barbara Lynch’s new upscale casual Italian project:
I am not near Quincy so I am there not nearly as often as I like. How do folks like the spots mentioned in the article?
I’ve heard good things about Alba but have never been myself. I look forward to seeing what Barbara Lynch can offer as a higher-end option in the city; Quincy’s restaurant scene is definitely not upscale and the neighborhood overall still feels very blue collar in some pockets. It’s got a lot of solid neighborhood joints dominated by Asian because of the exploding Asian population in the North Quincy/Wollaston areas. I’ve tried B Cafe, Yocha, Fuji and Shabu (part of the Jimmy Liang ventures). All are decent, but perhaps not destination places unto themselves. Fuji is the best option for sushi locally and Shabu is a good hotpot joint. Yocha is a somewhat overpriced bubble tea/dessert place I don’t visit often because it’s more of a teenage hangout lounge.
Alba does a good job and has excellent wine list. A new chef has come in with some small but good menu changes. They also have a very good aged beef program that many friends enjoy. I’m not a steak guy. One bite and I’m done.
One problem for me in Quincy is no really good Asian restaurants among the many there. Very disappointing. Have tried most and never go back.
Townsend was ok but not great. High prices, some good tastes, very small portions (not that I need big portions), and eyedropper sized cocktails. Downtown prices for burb quality.
We think the best bet in Quincy Center is still “Fat Cat”. Good comfort food with some creativity, friendly atmosphere, good drinks and broad selection of beers. Excellent ribs, lobster mac and cheese, interesting fish dishes, best mussels anywhere, and real good burgers.
Outside the Center the Inn at Baypoint is a good choice; lots of seafood dishes. Marina Bay has Siros and Port 305; both good with great views.
Waiting for the new development boom. We’ll see?
Always Finding A Way To Enjoy,
CocoDan
Just discovering this site and it’s so nice to see familiar people from CH!
Haven’t been venturing out of Quincy much these days so for me it’s exciting to hear of the Barbara Lynch venture and I expect it will give Fat Cat some major competition. Our go to places these days have been Darcy’s for pizza (still IMHO the best pizza around); Grumpy’s for their lobster roll because they’re doing onion rings again and Alfredo’s for their veal parm. All are adequate, actually good but non really shine.
I was optimistic about Townshend but hugely disappointed after an unfortunate exchange with one of the staff. I understand they are also opening a 2nd restaurant in Quincy.
So we await the development of Quincy Center with the promises of new and exciting places. .
I too didn’t find Townsend as great as it was cracked up to be. Eyedropper sized cocktails and lots of attitude did it for my wife and me.
I’m not too worried about competition for Fat Cat, they just keep rolling along and I’m sure BL’s new restaurant will never compete price wise.
As for Italian food, Quincy hasn’t had any for decades. I keep dreaming for it to happen.
I knew you’d find us sooner or later.
Enjoy,
CocoDan
I will say that Townshend did a nice pour on the wine. The glasses of room temperature water were served in skinny little glasses that may have held six ounces. Since it’s a special filtered water there is no thought of putting an ice cube in it. Don’t they know that Quincy has some of the best tap water around! Oh well don’t want to get started on a negative note here
We also tried Rozafa recently for lunch. It’s the same owners as Alba’s. Very pleasant, efficient staff with good sandwiches and a few entrees listed during the lunch hour. In the warm weather they have a small outdoor patio.
Resurrecting this old thread as we find ourselves meeting up with friends tomorrow at Marina Bay. Any updates or recommendations or places to avoid? We’ll be two families with 5 total children, so not looking for high-end.
I’ve heard good things about Alba and Quincy is slowly becoming a bit of a dining hotspot. Big Fun Cafe is apparently very good as is Rubato, the Hong-Kong street food inspired spot.
Personally, I often go to Quincy to go to Shabu Restaurant on Hancock Street, which is my favorite shabu shabu joint in the greater Boston area. They also have a gorgeous H Mart which is less crowded as the one in Burlington. Oh and Fat Cat is pretty awesome too.
Like others, Townshend is fine - nothing all that special but Idle Hour is pretty neat.
Glad to see the city do so well as of late
I was eagerly awaiting some replies because we’re always so curious about hanging out on the South Shore but the commute time scares us. We used to once in a while pre-Spring Onion (although he would go with flow…B and I can’t stand being stuck in a car). It’s funny how there is such a divide between North Shore/South Shore.
We have a ferry trip to Hull planned for August postponed from rainy Father’s Day. Gonna check out Shipwreck’d right off the ferry.
Is it open this year? I posted this two years ago and the place was just as closed on a return visit last year.
There are Google reviews for Shipwreck’d as recent as 6 days ago so I think it’s open (?) In any case, if it’s not open or too busy, we were planning on taking the bus to Nantasket Beach afterwards so we could always hightail it to Jake’s. Thanks for the heads up, regardless @fooddabbler.
Their webcam is active so I’m guessing that they are open!
Marina Bay has an outpost of The Reelhouse. Food is fine, but not special, and the menu is seafood-centric of course. But the restaurant has those folding doors so you can look right out on to the water and get a lovely ocean-side breeze. On a nice summer evening it’s gorgeous and you get a decent menu of drinks and food.
The Chantey also in that area is more pub like and has an even more informal menu, but it seems to get good reviews for a pub. I’ve personally never been.
Jake’s is very good, of course, but if you want something other than seafood, Breadbasket has spectacular sandwiches and flatbreads. I’d written about them here (and we’ve been there since, with equal enjoyment). The link on my post to them no longer works, but if you Yelp them it appears they are still around.
This reminds me — I saw the Seaport outpost of the Reelhouse this past weekend when we were sightseeing with friends visiting from St. Louis. The setting is pleasant but is this just another expensive tourist trap? We’ve never been to the East Boston original.
And no one wants to know where we had lunch on Saturday with our friends. My HO license will be taken away. 
Ha Ha, I’d love to know where you had lunch on Saturday! It’s always good to be warned! I hope the rest of the visit and the sightseeing outing went well.
Spill it.
So, we ended up coming ashore at Marina Bay at 7pm on a beautiful Saturday night. Not exactly a slow time for restaurants. The scene was, let’s just say, not our people. Shrieking bachelorette parties, someone passed out on the dock with EMTs, police and firemen in attendance, general rowdiness on display. Still, we were hungry and without a plan. Shame on us; every restaurant we asked had a wait of over an hour which just doesn’t cut it with hungry spring onions at that time of night. Truly, we expected our hosts who have a boat there would have had a better idea of the scene and had some sort of plan in mind, but nope. They’re the ones who stated “yeah, all the food is good” and I guess prefer to wing it. We thanked them for the lovely boat ride, parted ways, and high-tailed it to Dot Ave where we feasted on a bounty of fresh, amazing, well-priced foods at Pho Le which is my new favorite Vietnamese option in that area. Take that, Marina Bay.
Not my scene, either, but I’ve been known to blend in. Perhaps it’s my willingness to dance on top of tables?
Spill it.
Joe’s Waterfront. 
I would’ve preferred the Sail Loft, but with 7 of us, there was a 40 minute wait.
10,000 points to @Parsnipity for chiming in with “spill it.” Because I wanted to say that too. 
Thanks, @digga for sharing. Spending time with friends/family is the priority. Hey, as long as everyone is suitably fed I consider it a win.
