Diners' Choice: Lively restaurants in Central and Western MA

OpenTable

Updated September 05, 2024

Looking for restaurants that have the most vibrant bar scenes in Central and Western MA? You’re in the right place. Each month, OpenTable analyzes nearly 2 million global diner reviews from the past four months. We sort the results by location and category to help you discover new favorite restaurants. It's a great partnership: you reserve, eat, and review. We listen...and deliver the results for all to benefit. Enjoy!

B Napoli

4.8

4.8 (1880)

$30 and under

Contemporary Italian

West Springfield

About the restaurant

bNapoli Italian is a contemporary Italian restaurant serving authentic cuisine from the Naples region of Italy using only top quality ingredients. Reservations are highly recommended as they are booking for indoor as well as outdoor dining on their 28 seat enclosed patio.

BNapoli is known for their professional yet approachable service, beautifully created from scratch menu and inventive balanced cocktails. They offer an eclectic 100 label variety of new and old world wine focused mainly on North America and Italy from a glass enclosed temperature controlled wine room. Their cocktail menu is culinary based and guest focused offering creative seasonal takes on timeless classics and they also offer six draft lines featuring local breweries as well as a small curated selection of bottles.

Top review

Rebecca

Dined 7 days ago

Great food, great service and the drinks were exceptionally tasty!

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Popular dish

Arugula

The Rail Trail Flatbread Co. - Milford

4.8

4.8 (278)

$30 and under

Pizza Bar

Milford

About the restaurant

The Rail Trail Flatbread Co., celebrated its grand opening on 12/12/23, marking not only a milestone in Milford's downtown revitalization but also a nod to the original Hudson location's success. Built in a meticulously renovated former bank that features a spacious restaurant and bar, outdoor patio, and upstairs events space, creating a warm, inviting atmosphere.

The Milford location reflects a two-and-a-half-year renovation effort, preserving historical elements like the century-old clock, vault door, and exposed brick walls. The open dining layout encourages interaction, adorned with family photos for a homey feel.

Though famous for flatbreads, Rail Trail boasts diverse offerings, each component is made in-house. Notable flatbreads include "Fig & Walnut" and "Mexican Street Corn," alongside the popular "Primo Pepperoni." Appetizers like "Hot Tots" and "Sesame Cauliflower" showcase Rail Trail's culinary creativity.

Top review

Robert

Dined 6 days ago

Always a consistent night at Rail Trail! Food and service always good!

The Student Prince Cafe

4.7

4.7 (730)

$30 and under

Steakhouse

Springfield

About the restaurant

Since 1935, Student Prince has offered largest selection of Bavarian and German beers paired with American, Seafood, Steakhouse, and European-inspired cuisine.

Top review

Dined on Sep 11, 2024

We celebrated a 75th birthday for a noon lunch ~ we really are getting old!! The service was excellent, it was quiet for conversation, and we enjoyed the ambiance. It was like dining in a restaurant in Germany. We enjoyed the traditional German food. It was a nice time celebrating another trip around the sun with great friends.

Specialty Bar and Grill

4.7

4.7 (164)

$31 to $50

American

Worcester

About the restaurant

INSPIRED BY DISHES FROM AROUND THE WORLD, WE PREPARE A MENU OF FRESH CUISINE, SAUTÉED AND GRILLED.

Top review

Beth

Dined on Aug 1, 2024

We had a great dinner here. The atmosphere was excellent, a bit noisy but not bad. The view is great, overlooking Mirror Lake. Service was friendly and very fast! The Brussels sprouts and Ruben sandwich were fantastic! They make their own pastrami and excellence shows. The only negative was the nachos: Most of the plate was chips, minimal toppings and the cheese sauce tasted like American Cheese and/or Velveeta. bleh. We sent it back. But that was the only negative among a bunch of positives. I highly recommend trying this place!

Tavern in the Square - Shrewsbury

4.6

4.6 (993)

$30 and under

American

Shrewsbury

About the restaurant

Tavern in the Square located at the Lakeway Commons on route 9 in Shrewsbury. Our Tavern in the Square Shrewsbury location features an open floor plan along with a 50 seat bar that extends on to our patio. 50 beers on draft and a menu made with the freshest ingredients and our big screen TV’s to watch all your favorite sports teams. Our all season enclosed patio features dining tables, bar chairs, and a lounge area.

Top review

Daniel

Dined 5 days ago

Excellent and consistently good food all the way around. Plenty of TV's and nice and vibrant atmosphere.

Black & White Grille

4.6

4.6 (665)

$30 and under

American

Worcester

About the restaurant

Welcome to the Black & White Grille & Pizzeria! We are family owned & operated, we pride ourselves on providing our customers with the best quality product and service as we would to our own families. Together with our staff, we devote our time to creating entrees that cater to all taste buds. We hope that you enjoy your time spent with us as you dine. Our goal is to make your experience one that will leave you coming back for more.

Top review

Justin

Dined on Sep 2, 2024

Food and service were outstanding. Super friendly servers! The place is always busy, so we expect to wait a little bit for things, no biggie. Overall, we like the place and will continue to go there.

Table Twelve

4.4

4.4 (379)

$30 and under

Contemporary American

Worcester

About the restaurant

From our welcoming and warm team of professionals, to our fresh, scratch made menu items, our only goal at Table Twelve is making sure you can’t wait to come back again. We feature a collection of menu items to satisfy all taste buds. We put a few modern twists on some classics, offer a wide variety of light lunch options as well as hearty dinner choices, and just a pinch of Greek-spiration (you HAVE to try the Fried Feta!).
Your celebrations are our celebrations, your romantic dinner, late night desserts, lunch meeting, catch up with friends, some quiet alone time (or loud, we don’t judge), are the moments our days and nights are made of and it is our pleasure to be part of those moments with you!
We take pride in providing you with warm service and avorful meals. We are fresh, friendly, and local and here to serve you.

Top review

Junevip

Dined 2 days ago

Love their beef tips. Had house wine which was also good.

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Experience

Sunday Brunch @ Table Twelve!

The Mercantile

4.4

4.4 (827)

$30 and under

American

Worcester

About the restaurant

Serving up New American Tavern Cuisine in our two-floor full-service restaurant and bar, equipped with two 50-seat bars, world-inspired snacks and entrees, brick pizza oven, private event space, and an open rooftop patio that offers views of downtown Worcester and City Square. Located next to the DCU Center and minutes from Polar Park, we’re a natural choice pre and post-game.

*Due to limited patio seating, we do not take reservations for our patio. Please note the patio request in your reservation, or ask upon arrival, and we will do our best to accommodate.

**The rooftop is open Wednesday-Friday 4 PM - close. Saturday & Sunday 12 PM - close.

***Public parking is available at The Mercantile Center Garage with direct access to the restaurant on Level 3A.

Top review

Jeff

Dined 5 days ago

Service was a little slow, but in their defense it was very busy with a major convention going on on next door. Our server was extremely nice, but things just took a long time to happen.

Max Tavern - Springfield

4.3

4.3 (60)

$31 to $50

American

Springfield

About the restaurant

!Max Tavern's innovative menu features contemporary American cuisine, classic chophouse fare, craft cocktails, and more. Our team strives to make sure you have a memorable dining experience each and every time.

If you're looking to make a larger reservation please contact us directly at (413)-746-6299

Top review

Vincent

Dined on Aug 25, 2024

Our Max Tavern experience was thoroughly enjoyable in every way. Hostess and wait staff service is exemplary. Food is well-prepared, presented, and delicious.

Caminito Steakhouse

4.1

4.1 (594)

$31 to $50

Steakhouse

Northampton

About the restaurant

Award Winning Wood Fire Steakhouse. Great selection of South American Wines. Seasonal outdoor patio. Come in and taste the wood fire difference!

Top review

Joann

Dined on Sep 6, 2024

One of our favorite places! Food is excellent! Quaint atmosphere. Friendly staff.