I agree with the Ralph's comments. If you want a decent cheap takeout burger don't sleep on Newton Square Pizza. Their fries are garbage but it's a handmade patty with basic fixings and it just hits right.

I'm not into the wacky burgers at the Fix, though their plain is fine. Just give me a reasonably sized burger patty (4-6oz) with American cheese, LTO, pickles, and a little ketchup and mayo.

They're only rolling out internet, no FiOS TV in Worcester. Yet, at least.

Counterpoint: Hangover and Broth were my absolute least favorite restaurants in Worcester and I am not the only person who felt that way.

Yeah I just drove to Brooklyn last week and it took 5 hours. I've only made the drive in 3.5 hours once or twice, and we head there quite a bit.

Dippin Donuts has the best classic style donuts, including crullers

Cafes seem to do fairly well downtown. Most foot traffic is morning and business hours.

Yeah if any of those places actually pivoted and tried to be open after the games, even with just a minor bar menu, I suspect they would have fared better. Seems like the Banner is always crowded after games and everywhere else was closed. Maddi's and Smokestack both have a great beer list and decent drinks, too. Why they close at 9 makes no sense to me.

Yeah same with Smokestack

This is why everyone should be fully informed before voting.

Tell me more about Stu's. How bad is it with active traffic? I've always avoided running on country roads like that with no sidewalks but that loop sounds awesome.

Surprisingly no, I'm usually able to sneak across without waiting more than 10 or 15 seconds. If it's really backed up and looks like it's going to be a minute then I will just turn up Mill but I think I've only ever done it once.

I can't help with your area directly without knowing what street you're on, but you should be able to connect to some of my longer loops without issue (likely via W. Boylston Street). My go-to almost-10 mile loop is, from my house, Newton Square, east down Highland, left onto Park, cut into Institute Park boardwalk via Rumford Ave, cruise down Grove St, stay right onto Humboldt, left onto Salisbury, right back onto Grove and on to Main St for a downtown run, up Elm Street back to Elm Park (you can look around Elm Park for extra distance), down Park Ave, right onto Chandler all the way to Tatnuck Square, right onto Pleasant St, Pleasant back to Newton Square. I will sometimes cut across June St and do Pleasant before Chandler depending on what kind of hill situation I want to deal with (going up Chandler is mostly uphill but fairly gradual; going up Pleasant is extremely steep but gets it over with). Also the hill up Elm St from downtown is a beast but short and satisfying. If you really want some hill pain I suggest adding miles on where the map says June Street--Morningside, Havelock, Colonial, Westview--or between Highland and Park/Institute Park you could do Germain and Farnum up to Bancroft Tower. I will add that only Pleasant St has relatively shitty sidewalks; you could cut back to Chandler along May St (or any other route) if it was particularly bothersome.

Here's the route: https://onthegomap.com/s/fvrulaal

Only major slowdowns are intersections at Highland and Park, Grove and Main, and Elm and Park. For most of the rest of it you shouldn't get too bogged down at intersections if you stay on the inside of the loop.

Bonus is that it's very easy to turn off this route pretty much anywhere to cut into some other neighborhoods and add more mileage. I'd say just about any street inside of this route will have sidewalks or, if not, will have next to no traffic and is safe for road running. I added Richmond and Vassar to that route to show a common loop I'll throw in for an extra mile ish.

I remember when people were up in arms about Biden cancelling the Keystone XL pipeline because they thought it would cut tons of local jobs and massively increase domestic oil prices. They didn't realize that the pipeline's primary purpose was literally to sell Canadian crude to other countries, and that the oil companies actually wanted to cancel the pipeline anyway because (at the time) the cost of oil had gone down so low that it wasn't worth it.

That is what I'm talking about!

Yeah the prices can be pretty insane here. Pepe's isn't TOO bad, tacos are $2.75-$3.00, and 3 will fill you up. El Patron is same owners but near the new-ish ball park so have probably inflated their prices to reflect that. I see lengua tacos for $5 there now, lol. Not happening.

Well fuck, thank you

Wait, do they have pastor on a spit?

Not sure what part of the border you are coming from--I lived in San Diego for a long time and the Mexican food here is mostly disappointing but there are some decent options. El Patron and Pepe's are the only places in town that do a proper Cali burrito and it is surprisingly close. Shape is wrong and the tortilla isn't perfect but the ingredients are spot on. They are willing to do SD-style burritos in general (i.e. no rice and beans) you just have to ask; I have yet to try that though. They're also my go-to spots for tacos--good meats, proper toppings if you want (i.e. just cilantro/onions/maybe guac) and decent roja and verde sauces, but the tortillas aren't great. There aren't really good tortillas anywhere in the city.

Birria is a huge thing here and, much like New England IPAs, has completely overtaken the market.

So sick of the birria everywhere, I just want house-made tortillas and al pastor on a spit

The absolute best part is that there's nowhere you can take general trash to get rid of. Worcester DPW weighed one of my trash bags once and it was 1 pound overweight, so they slapped a sticker on it and wouldn't take it. When I asked where I could get rid of it they told me I had to split the bag up and wait until next week. It was after Thanksgiving and full of an old turkey carcass, rotting food, and dog shit. Glad I have family in a neighboring town, easier to just bring it there and use their bin.

You don't have to pull over for amber lights. They're primarily there for visibility and to alert you to the fact that they may be working/towing/stopping frequently/etc.

Huh that's neat

https://imgur.com/8CZjSbf

Extremely loud over me

They were making some weird chirping noise too. Thought it was car alarms at first but definitely coming from the jets.

> and you end up paying only for what you want to throw away.

About 50% of Worcester trash is funded by taxes and 50% funded by trash bag sales.

The pay-per-bag system also encourages illegal dumping, and the city absolutely has a littering problem.