Small Business Automation

Up until recently I owned a small lawn care business with 250 accounts.  Not a “mow, blow and go,” place, but a lawn renovation/fertilizing company requiring specialized licensing.

As you could expect, I automated the business, with special lawn care software for scheduling/billing and even took credit cards.  We were able to measure lawns online, and see the weather forecast so important for applying chemicals. The website was professionally developed, and phone service was VoIP.

The new owner, an experienced full service landscape company, uses a typed list for his schedule, doesn’t take credit cards, always visits the property, looks outside for the weather, dropped the VoIP service (in favor of a single cell phone he answers.)  From a technology perspective, he immediately dumped everything except the website.

Let’s look at each with an eye towards what makes the most sense:

Area	Me	New Guy	Advantage
Lawn Care Software	Kept all my books and records on one system.  Clients got billed (in advance.)	Mails bills after the service.	I’ll take the advantage on this one.  I trained my clients to pay BEFORE service, and gave a small discount to “pay in advance locking in the rate.”
Credit Cards	I’ve always been taught cash in hand is best.  Taking a credit card let me get the cash in hand.	No credit cards.  Has receivables.  Doesn’t pay credit card fees.	He can have the advantage on this one.  Most people using the credit card did so for miles or other credit card perks.  6 months of year I had no charges to process and still paid credit card fees.
Measure online	The lawn business was an after-hours thing for me…something starting as a hobby and expanding.  This let me measure lawns at night.	Always visits every lawn.	He gets a huge advantage.  He can see before quoting what the lawn needs, and is not relying on the home/business owner’s description.
Weather forecast	I was able to look days in advance.	Watches TV weather.	Draw.   Knowing the weather in detail has an advantage when planting grass or applying treatments.
Website	Having a professionally developed website makes an immediate first impression.	His original business had no website.	Advantage me.  Small business owners – your website has to be great.
VoIP	Calls came in, got routed.  With voice mails, I got an email.	Cell phone.	He gets the nod for simplicity and more timely response.

So while I was growing the business at 30-40% a year, he’s grown it 100% this year.  Is it because of simpler technology? 

No.

It’s about branding.

He has kept the name and branding of my former business separate from his original, and now offers clients (especially commercial clients) competing “bids” from each company.  He’s also opened up lawn renovation services to all his original clients.  So, similar to General Motors, he is offering the same models through different channels.

Using technology wisely can pay off for businesses of any size.  Remember, your clients want great service on a timely basis at a fair (can be premium) price.  Technology is an enabler for this kind of business.

Maxwell-Silverman's

Maxwell-Silverman’s

Lincoln Square
Worcester Massachusetts

(508) 755-1200

A friend raved about the ambiance of Maxwell-Silverman’s. “It’s in a really old building and they left a lot of the tools. It’s really cool.”

Approaching on a crisp Sunday, the place had potential. Old building, respectfully re-done. London Double Decker Bus outside….fun.  In other words…..potential.

Entering the building on the ground floor, the old machine tools were around and tastefully painted. It’s game day, and the TVs in the bar area are drawing us in.

Sitting at the bar, we looked around and saw people at tables….waiting. Some were served, others were not.

So we waited. Someone came behind the bar, and seemingly worked hard restocking wine, and not making eye contact.

After 15+ minutes, without being acknowledged (and without being obnoxious) we left.

No worries. Armsby Abbey is a block away. Great service, great food….fun!

One could easily say it’s not fair to rate a restaurant where we didn’t get served, and I respect that. And, since this is what I would tell a friend….I can’t tell my friends to go there.

Maxwell-Silverman’s

gets a RED LIGHT – Why go if there is no service?

About the RAG scale:

       Green Light – Go and enjoy

       Amber Light – Use caution

       Red Light – Save your time and money

Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar

Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar

One West Exchange Street
Providence, RI 02903
401-533-9000

Restaurants in hotels tend to disappoint.  The last one reinforced all the badness, and won a RED LIGHT on the RAG scale.

So when a friend recommended Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar in the Westin Providence, my cautionary radar started functioning.  No need for concern, the hotel could actually add to an evening.

First, this particular restaurant is located in the heart of Providence.  I’ve come to really enjoy Providence, and all it has to offer.  One of my favorite public events is WaterFire.  Providence offers lots of restaurants, is easy to get to, and is energetic. 

We chose to use the $9 (after validation) Valet for parking the car, although we discovered (as we were leaving) the entrance to the garage is just past the hotel entrance.

Using OpenTable for our reservation, we were quickly seated, having a choice of a booth or table.  Opting for a table, our waiter, Brock Reels (is that a great name or what?), quickly changed the white linen napkins to black, so any lint wouldn’t stand out on our darker clothes.

Everywhere you look in the restaurant you’ll see wine.  The wine is used effectively to segment off portions of the restaurant, and certainly gives you the impression of a deep wine list.  The wine list is extensive, with over 100 available by the glass, although the wine guy in our group commented Del Frisco’s list was deeper. In any event, we had no difficulty finding selections we wanted to try.

Our opening order for appetizers, starter beverages, water, and two types of wine would have quickly overwhelmed our table, and the omnipresent Brock expanded our table by opening folding leaves. 

Starters like Aki Tuna and Shrimp Cocktail were delicious.

Service is an important element of any dining experience, and the service at Fleming’s was impeccable.  With three in our party, our dinner order of three steaks with three sides was rushed to our table from the kitchen by a team with the speed of a fire department going to a blaze. 

When it comes to the menu, it had to be steak.  Two of our group chose the 22 ounce bone-in Ribeye, while the third went with a massive filet.  Our sides included green beans, crisp asparagus, and Flemings’ Potatoes.  All our food was perfectly prepared, with just the right seasonings and requested temperature.

For desert, I went with the “Chocolate Lava Cake,” described as “rich chocolate cake with a molten chocolate center of Belgian chocolate, served with vanilla ice cream and chopped pistachios.”  I can’t honestly say I know what the other two had for desert, I was so lost in the goodness of mine.

Fleming’s is “Steakhouse Pricey,” with three apps, entrees deserts, wines, and drinks totaling just under $700.

So while Fleming’s may not be priced as a daily diner, it is certainly great for a special event.

Fleming’s gets a

       Green Light – Go and enjoy

About the RAG scale:

       Green Light – Go and enjoy

       Amber Light – Use caution

       Red Light – Save your time and money

Divorce Living Arrangements

“I want a divorce, I want to be free.”

Those words, spoken by my (now ex) wife over dinner at a nearby establishment, started a process challenging me as a man and a father.

At that time in Massachusetts, most mothers got to have sole custody of the children.  I couldn’t stomach the thought of being a Disneyland Dad, seeing my kids for dinner once or twice during the week, and then every other weekend. 

My mind raced….are you serious?  Why?  What about the kids?  What about the house?  What about the debt?  What about….

Kids don’t get a vote in their parents’ divorce.  It is thrust on them, decided by someone else, and having an immediate impact on them.

“Here’s the ‘wife of my life’ declaring war,” went through my mind.  At a time when communication was key, communications was immediately strained and tense.

To our credit, we agreed whatever our “baggage” was, we would minimize the impact on the kids.  They would obviously have impacts, and many of them.

We agreed to approach this in a manner we thought would help the kids.  We would get a single room somewhere, and we would move in and out of the house.

Rather than immediately getting separate residences, and having the kids shuttled around or worse, we agreed the kids would stay put and we would move in and out.

So, every Sunday at 5PM the official switch took place.

Please don’t think for a minute this is a perfect solution for everyone.  It worked for us because we agreed to minimize the impact on the children.

It was hard on each of us, and certainly hard on the kids.  Yet they slept in their own bed each night, and their pets (guinea pig, Chinese water dragon, and dog) didn’t have to move either.  Schools were never an issue as the children’s residence didn’t change.  Wardrobes remained the same.

We had to try hard to not have the kids be the communications conduit for us (“tell your mom….”) 

Some norms had to be set….the house had to be reasonably clean, lawn mowed, laundry caught up…in other words we couldn’t drop all the chores on the other parent.

Was it perfect?  Absolutely not.  It challenging for each parent (whether we were in the house or not.)

It worked for us solely because we agreed to minimize the impact on the kids during a time of high impact.

Since so many people immediately move out, an alternative approach just might be useful.

From time to time I’ll share some fatherhood insights on divorce, as sadly parenting through divorce is something we all need to talk about.  Please feel free to share your experiences.

Infrastructure Cabling Brought Down to Size

A friend asked for some help neatening up a server closet in a small business. 

“The place is a mess, I’m almost embarrassed to have you here.”  

“We can make it better.  Are there any times you can be down?”

“Every Sunday afternoon, after 1PM.”

What better place to be than a server closet on a Sunday afternoon?

This business is located in what was probably once a grand house.  The business needs had eclipsed some of the grander parts of the house.

The server closet was as advertised: a (former) closet.

Sample

It turned out the situation wasn’t as grim as projected.  Over time, the people doing work in the closet had kept to ~80% of a reasonable wiring standard:

• High voltage (power) was kept at one level, and in one color
• Data cabling was blue
• Analog phone cable was white
• Equipment was everywhere

To address this in an afternoon meant using what we had on hand, and not doing a rip and replace.

Starting with high voltage, we quickly separated the two UPS systems and placed on separate power feeds in the room.  I’m not a fan of small UPS’s being right on the floor (water is my fear, being a minor leak, a mop, or a spill), so one got mounted to the backboard, the other placed on a shelf.  All power cables were then run along the same path, with 90 degree turns and cable tied together.

The phone cabling was in pretty good shape, although the cable management could be improved.  Over time, every bundle ended up with its own set of cable ties.  We cut those, and bundled together.

The data side needed a bit more work.  We literally unplugged and reran all the data cabling within the closet.

Any cable not being used was removed.  This is a key in large data centers and closets.   Take the time to remove unused cables…power, data or voice.

In the course of this exercise, we did remove the clothes rod (it really had been a closet), and swept up.  We also identified and re-enabled an exhaust fan for the room, providing some external venting for the machine, and re-programed the external building sign light timer.

After a few hours, we had everything back up and running and in neat order.  This will pay dividends over time with improved maintainability. 

Hats off to the Verizon FiOS and Security System company…all their cable runs were neat, tidy, and buttoned up nicely.

This is a matter of discipline, and a case where large company approaches can be “rightsized” for smaller firms, paying benefits over time.  Any company can do it.

Horizons Restaurant & Bar

Horizons Restaurant & Bar
 

2200 Boston Road
Wilbraham, MA

(413) 599-1271

We live in an age of social media. Generally speaking, I personally can spend (waste) a lot of time checking all my accounts on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, Google+, and YouTube. I use systems to help schedule activity, follow and unfollow, and can even measure my klout.

All of this is supposed to help deepen relationships. While I like knowing what my college friends are doing, it’s arguably not deepening my relationships. So it was interesting when Horizons Restaurant followed me on Twitter.  I checked out their website, and was taken by the phrase, “Our distinctive hilltop location is a favorite in the greater Springfield area, for elegant, casual dining.”  Maybe this is what Twitter is all about?

Wilbraham is a bit of a drive, and I got to thinking leaf peeping, with a restaurant destination. How cool?

With a great deal of excitement I headed off to visit the place for lunch on a recent Thursday.

My GPS took me right to the place, no issues there.

What I found was a building on a busy street, with nothing spectacular to look at….in fact, the rear of the building overlooks train tracks.

While disappointing, I was already there…and thought, “What the heck?”

Upon entering, I had my choice of going left into the bar, or right into the restaurant. This was lunchtime, and so off to the restaurant side. The place was clean, although a bit dated.

The greeter asked, “How can I help you?” 

“I’d like to have lunch, please.”

“Really?”

Hmmm. Lunchtime in Wilbraham, home of struggling restaurant chain Friendly’s. Somehow I doubt Friendly’s would be surprised I wanted lunch at lunchtime. “Perhaps this was a mistake,” echoed in my mind.

In my mind’s eye, I had envisioned looking out over a hilltop vista. Well, all the windows have light curtains over them…obviously there’s not much of a vista.

I was quickly seated, and proceeded to take some notes on my omnipresent BlackBerry. My waiter, Jack, immediately sensed something was up. Most places I go people keep their smartphones close by, apparently not so much at Horizons. As I looked around, many of the other patrons were what I would characterize as “older couples,” enjoying a day out. One had a rather loud conversation over remaining tornado damage, reminding me it wasn’t long ago Springfield got whacked.

The bread was warm and tasty, the salad wilted and disappointing. Hmm, an interesting dichotomy.

The entrée was very good. It was a linguine with chicken dish, served with just the right amount of seasoning. It was very tasty.

Not being a big desert fan at lunch, I was going to pass until I saw profiteroles on the menu. A profiterole is pastry ball filled with whipped cream, pastry cream, or ice cream. The pastry is light, the same kind you might find in an éclair. They are a weakness, I had to try.

At Horizons the filling is ice cream, and the pastry was hard. OK, not a little hard. Not biscuit hard….as some places try to pull off.  Hard hard. Saw with a knife hard. Inedible hard. Disappointing hard.

The attentive Jack could tell I was disappointed. I asked if the owner came in regularly, and was assured he was in every day, “and is even in the building now.”

Here was my rather blunt summation/hypothesis. Classically trained local chef Mark Melikian started Horizons over 24 years ago. Based on his bread and the entrée, he can put out a really good product. Based on the salad and the profiterole pastry, somewhere along the way he’s lowered his standard of what’s acceptable in favor of easing food prep time.

I keep fanaticizing about Kitchen Nightmare’s Gordon Ramsay in my mind….pleading with Mark to regain his passion. Spruce up the place, narrow the menu, and thrive!

If you are in the area, Horizon’s is worth trying if you come upon it. It is not your leaf peeping Western Mass destination.

Hours

Lunch
Tuesday – Friday
11:30 am to 2:30 pm

Dinner
Tuesday – Thursday
5:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Friday and Saturday
5:00 pm to 10:00 pm

Sunday
3:00 pm to 8:00 pm

Horizons Restaurant & Bar gets an AMBER LIGHT – if you are in the area, try it. It’s not worth a special trip.

About the RAG scale:

       Green Light – Go and enjoy

       Amber Light – Use caution

       Red Light – Save your time and money

Angry Ham's Garage

Angry Ham’s Garage

2 Beacon Street

Framingham MA

508.620.8888

Spike has a new show called Bar Rescue, think Kitchen Nightmares applied to pubs.  John Taffer is the Gordon Ramsay, applying science to propping up bars.

Angry Ham’s Has An Angry Owner Problem
Get More: Angry Ham’s Has An Angry Owner Problem

He recently helped two Framingham pubs….Angry Ham’s Garage and The Chicken Bone.

I headed over to check out the work at Angry Ham’s Garage after the visit with a couple friends….Wednesday night, 6:00.

The first note is during the show the name, “Angry Ham’s Garage,” suggested as a somewhat pejorative reference to people from Framingham, was changed to “Octane.”  That didn’t last long…and shortly after the show filming stopped the old name returned.

The bar area was about 75% occupied, and the restaurant was empty.  Sitting in the restaurant, we noticed a mural commemorating Framingham (installed during the show) had been removed replaced with a (nice looking) Budweiser ad.  Certainly the bridge being built to the town wasn’t symbolically retained.

We sat in the booths, and noted how dark and cold the place felt.  The booths had very little lighting, and the garage motif décor just read as cold.

Not nearly as cold as our beer.  I don’t know what the precise temperature was, but it was one of the coldest beers I’ve had in ages. 

The music was blaring in the empty restaurant, and one of my friends commented there was too much base, with a throbbing loud beat.  I had to agree…..and found it annoying.  I’m OK with loud music, but it has to sound good.

We tried an appetizer plate.  The wings and the fries were good, the potato skins were just “OK”, and the mozzarella triangles literally had no cheese left after the food prep.

So….another round of beers?  No, we passed and moved on.

Three guys….cold beer….and we moved on after one round.

‘Nuf said.

Angry Ham’s Garage

gets an AMBER LIGHT – if you want to have a cold beer, drop by.  Otherwise, pass.

About the RAG scale:

       Green Light – Go and enjoy

       Amber Light – Use caution

       Red Light – Save your time and money

Teaching a Child to Drive

Teaching driver’s education takes special attention from parents if the child is going to learn to drive well.

While varying by state, generally there is a date (around 16 years) when a learner’s permit can be obtained.  Each child in my house passed the learner’s permit test without issue…here’s how:

You’ve got to let the child drive.

Counterintuitive? Perhaps.  Illegal?  It depends.

Around the age of 12, I let the child drive for the first time in the most controlled conditions I could muster.  Generally this involved a friend’s empty field or a huge parking lot of a vacant store/factory/office building (often on a Sunday morning.)

My preference is to use a car with a centrally located hand brake…one I could easily operate from the passenger seat.

Without anyone else in attendance, I patiently took the child through the steps.  

• Walk around the car checking for any damage or flat tires.  Watching for traffic, get in the car.  Adjust the seat/steering wheel.  Put on seatbelts.  Adjust the mirrors. 

• Locate the headlights, the wipers, and the turn signals.

• Practice braking (yes, before the car is started), learn the handbrake, see the accelerator.

• Start the car.  Sit in the running car taking it all in.  (Radio off.)  No need to do anything yet.  Turn the steering wheel.  Stop the car.  Turn the steering wheel again (it turns, just really hard without power steering.)

• Re-start the car.  Put the car in drive, with foot on brake.  Look in mirrors and around the car.  Take foot off brake.  Let car roll 10 feet.  Stop car.

At this point, 30 minutes have passed.  This is not a rush…take your time….you have years before you drive.

Look in mirrors and around the car.  Take foot off brake.  Let car roll….slowly.  Make a trip around the parking lot.  (All the time, my hand is on the emergency brake, and my head is on a swivel, looking for ANYTHING.)  Stop car.

That’s it, Day One.  The child will go home, and tell the family they drove.  You will get the “hairy eyeball”, and must continue.

Few things concerned me more as a father than watching the kids drive off the driveway by themselves the first time.  While driving school is mandatory, butt-in-seat time is mandatory.  Safety is paramount, starting with seat belts.

I used to road rally cars, and saw many cars upside down in ditches.  Simply put: people with seat belts walked away.  People without seat belts often got carried away.

This type of driving practice goes on for once every month or two.  Always start the same way and with the same exercises.  Then slowly work up to more advanced exercises….

• park in the 5^th parking spot.

• Stop car, turn it off, everyone out, and examine how they did.

• Try again (or try again BACKING in.)

The idea is to give the child confidence.  Confidence is not cockiness, cars can kill.  They need to understand.

Repeat this in light snow.  Most empty lots are not plowed.  Let them experience a slight slide in the car (don’t go so fast the car flips if it hits a dry spot!!)  Let them see how locking up a car on ice is worse than slow steady pressure.  (I still do this myself during the first snow!)

As a parent, you are teaching the child a skill.  Hopefully a skill they will use a lifetime.

As a parent, you must “stay cool” the entire time.  You can’t exhibit nervousness, or the child will be nervous.  If you are a nervous driver, consider getting someone else to do this.

I would put myself into an aware-trance.  I was hyper-aware of what was going on, and being encouraging, however would not allow myself to get nervous or raise my voice.

On a nice day, and with time, I would have them change a tire.  This is a skill everyone should know how to do, although I did give each of my kids a AAA card when they got their license.  Parents have to pay attention, and make sure the car doesn’t fall while on the jack!!

Personally, I learned on a standard (stick) and am comfortable driving a stick.  Unfortunately, we didn’t always have a non-automatic for the child to learn on.

I never let the kids drive on a public street, or when someone else entered the area (by foot or by car.)

By the time they get to the learner’s permit stage, they are already well versed in the basics.  Keeping their speed down is then the next challenge.

And if you’re scoring, while they all had accidents in their first couple years driving, only one was serious (thank goodness for Volvo) and only one was caused by one of them (minor - backing up in a driveway.)  Are they perfect?  No.  And they are all still driving with confidence.

What did you do to help your kids drive?  Any funny stories?  Or is it all in front of you?

Evaluating Co-Location Data Centers

Certainly by now you know I’m a fan of co-location.  Considering co-location is a must for any organization with a data center need under 20,000 square feet.

Having determined requirements and engaged co-location providers with an RFP, it’s now time to narrow the focus and make a decision.

Using an evaluation matrix is a useful way to narrow the herd.   In the first column, indicate your evaluation criteria (location, price, total capability, etc).  Each criterion is then assigned a weight, with 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest.  Each vendor is then evaluated on a 1-10 scale, with the resulting score = weight x eval.   Those scores are then added for a final…allowing comparison.

 

While I am a fan of an evaluation matrix, having performed this exercise dozens of times there are some issues with this approach worth discussing.

If a vendor simply doesn’t meet the requirements, they get a “low” score, yet not meeting requirements should be sufficient to disqualify.  If ALL vendors miss on requirements, the chances are good either the requirements or RFP are “too tight.”  It may also be indicative of a need to do an in-house data center….and in practice we rarely see this.

What is more likely is the vendors will end up being in groups.  We use these groups for our analysis and next steps.  The “top” group will be the ones to continue conversations with, and the bottom group is most likely a group worth passing on.

Here’s the dirty little secret.  The evaluation matrix gives an objective appearance to a subjective process.  You still need to go out and visit the (short) list of companies before making a final decision.  We use the evaluation matrix as a tool to narrow the list, not the ultimate decision tool.

Once you’re met with vendors at their location and kicked the tires, a final evaluation matrix can be assembled.

When you visit the co-location providers, take time in your evaluation.  The ANSI/TIA standard 942 can be used as a guideline, or professional services can assist.

 Walk around the building and get a general sense of the neighborhood and plant housekeeping.  You should not be able to get close to the operating equipment at street level.

When you tour the data center, is security reasonable for your company? 

Spend time understanding the Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing (MEP) parts of the data center…this is the “guts” and arguable most important part of the facility.  Is the housekeeping of the MEP pristine?   I’m a big believer in taking my old car for service in the ugliest garage in town…and the MEP area shouldn’t look like that!   If you see buckets under leaking valves, you can quickly realize maintenance isn’t what it should be. 

Ask the hard questions….ask to see evidence of equipment maintenance (we visited a co-location provider touting regular infrared electrical panel scanning, and the last time it was performed was three years previously.)  Ask for a history of outages (you may be surprised by what you discover.) 

Take time to understand the communications carriers already in the building.  Do not assume your carriers are already there.  Co-location providers have “meet me” areas, where carriers and customers are interconnected.  Cable management in this space is imperative. 

Ask to speak to references…and do so.  Find out if the provider is easy to work with, or a fan of up- charging for everything.  Let’s face it, your equipment will break, and you may need to get a vendor to ship a part; you shouldn’t have to pay for “processing a delivery!”

Spend time on Google, and find out if there are any articles about outages/issues in the facility.

I’m a big believer in the end people buy from people…so don’t hesitate to think about whether you can simply work with the provider and their people.  People will change from time to time, and the “move in” period is a very important time.

Look at the contracts.  All will have protections for the provider for outages; it’s how they deal with them you need to consider.

Only when you have completed your due diligence can you make your final decision.

Oregon Club

Oregon Club

117 Oregon Road
Ashland, MA 01721
508-875-9030

Wikipedia defines a speakeasy as an establishment illegally selling alcoholic beverages. Such establishments came into prominence in the United States during the period known as Prohibition (1920–1933). During this time, the sale, manufacture, and transportation (bootlegging) of alcoholic beverages was illegal throughout the United States.

Little did I know we have a “legendary speakeasy” nearby in Ashland. Yet, with the excellence of the food, who needs booze?

A friend has raI don’t “get” the Moose - it doesn’t talkved about the Oregon club for the past year.  The stars and moons aligned recently and we saddled up for a trip over to the Oregon Club.  The restaurant does date back to the beginning of Prohibition, serving spaghetti and steak to the locals as the “The Briasco Inn.”

After Prohibition, the place was renamed the Oregon Club and remained a private club for the privacy of members.  Now, the location is open to the public, overseen by Chef Chris Scanlon and Judy MacLeod, owners of the Oregon Club since 2009.

These are very much hands on owners.  Judy seated and waited on us the entire evening.  Chris manned the kitchen, yet still had time to come out and chat.

The 86 seat restaurant is made up of a series of little rooms.  My friend described it as “Maine homey.”  It wouldn’t surprise me if nothing Veal Meatballshad changed in the aesthetics since the opening.  At first, it was a little disconcerting to wander through all the little rooms, and one can almost imagine whispered passcodes to gain access to different areas.

Nonetheless, we’re not here to review architecture.  Seated in a booth, the menu was made up of traditional American favorites.

We each had the homemade veal meatballs- Ground veal with house special seasoning and panko crumbs.  Served with a simple brown gravy and Romano cheese.   Meatballs are often dry in my world; these were a notable delicious exception.  Moist anThe Steakd tasty!

I had an entrée simply called “The Steak,” a 12 ounce Sirloin Strip Steak prepared in the Oregon Club Style (cooked in pans originating in the Parker

Pork Chop

House, seared in a beef fat and seasonings creating a slightly crusty flavorful outside with melt in your mouth goodness inside.)  I’m a big steak fan, and “The Steak” is one of the finer beef selections in the area.  Truly fabulous.

My friend had the bone in pork chop….again cooked to perfection.  The portion was huge….more than enough to be the centerpiece of lunch the next day.

For desert we had two choices prepared onsite….a chocolate mousse and a tart with fresh Maine blueberries.

Blueberry Lemon

Overall, the ambiance may be an acquired taste although I am sure it has many, many fans.  Personally, I’m always less concerned with wall hangings than I am the food, and rest assured the Oregon Club is a hidden jewel.A different Mousse

Finding the place can be a little tricky the first time.  Take Route 9 towards Southborough, turn at Oak Street (Walgreens) then head south.  Make a left at the flashing light (Oregon Road) and the restaurant is just up on the left.

This is one of those places it’s good to know about, and to keep quiet lest it morphs into something else.  Sort of like a speakeasy.  Quietly tell them, “Gary sent you.”

Hours

Tues - Sun: 5:00PM - ??

Oregon Club gets a GREEN LIGHT…go and enjoy.

About the RAG scale:

       Green Light – Go and enjoy

       Amber Light – Use caution

       Red Light – Save your time and money