Post 1917
When you go to a steakhouse, mouthwatering, perfectly cooked steaks are a given.
But when you go to a steakhouse and find delicate wagyu dumplings…
Gourmet grilled cheese bites…
And triple-decker seafood towers?
Well, that’s surprising
But at Post 1917, “surprising” is what they do best.
One of the biggest surprises about Post 1917 restaurant is its location: an old post office in Reading. Which, according to owner and chef Jason Carron, serves as the ultimate conversation starter.
“The Post 1917, we took over the old post office in Reading, Mass where you walk up to this majestic, giant columns. So inside is where the post office used to be, and upfront were all the cubbies and the mailboxes, I still have people to this day, walk in and say my mailbox was here. So it's a very historic and a lot of nostalgia for Reading folks.”
And while Post 1917 may pay homage to its past, its decor is totally modern…
With eye-catching chandeliers…
Bold artwork…
Live trees…
And a huge bar smack dab in the middle, which sets the tone for the entire dining experience.
“I’m a bar guy. I definitely love to eat at the bar, so— not everybody does. But they'd like to be in that scene. So we tried to make this one big bar with the bar itself. And all the booths on the outside.”
But if the weather is nice, you may want to trade the sleek bar scene for Post’s expansive deck, which features live music and lots of frose.
“So not only do you get to have fun inside, we built the deck outside and it's a definitely a laid back atmosphere. And you can come and enjoy all day and all night. And you know, we'd love to have you outside on the deck.”
Whether you choose to belly up to the bar or lounge out on the deck, the real decision to make at Post 1917 is what to order! Their menu features plenty of steakhouse classics, along with fresh seafood dishes, lots of shareables — even housemade desserts!
And the most surprising part of it all? It’s almost entirely gluten-free.
“So our menu is about 95% gluten-free. And the reason for that at Post 1917 is my son has Celiacs and I just said screw it, I'm going to make as much as I can gluten-free. Yeah, it’s not that hard. If you pay attention, you make everything from scratch, [EDIT] you put out a great experience and a great product.”
And being a steakhouse at heart, that great experience starts with the steaks, which Jason says go toe-to-toe with any city steakhouse, especially the long-bone served with 4 different sauces.
“It is a big hunk or like a Fred Flintstone steak. When it comes out everybody goes, “Ooooh.” And that's exactly what you want. You want that wow factor. It's sliced, cooked to your liking. It is melt-in-your-mouth delicious.”
But if steak isn’t your thing, there are lots of other entrees to try at Post 1917, like the hearty chicken parm that’s hand-pounded and covered in housemade sauce…
And the surprisingly light ciopinno served with plenty of toasted bread for dipping…
“So our ciopinno, classic San Francisco dish, seafood stew. So mussels, clams, little bit of cod or lobster tail, shrimp, some scallops, it's kind of a smorgasbord of great seafood. And it's light. It's great if you want to have a nice, light seafood dish.”
But for an entree that’s going to feed — and please — the whole table, look no further than the aptly-named seafood tower.
“So the seafood tower at Post 1917 is a three-decker experience. We have fresh our oysters, our shrimp cocktail, Alaskan king crab legs, jumbo crab cocktail. We add lobster tails. It is a tower of all towers.”
While it can be tempting to jump right to the main course, the appetizer menu at Post 1917 is not to be missed, especially when it includes loaded lobster tacos…
And foie gras grilled cheese bites served with a seasonal berry jam.
“It’s the perfect bite with the three cheeses, the foie gras on the outside with the salt and pepper and then a little bit of that jam. Tastebud explosion.”
But Jason’s personal favorite appetizer is the wagyu beef dumplings, which are as delicate as they are indulgent.
“It’s very light, the shell is light and we try to make sure there's not a lot of dough. We stuff it as much as we can. So you'll have a little smokiness from the bacon, and the flavor from the wagyu pop out with a little bit of fresh herbs that we put down. It's unbelievable.”
And the phrase “save room for dessert” has never been more true than at Post 1917, where you can order their inventive strawberry shortcake made with cornbread and housemade ice cream.
Or you can simply go with… The Cake.
“The cake? I mean, it's the cake. Come on. I mean, it's chocolate layers of goodness. I tell people if you're going to order dessert, get two because you're not going to want to share, trust me.”
But for Jason, Post 1917 is all about sharing – sharing amazing food and service with the people in his town.
“It means tremendous because Reading loves Reading, and Reading is great. It's really nice to kind of be able to walk in and say hi to everybody and they say hi to you and they get to enjoy— it’s just like you're inviting them into your house and they get to have a good time.”
