Though I am still not over the loss of Latina in Needham Center, the new spot om the corner looks to be a new favorite.
Called the Common Room, the space brings together industry veterans from Hamilton in Brookline, Caffe Graffiti and Dante in Boston and the Salem Food Market in a comfy space that looks like a sports bar but has a menu that goes far beyond!
Though there are plenty of TVs, lots of local and distant beers, and maybe too many images of a former quarterback we used to know, the focus of the new venue appears to be the food.
In addition to seven flavors of chicken tenders (including the already “most popular” honey hots, which deserve the early title), the Common Room offers such proven hits as Chef Dave’s “famous” meatballs, as well as dishes that are sure to become such, like an impressive eggplant or chicken parm with a creamy three-cheese fondue and potato skins that are so loaded with bacon, cheese, and grilled onions that they can make a meal by themselves.
Be sure to save room, however, for the Common Room also has impressive salads and entire mini-menus of flatbread pizzas (including “the Griff” with grilled chicken and alfredo sauce and the “trio” with ricotta, bacon, and asparagus), sandwiches (including Impossible, turkey, and homemade falafel burgers), and desserts that are so good, they sold out the night I was there!
Though they pay their respects to their Needham neighbors with a great drink called Needham Nectar with bourbon and Agave and a blue rocket burger with gorgonzola, crispy prosciutto, and fig jam, I would predict that the Common Rom quickly becomes another Needham nugget that draws crowds from far and wide.
See you there!