Out with the old and in with the new or semi-new.  So many changes have taken place in the past couple of weeks we wanted to list them out for you to keep track. The Great Escape OUT – It was revealed this week that they chose to close up shop and sell to a fun couple […]

Spring is the time in Salem to emerge from your winter hibernation and feast on all the city has to offer. Thankfully Salem Restaurant Week coinsides with your emergence. For 10 days (not in a row so its not really a week and it is 10 days so again its not really a week but […]

Great Escape Restaurant 50 Saint Peter street Salem, MA, 01970 978.745.5022 After a little less than a year long build-out, the old Salem Jail has been converted to condos and one interesting restaurant. The Great Escape was inspired by the conversion of Boston’s Charles Street jail and their Clink restaurant. Owner Cleber Santos has attempted […]

Back in June, Salem’s own Lobster Shanty was visited by Food Network’s Guy Fieri, host of Diners, Drive-in’s and Dives and are featured on tonight’s episode (September 27th at 10:00 PM). There will be a viewing party hosted by the Lobster Shanty, where you can also sample beers by the Mayflower Brewing Company, all beginning […]

Howling Wolf Taqueria 76 Lafayette Street Salem, MA 01970 Tel: 978.744.WOLF (9653) The much anticipated taqueria has opened across the street from Salem Fire Station and Engine House pizza. Answering the many cries from Salem residents to bring quality quick burritos and other Mexican fare to the masses, people are already packing into Howling Wolf. […]

Yo quiero burritos! Salem welcomes not one, but TWO taquerias! Glory be! Someone has answered my prayers. I’ve lived in Salem going on seven years now and the one thing I’ve griped about from day one was that this town needs a taqueria! And finally, not only will there be one but TWO taquerias opening. […]

Yo quiero burritos! Salem welcomes not one, but TWO taquerias! Glory be! Someone has answered my prayers. I’ve lived in Salem going on seven years now and the one thing I’ve griped about from day one was that this town needs a taqueria! And finally, not only will there be one but TWO taquerias opening. […]

There is a new trend for Salem restaurants and its not some magical ingredient or new state mandated rule: it’s going au natural with dining outside. Al fresco dining in Salem, MA is nothing new. Salem institutions like the Lobster Shanty and Finz have predicated their business model on it. Victoria Station has some great […]

Coven 281 Essex St Salem MA 01970 (212)444.2490 (yes that is a NYC exchange) Coven market in Salem soft open While the big opening day isn’t until Memorial Day weekend we stopped by the new market/cafe the other day to check it out. The shop is not fully functioning but they do have some fun […]

One of the topics that comes up here and perhaps in any discussion around town that revolves around food is Salems lack of a good Mexican restaurant.  Sure we have Cilantro but people are always looking for a burrito joint, someplace akin to Anna’s Taqueria in Davis Square. Yesterday a regular reader Geoff, along with […]

Cafe Valverde Coffee Roasters 196 Essex St Salem MA 01970 How about a hot cup of Joe? Cafe Valverde opened today in what was formerly Fuel, on Essex Street. This is the first retail location for Nelson and Eleni, online coffee importers from the North Shore who focus on beans from Bolivia, Costa Rica, Brazil, […]

That grumbling you hear is my belly ramping up for a feast tonight.  Salem’s fall restaurant week kicked off yesterday and runs to Thursday, September 17th. As has been the case with previous restaurant weeks, restaurants involved are offering three-course prix-fixe dinner menus, this time around the price is $25 you have to pay for […]

You may have heard of the airline deal “all you can fly for a month” well the Hawthorne Hotel is jumping on that price bonanza wagon and offering their own special deal. All you can eat for a month for $599 This offer is valid between September 8, 2009 and October 8, 2009 at both […]

The first week or so (10 days) of August in Salem MA is known as Salem Heritage Days.  This 10 day celebration of Salem offerings brings us food, fun and street fairs. Yesterday one of the premier events of Salem Heritage Days happened in the Salem Common, the Ice Scream Bowl. Formerly known as the […]

Tavern in the Square Corner of New Derby & Washington Salem, MA 01970 www.taverninthesquare.com The much awaited Tavern In The Square opened this week and we ran over to check it out. The first thing you will notice is that this place is big huge. The generically unimpressive front door opens to a cavernous restaurant/bar. […]

I realize that the weather still sucks, its cold, rainy and overcast.  Get ready to put the winter blues behind you because a sure sign that spring has sprung is right around the corner. The Lobster Shanty of Salem opens up for the season I know I’ve said it before but it’s like the swallows […]

I was helping a friend who had moved in to Salem recently when the rumble of hunger hit my stomach.  Now when I lived in Manhattan, our entire kitchen consisted of a three ring binder chock full of take out/delivery menus. Come to think of it my college kitchen was like that too.  Luckily for […]

This post by regular TheSalemInsider.com contributor Forrest Frazier. I received an email from local eatery Sixty2 on Wharf the other day which put me in a nostalgic mood.  For years I worked as a DJ in Boston, New York and through out the US spinning jazz, big band and swing music during the neo-swing movement […]

Grapevine 26 Congress Street (978) 745-9335 When people discuss restaurants in Salem Massachusetts a few rise above the rest as true standouts of fine dining, the Grapevine is one such restaurant. A few steps away from the main drag of Derby Street and Hawthorne Blvd. in Salem sits the diminutive Grapevine restaurant.  A small “L” […]

We cover a wide variety of topics on TheSalemInsider.com but one of the most discussed is where people in their 20′s and 30′s go to have a good time.  From now until the end of the year there is one less place in our late night lineup. Last night the City of Salem’s Licensing Board […]