Friday, May 16, 2014

Affordable Steakhouse lunch at Strega Prime Woburn

Situated on Rte. 95 where the former Beacon Grille was located, Strega Prime brings city-quality steakhouse to Woburn.  My friend Rula and I met for lunch at this hot spot located in an office building in Cummings Park a short 4 minutes from my office.



Since it was May 70 degree weather, the patio was open for business.


I made reservations on Opentable and arrived at noon when parking was ample and the restaurant was still empty.  Per our server, the owner had a vision of old Hollywood + New York Steakhouse meets Vegas Glam.  I loved the portraits of all the old era hollywood stars displayed on the walls in the bar area.  I wasn't a huge fan of the cow hide stools; I thought they were cheesy.  The last thing I want to see in steak house is displayed cow parts even if its faux.


The dining room was modern and classy.  The red chairs and chandeliers contributed to the Vegas glam sex appeal.


Being a high end restaurant that they are, the server asked if we had a preference for water... I'll stick with the tap! I also ordered an Arnold Palmer.


The assistant server brought over hot popovers and I was in LOVE! The hollow bread is baked with eggs and had a gooey inner lining.  The roll was topped off with cheese and served with an addicting butter. I loved that we each got HUGE piece and weren't fighting over the last slice of bread or roll.


Rula and I decided to split the fried Parmesan and truffle calamari.  They were succulent, fresh and full of flavors.  The fried peppers were a great added touch.  I thought they were jalapenos but ended up being sishitto peppers. (Never heard of it before) I would easily say the calamari dish is among the top 5 that I've ever had.

Parmesan and Truffle Calamari $ 12.00


We were splitting the 3 course Strega prix fixe menu for $ 21.00 and chose the classic Caesar salad with Parmasean toast for a starter.  The dressing had a hint of anchovy in it.

Caesar Salad Starter of Prix Fixe Menu ($21.00)

For our entrees, we went with the petite 8 oz Filet Mignon and the chicken milanese.  The chicken dish was part of the 3 course package.  There was a bit of miscommunication with our server as he didn't know we were in a time crunch and wanted to stagger our meals and waited for us to finish our calamari.  We didn't want to get stuffed with apps, salad and carbs so we purposely didn't finish it.  1 PM came and we had to leave so unfortunately for my friend Rula, she had to bounce.  I told her I'd make it up to her next time.

The entrees was ready 15 minutes later and I asked for it to be packed to go along with our 3rd course dessert, ricotta cheesecake.

The Mo was lucky to have a steakhouse dinner.  I warmed up the chicken and filet in my counter top "Nuwave" type oven and it tasted wonderful!

Main Course Chicken Milanese of  Strega Prix Fixe Menu ($21.00)
Petite Filet Mignon 8 oz (no sides) $ 37.00
 I asked the server to pack some extra popovers and he happily obliged.  It didn't taste as good as it did freshly baked at the restaurant.


We ended our meal with the petite ricotta cheesecake.

Ricotta cheesecake, dessert choice of Strega Prime Prix Fixe Menu ($21.00)
I will definitely be back for dinner! Maybe we will replace Del Frisco's with Strega Prime....

Strega Prime on Urbanspoon