Cedar Street Grille

Fried chicken. Buffalo Mac & Cheese. Angry Clams. And Crazy Dates. For a sharable meal busting with unbelievable flavors, you should bring your appetite and a few friends to Cedar Street Grille in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. Located inside an old house on Main Street, Cedar Street Grille has been beautifully converted into a modern neighborhood restaurant and bar full of authentic New England charm.

"We're an American Bistro that likes to focus on small plates or tapas style dishes. So we have a real eclectic, fun menu that is just ripe for exploring. I know when I go out to eat with with my friends, it's so hard to choose what you want because you always have food envy when you look at somebody else's plate. So we like to encourage sharing here, so if you can't decide that's a good thing, try to three different dishes. It's just great for people to come in with a group and try a bunch of different food."

General Manager Patrick O'Brien helps oversee Cedar Street's seamless relationship between the kitchen, the customers, and the building itself.

"It creates an atmosphere without trying like you feel like you're walking through somebody's dining room or somebody's house. So I really love the fact that when right when people walk in this place, they instantly feel comfortable."

Comfortable customers, eating upscale comfort food, including their signature skillets full of ultra-rich and satisfying mac and cheese."What's really great about our mac and cheese is they're truly all made to order. So we're doing a reduced heavy cream mixture which takes a little more time but it's absolutely worth it. There is nothing coming out of a box here. Each sauce for each mac and cheese is all made to order."

So, you can get the House Cedar Mac, made with a blend of cheddar, Parmesan, and butter folded in and around the deep-pocketed shell pasta. Or try the Truffle mac with wild mushrooms. Barbecue style with pulled pork and onion strings. Buffalo Mac packed with flash fried chicken, crumbled blue cheese, and housemade hot sauce. And Patrick's personal favorite, the Vermont Style Mac & Cheese.

"We use Cabot sharp cheddar cheese, which is a fairly local cheese that we also mix in with our, House cheddar, our parmesan. We do roasted tomatoes which we roast in olive oil, salt and pepper. We fold those right into the mac and cheese with spinach and applewood smoked bacon. The bacon gives it a nice salty, crunchy component. And then the spinach is just you know, makes people feel a little bit better about eat mac and cheese."

To start your sharable dining experience at Cedar Street, you can choose duckfat brasied and deep fried Chicken Wings. Or the panko crusted, honey-drizzled Fried Goat Cheese. But just about every table orders a plate of what they call Crazy Dates.

"Crazy dates have been on the menu since day one. There would be a revolt if we took them off. So it is a date that we stuffed with our housemaid goat cheese cream cheese, garlic and herb mixture. We wrap that in applewood smoked bacon finished that in the oven, and then we hit it with a little balsamic glaze, some craisins. So you've got your creaminess from the goat cheese in the middle of the date, you have your bacon so you get that smoky salty kind of flavor. It's fantastic."

And if the Crazy Dates are the top-seller, the so-called Angry Clams aren't far behind.

"It's a good traditional New England style just amped up a little bit. So we have cow neck clams and then we hit it with a little andouille sausage, cherry peppers, little crushed red pepper, butter, white wine, and then just saute that out all up together to make like a nice, rich, delicious sauce. And then we just throw some grilled bread on there and it's one of our most popular dishes."

On the entree side of the menu, there are hearty choices like a Grilled Tomahawk Pork Chop in a red wine demi-glacé. Cajun-rubbed, buttermilk fried chicken over mashed potatoes and spinach. And one of the best steaks in Central Mass.

"So we do a steak Pablo, which is named after one of our regulars. He introduced chimichurri sauce to one of our chefs. So it's been on the menu for the last seven years. So we use a hanger steak which you don't find that a lot of restaurants, grilled served within arugula, pickled red onion and feta salad. And then we also serve that with hand cut fries. It's really delicious."

Desserts are even more mouth-watering, and the in-house pastry chef offers something different every day. Like creamy Oreo cheesecake, crackly creme brulee, or a velvety Flourless Chocolate Torte.

"It's fantastic. Super rich, not dense at all, very light, almost like a brownie like consistency. It's great, decadent, it's everything a dessert should be."

So from sweet plates to small plates to super cheesy skillets, the perfect place to sample and share is the Cedar Street Grille.

"People really just love it here. We have so many locals and regulars that come in two, three times a week. And then it still amazes me how many people are just finding us for the first time. So, you know, I think it's a combination of the food, the drinks, just the general atmosphere of the building and the restaurant, the people that work here that really combined to make what I think is a really unique dining experience."