Sunday, 16 October 2011
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Learning to Love Your Local Shops and Cafes
Where I'm from, there aren't too many free standing, local places to dine or grocery shop. When I got to Amherst a few years ago, where I go to school, I started to learn the importance of local grocers and restaurants. Here in New England, they are fairly common and are a big part of supporting the economy. In Amherst, we have tons of local cafes, coffee shops, creperies, and restaurants.Because they are so frequent here, each shop is forced to step up its game in order to compete with the others. In turn, most of the places are only surviving because they're so fantastic. As much as I love me some Starbucks, when I'm at school I rarely go because there are just too many other places I want to support and enjoy.
My top five favorite places in Amherst are:
- LimeRed Teahouse- specializing in assorted bubble milk teas, bubble tea ice crushes, red bean buns, and dumplings
- The Black Sheep- great deli sandwiches (I believe their sister shop is called The Lone Wolf, right next door)
- Thai Corner- not great service, but they deliver and have the best and most authentic red curry I've had to date
- The Amherst Creperie- incredible crepes, both savory and sweet, and lots of gelato flavors
- Baku- hole in the wall adorable African restaurant; the owner takes your order and cooks it on the spot (full post to come soon!)
Until today, though, I hadn't realized just how much of New England is filled with great local shops, grocers, and hole in the wall restaurants. Two of my friends and I decided to take a day trip into Vermont and New Hampshire where we discovered tons of tiny little free standing grocery stores and cafes that we can't wait to go try.
How do you feel about hole in the wall shops? What are your favorite local places to eat? Do you prefer chains?
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About the Author
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- From: thedailydane
- About Me: I like tea and books. I like talking about tea and books. I like food. I like talking about food. I like to travel. Mostly, I like talking about traveling.
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Comments (6)
Holy shit! You go to Amherst?! Completely irrelevant, but that's awesome, cause it's close to where I live and I wanna go to school there, kinda.
OK back to the topic. I prefer local cafes/shops because they're just so cozy and it's comforting knowing that you know it's being run/made by people and not machines. But I also love chains because it's so inexpensive and I'm able to buy in bulk there.It depends on what kind of life you're living I suppose...
You're in Amherst?! One of my best friends is up there!!!!! I believe we visited Thai Corner, too!
but anyway, I love hole-in-the-wall places. Like it was said in the above comment, they're cozier, and I think the food is more honest. It has it's own unique and special touch. I like that sort of thing when it comes to food. I like how in places like that, they'll often run specials (the thai place that I visit often will give you soup, salad and entrée for the price of the entrée around lunch time), and they don't try to rush you out if you're in a mood to just sit. It's really nice.
back home, during payday, my friends and i used to find independent little cafes/restaurants/delis and head out there after work to try out the place. they were usually really cheap and out-of-the-way, but the overall ambiance were always very comfortable.
i live in singapore now, so we haven't had the chance to do that kind of thing again here.
I think that sometimes the best food come from hole in the wall shops. Sometimes I even discover great tasting coffee from unexpected places. Sometimes hole in the wall shops are much better than chains because each shop has a unique menu and signature items, unlike chain restaurants its pretty much the same food and same drinks served.
I like both cafes and hole in the wall shops. There is always something yet to be discover about eating in places that is cozy and not something franchise.
There's something about hall in the wall places that I like. I don't know. I like them better.