Grab More Than Just a Cup of Coffee

The arrival of autumn in the Bay State means hats, scarves, sweaters, and toasty drinks to warm your hands while heading outside to enjoy the changing leaves or rushing off to the closest building with heat. Patch trekked around Charlestown conducting some delicious research to find the best spots for breakfast, lunch, and dinner this fall.

Breakfast

During the rush of the work week, you may not have time to stop and enjoy a meal, but the American Baker's Cafe located in the Navy Yard provides a great opportunity to jump out of bed early on Saturday or Sunday to grab some breakfast and go for a walk along the water. Breakfast sandwiches, like their Garden Start Sandwich (egg, goat cheese, tomato, spinach, and herb mayo on a bagel of your choice) is served all day long.

While breakfast is a particular specialty at American Baker's, it's also a fantastic place to pick up a sweet afternoon or evening snack. Homemade pastries made fresh daily are available and since fall is in full swing, it's the perfect time to pick up a slice of apple or pumpkin pie to go along with a toasty cup of coffee.

Lunch

Regardless of where you're headed make sure to mark Zume's Coffee House on Main Street as a stop on your way. The festive little coffeehouse decorated with comfy chairs and charming, romantic lighting, makes a point to bring out the best of the autumn with the addition of their pumpkin spice latte and caramel apple cider to the daily menu. Personally, I tend to avoid caramel apple cider because too often the caramel overpowers the natural sweetness of apple cider, but Zume's let's the fall fruit take a stand and only for a couple bucks. 

And of course, with the onset of the cold, a hungry body needs something substantial to warm the bones. Zume's sandwiches are a great way to pack in a little protein. The turkey gruyere sandwich is a particular delight; accented with honey mustard and thin slices of apple, the sandwich is  a wonderful mixture of sweet and salty, warm and cool. The use of apples, along with cranberries, seems to be a trend with Zume's food as they pop in numerous sandwiches and salads. The fruits create a nice trademark of all things New England. Maybe it's something to think about when they start considering what next to add to their hand-written chalkboard menu. 

Dinner

When the sun sets in New England and the temperature drops down into the 30s, slip into Warren Tavern to escape the blustery night wind. The restaurant and pub has been open since 1780, making it one of the oldest taverns in the country and the intimate setting is great place to go for dinner or maybe a couple drinks with friends. 

The menu stays loyal to Charlestown's coastal location by serving up a number of seafood dishes including their lobster salad roll, fried calamari, and their award-winning clam chowder. Of course, Warren Tavern has much more to offer. Their burger menu is drool-worthy with burgers like the Tavern Burger (angus beef burger topped with boursin cheese and honey dijon mustard served with your choice of french fries or homemade potato chips). For your vegetarian friends out there (or if you're just in the mood) there are plenty of meatless dishes available like the vegetable primavera made with local seasonal vegetables and vegetarian Thai stir-fry.

Entrees range from $10 to around $25, but each one is probably large enough to feed two people. Don't worry, no one will judge you if you hog it to yourself.