(no subject)

[catalyst.livejournal.com]

For your consideration:
     "The collective culinary rating of Davis Square would go up by a whole star if Mike's Pizza were replaced by Quiznos...or pretty much anything else."

Comments

[georgy.livejournal.com]

While I appreciate Mike's as a community institution and a good place to get a drink and watch a game in a non-bar environment, the pizza/pasta are awful.

[carmesi.livejournal.com]

agreed.

[four-thorns.livejournal.com]

i have to disagree a little bit: the pizza is good, but the beer is awful-- they must not clean the tap lines very often. oh, and they can be rude too.

[komos.livejournal.com]

I'd rather not see another chain in the square, but Mike's could definitely stand to be replaced.

[c-m-i.livejournal.com]

That's just because you want to be a'gamblin with those Demon Cards!

[hdaemon.livejournal.com]

I've got to agree that Mike's certainly doesn't rank very far up there as a place to get food, but replacing it with just about any major chain would be a general step down for the square.

[ilhander.livejournal.com]

Especially not a Quiznos, which seems to be the land of bumfuzzlery.

[catalyst.livejournal.com]

     that's interesing. so, in general, is it better to have an indie restaurant you will never eat at or a chain you might eat at every once in very blue moon?

[lena-a-mermaid.livejournal.com]

Plenty of people seem to eat at Mike's every day when they have many other choices, so I guess there are a lot of people who like it just fine.

[catalyst.livejournal.com]

     no, what that means is that some number of people like mike's more than the alternative, where "the alternative" may mean any combination of different food, slower food, more expensive food, farther food, later food, or food lacking in booths. it doesn't say anything about whether more people than average think it's "fine". why, to find that out, one would have to take a straw poll...

[komos.livejournal.com]

This may be a function of quantity and not quality. I've known a few people who've gotten sick from things they've ordered from Mike's... one severe enough to be rushed to the emergency room.

Still, you do get large portions in exchange for monies.

[tsuki-no-bara.livejournal.com]

i actually kinda like mike's. while they do indeed serve the wateriest spaghetti sauce known to man, their meatballs are nice, and they serve the same kind of institutional hamburgers as the rosebud for less money and with more places to sit. and i can't imagine a quizno's would be that much better....

[jadelennox]

The food is adequate, the prices are the best in the square, it's neither crowded nor loud -- and Quizno's is ass. I'm with you.

[bluepapercup]

Good God I hate Mike's!

Just about anything would be better. And while you're fantasizing, can we fire the whole kitchen at Rosebud? Everything I eat there is either overcooked or undercooked. UGH.

[ayelle.livejournal.com]

My experiences at Rosebud have only been good... especially for breakfast...

[tanpiover2.livejournal.com]

Mike's doesn't seem any worse than any other random "<your town here> House of Pizza" type joint.

And if you're going to replace it, be sure to replace it with someplace else that I can get a 32oz Anchor Steam on tap.

And fuck Quizno's. If you want to get serious about subs, somebody get an Amato's (http://www.amatos.com/index.html) down here!

[catalyst.livejournal.com]

Mike's doesn't seem any worse than any other random " House of Pizza" type joint.
     oh, i totally disagree. cristo's 7 star down the street is just as trashy but way tastier. at other places i've lived near hear, that shitty-pizza-joint-shaped hole in my heart has been filled by the friendly eating place on mass ave, mona lisa on cambridge street, and hi-fi by the middle east, all them consistently better than mike's.

[ron_newman]

I go to Mike's. Probably more often than I should. If it was replaced by a Quizno's I'd definitely consider that a sign of neighborhood deterioration.

[ron_newman]

By the way, I've been told that where Mike's is now, used to be a chain cafeteria. Either a Waldorf or a Hayes-Bickford, I forget which. Boston used to have several large local cafeteria chains, all of which have disappeared.

[talonvaki.livejournal.com]

Hey, how about this?

We move Redbones into Mike's. And get them to start taking plastic.

Mike's can go where Redbones was.

[oakenguy.livejournal.com]

What *is* up with Redbones not taking plastic??

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

I don't really think Mike's is all that horrible, though perhaps I simply haven't eaten there enough to truly appreciate it. And adding a Quizno's, specifically, would not be an improvement, cause there are already plenty of sandwich shops in the Square.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Yeah, all that. I'm there maybe once every two months. But I can't imagine wanting to replace *anything* in Davis with yet another franchise that serves stuff we've already got plenty of options for. Why not replace the McDonald's?

Mike's is also a fun place to watch a game and the people are friendly.

[marmota.livejournal.com]

>For your consideration:
>"The collective culinary rating of Davis Square would go up by a whole star if Mike's Pizza were replaced by Quiznos...or pretty much anything else."

Nice attitude there. How about getting rid of Diva or Gargoyles and raising the affordability while lowering the overall pretentiousness of the place an order of magnitude instead?

Seriously, what makes the Square work is having a bit of something for everyone. I've been around here off and on for well over a decade watching the basic townie practicality and student creativity of it slip away piece by piece and do *not* want to see it turn into some kind of yuppie pit where one can't even get a hamburger for under $30, let alone one without avocado and cilantro frippery. Sure, there's room for that, but please not JUST that.

If you really want to improve the place, help make it easier for late-night businesses to operate. Even the store 24 can't stay open 24 hours now, which is ridiculous.

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

If you really want to improve the place, help make it easier for late-night businesses to operate. Even the store 24 can't stay open 24 hours now, which is ridiculous.

And bring back Dolly's!

[ah42.livejournal.com]

I love Mike's! Where else in the square can you walk in, get a slice of Sicilian pizza (Yay being able to hold a slice one-handed without a plate) and walk on your merry way... to get a chai at Diesel? Honestly, all those floppy-ass pizzas in Boston have got to go.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

I must be the only one who likes Mike's pizza. The Sicilian pizza, specifically. Try a slice of the Sicilian. It's really not bad. They put olives on it for me, special.

[journeystar.livejournal.com]

I like Mike's, too. The staff has never been rude to me, it's inexpensive, and a nice casual place to hang out with friends. The pizza has gotten me through oh so many long tech days.

[oakenguy.livejournal.com]

And when it's 8pm and you just want a place to sit down and have a cheap beer and a quiet conversation with a friend, where else can you go?

[catalyst.livejournal.com]

     a bar? a restaurant with a bar?

[denonymous.livejournal.com]

We need a Quizno's and we need a Sonic. It's simply unfair that New England gets Sonic commercials (with their chili cheese tater tots) while the nearest one is, iirc, Illinois.

That said, though, I can't always argue with Mike's. I haven't spent a lot of time there, but they make a decent 5lbs of chicken, pesto, and ziti.

[disblfsuspender.livejournal.com]

Mike's food is godawful, but places to casually get a good beer that aren't full-on bars are terribly scarce in this city, and I'd hate to see it go away for that reason. Also, it's good for people-watching and game-watching, and just in general has a sense of community and place about it that I want to keep around, and I'll put up with the lousy food and service in exchange for that.

[nafe.livejournal.com]

I think the whole Quiznos thing is a distraction, and sort of a throw-away notion. Instead, let us consider that space as a home for something cool, like, an expanded Mr. Crepe! They could put in a blelgian waffle bar or something. How awesome would that be? And maybe a beer garden! There's enough space there for a whole pan-european tastyness extravanza.