Northampton Food Scenes

No vacation is complete without good food. 🙂 Even though I am not really a foodie, I do enjoy trying different foods on vacation. Visiting Northampton was no exception.

Bluebonnet Diner

This unpretentious place was established in 1950 and has been owned by the Greco since then. Normally, diners are associated with New Jersey, but this little gem is just as good as the Jersey diners. Even Mr. Ken, the quintessential Jersey boy agrees with this!

Florence Pizza Restaurant

Florence, MA is a part of Northampton. It is a very interesting little enclave, which I will write more about in a separate post. We were going to eat at the Wild Chestnut Cafe, but when Mr. Ken found out the Wild Chestnut was a vegan restaurant, he said, “no thank you.” He quickly found this alternative, good old American pizza. This picture is particularly interesting because of the Friendly’s restaurant sign in the left corner.

Friendly’s is a restaurant chain in the Northeast U.S. In 1935, the Blake Brothers founded their first ice cream shop in Springfield, Massachusetts and named it “Friendly.” The name was a promise that the small ice cream shoppe would be a friendly place for families to enjoy a meal together. Growing up in Massachusetts, I have such fond memories of many happy meals at Friendly’s. Sadly, like to many other restaurants, there are only a few Friendly’s locations left. It is no surprise that one of them is here in Florence, which is very close to Springfield, MA.

Going into the Florence Pizza Restaurant was like going back in time. I was especially struck by the gorgeous tin roof. I just had to show a larger picture so you could see the beautiful detail.

Spoleto

Right around the corner from where we were staying was a lovely Italian restaurant, Spoleto. Here I am enjoying some fresh cod.

Farmer’s Market Fresh

The Pioneer Valley (where Northampton is located) has a lot of active farms. I was so excited to visit the local Farmer’s Market. The strawberries I bought there were literally picked fresh that morning. I have never tasted such sweet strawberries before!

What sort of food do you like when you are on vacation?