Community Service & Lunch at the Fat Cat

Last Friday, my company decided to give back to the community. All employees were given the oppourtunity to spend the day at one of many local charities. I spent my shift of afternoon service at Cradles to Crayons in Quincy, MA.

Our job at Cradles to Crayons was to sort through donated items (clothes, toys, shoes), test out toys, match oufits that would be put into packets of clothing and finally, filling orders for local children (filed by their social worker, in most cases).
(This charity is in desperate need of shoes of all sizes so donate if you can!)

In the end, after two hours of our time, we helped close to two hundred children. It was an amazing experience and I can't wait to go back.


When we were done at Cradles to Crayons, we headed to Quincy Center for lunch. My coworkers were very interested in trying The Fat Cat in Quincy. I have been to the Fat Cat before and really enjoyed my meal, but I have been dying to try the famous mac n' cheese they have there.



I was very excited to see that they had Shipyard Pumpkinhead on tap.

We started with the fries, with garlic and parmesan on top. They were delicious fries but had a little too much topping on them. Also, the fries came with your choice of toppings and sauces - great idea!

Hand Cut Fries // $7
Comes with choice of spice and dipping sauce:
Spices: Cajun, Blackened, Garlic & Parmesan, Fajita
Sauces: Buffalo, Blue Cheese, BBQ, Curry

Hand cut fries are pretty much the best you can get!



Next up was my main course. The meal that I was only able to eat 1/3 of before I needed it taken away from me and packed up...macaroni and cheese. I would venture a guess that this is the most popular item on the menu here. And, with so many different options, there's something for everyone.

Gourmet Mac N Cheese // $10
Manchego, parmesan, blue, cheddar, marinated tomatoes, cavatappi, panko

Lobster Mac // $18
Steak Mac // $15
Shrimp Mac // $16
Hot Dog Mac // $13
Crab Mac // $16
Chicken Mac // $14

All those wonderful choices and I went with the gourmet...and it did not disappoint. I will say that it was not as cheesy as I expected, but it was still delicious. Because I took my leftovers home I ended up with three meals out of this! Not bad for $10.


All in all I think that Quincy Center is lucky to have such a great restaurant with a wonderful, friendly staff and substantial menu. I'm looking forward to my next visit!

Veggie Planet

In an effort to branch out of the Central Square bubble, my coworkers and I took a trip to Veggie Planet in Harvard Square for lunch.



Veggie Planet is a Harvard Square restaurant "specializing in creative, out-of-this-world, meat-free and dairy-free pizzas." What you do is pick a base - pizza dough, brown rice or coconut rice, and top it with many of their creative entrees.

I chose the very popular "Henry's Lunch" which Henry’s Lunch consisted of roasted butternut squash, caramelized onions, rosemary & sage, goat cheese and asiago cheese. It was very fresh and a great blend of flavors.

My coworker had the mac n cheese, which was only OK. It's really tough to make 'healthy' mac n cheese, in my opinion!

Veggie Planet is definitely a vegetarian restaurant to check it. It gets very crowded at lunch, so get there early!