Last week I shared the big news that I bought a house and moved to Watertown. Aside from being a homeowner, the thing I am most excited about is trying all the restaurants in my new hood!
Over Labor Day weekend one of my best friends flew in from Rochester, NY to visit for the weekend and to serve as my first guest in the new house. She landed at 10:00am and I knew she'd be starving, so after the house tour we headed down my street and around the corner to a cute spot called Uncommon Grounds.
I spotted Uncommon Grounds and its adorable outdoor patio the day I moved into the house. I made a mental note to check it out later, thinking it may become my go-to brunch spot.
We arrived and gave our name to the hostess, requesting to sit on the outdoor patio. We gave a couple with empty plates the hairy eyeball until they finally stood up.
Right when we sat down I noticed a promotional offer sticking up from the ketchup holder. If you joined their email list, you got a free gift certificate. You better believe I filled that puppy out!
The Uncommon Grounds menu is huge. Specials are slipped into the front on brightly colored paper, just like at my Newton Centre spot, Johnny's Lunchonette.
I started with an ice tea which came in a huge plastic tumbler. The tea was excellent and had a slight flavor of nutmeg or clove.
After placing our meal orders the food came out very quickly. My visitor ordered the lunch combo which is half of a sandwich and a side salad.
She selected the Greek salad and it came packed with fresh cucumbers, tomatoes and hunks of feta cheese.
Her sandwich was the portabella panini which came freshly pressed and quite hot. She said it wasn't the greatest panini she'd ever had and that she probably wouldn't order it again. It just didn't have any pizzazz.
To go with her combo she also ordered the sweet potato fries. I snuck a few and was very pleased with their cut, crispiness and flavor.
I decided on the grilled cheese and tomato sandwich.
The sandwich came with cheese oozing out of every side, just the way I like it.
Though not pictured, the sandwich came with a bag of Cape Cod potato chips.
After polishing off our meals and paying the bill, we headed inside to see what the interior of the restaurant looked like. The space has booths, tables for two and a big counter with old school, diner style stools.
The interior sported my favorite- chalkboard menus! I could absolutely see myself sitting at the counter on a snowy, January morning eating Oreo pancakes and drinking hot chocolate.
Since the first visit, I have been back to Uncommon Grounds and my food on the second trip was even better! At this rate, I will be the Foursquare mayor in no time!
If great food, an outdoor patio and being steps from my front door wasn't enough reason to dine here, Uncommon Grounds supports the local food community by sourcing as much of their produce as they can from Watertown neighbor Russo's. They are also sensitive to customers with gluten allergies - they can make any breakfast or lunch option gluten-free. Pretty awesome, right?
Visit Uncommon Grounds at 575 Mount Auburn Street in Watertown.
