Fun With Carbs

Would you like your vodka infused with...Twizzlers?

My friends and I went to Worcester last night for a post-holiday get-together. We only had one stop planned: our favorite pub, The Boynton, for dinner and drinks. But through some impromptu exploration, we realized that Central Massachusetts has more going on than we knew…

I’ve written about the Boynton before, here and here, and that’s because I just love it. Good comfortable atmosphere, tasty pub food (we love the pizza) and perhaps the most fun drinking vessel in New England, the Bucket. For $13, you and a friend or two are served a mixture of rum, vodka, flavored brandy and fruit juices in a sand pail with long straws.

So we took down two of those last night, plus two pizzas, some appetizers and beer flights…

Bucket of love

The Boynton's irresistible pizza (it comes in a gluten-free version too)

After a good time at our tried-and-true favorite, we decided to check out what Shrewsbury Street had to offer. It’s known as Worcester’s “Restaurant Row” so we knew we’d find some cool place to have dessert and more drinks.

We started at Mezcal Tequila Cantina, one of the hip, trendy Niche Hospitality restaurants, for margaritas and sweets. Feeling adventurous, we ordered some of the spot’s more unusual concoctions: the El Diablo with habanero-infused tequila and tropical fruit juices (left a nice burn at the back of the throat); the Guava Cava margarita, topped with Spanish sparkling wine (subtly sweet and very refreshing) and the Cilantro Tequila martini, made with cilantro-infused agave nectar (the herb was better left to the entrees.) We also tried their fried ice cream and churros with chocolate dipping sauce.

Guava Cava margarita

Fried ice cream

Fresh warm churros and addictive chocolate dipping sauce

Cilantro tastes a lot better in salsa.

Mezcal’s tequila menu is staggering, but it’s arranged nicely by blanco/reposado/anejo categories, and each tequila’s ‘flavors’ are listed for quick reference. Our bartender was really knowledgeable and helped us choose.

But the best surprise of all came at our last stop of the night. We happened upon Allgos, a dessert and drinks lounge, almost by accident. (We made an attempt at Victory Bar and Cigar, but the smoke was too much for us. Bars have been smoke-free in  Massachusetts since 2004 and we’ve gotten used to it.)

The first thing we saw upon entering the Allgos bar area was a row of clear jars packed with fruits, candy and other edibles, and the bartender explained to us that these were infused vodkas. He nicely poured me a small sample of the pineapple version.

Expecting just a hint of flavor and searing vodka pain (or at the very least, artificially-flavored Skyy,) I was blown away at the pure fruit taste. Had I been blindfolded, I would have sworn on my life that it was just pineapple juice. It was so delicious and smooth that I ordered – for the first time in  my life- vodka on the rocks with a lime wedge. Two of those and you would have had to scrape me up with a spatula.

Also infusing that night: grapefruit, Strawberry Twizzlers, cranberries, raspberries, grapefruit and baby carrots. The bartender told us the items normally infuse for about four days. I smell a DIY project in my future…

Allgos apparently has a full dessert menu, but we didn’t see it last night. However, the cocktail menu choices were really inventive – our friends tried an ‘R-rated root beer float’ made with root beer vodka and vanilla ice cream.

It’s funny what you discover when you go exploring. Worcester has really stepped up its dining and entertainment scene in the past five years and new, trendy places pop up every few months. It’s finally working toward becoming the ‘college town’ that it should be…