New England Restaurants With Great Service

Charley Manning featured a great topic yesterday afternoon on his WRKO Boston radio talk show, focusing on the challenges restaurants face in today's tough economy. I caught a few segments where many callers and restaurant employers felt  that good service was as important  as the food.

I don't know about you, but too many restaurants I've been to have average service, at best. It seems like either the management is too busy to pay attention to its customers, the often transient wait staff disinterested and lacking good listening skills -- or both.  Several restaurants, however, come to mind when thinking of offering a pattern of excellent service. This includes waitress or waiter friendliness from start to finish, bringing the food out on time, and a host or manager that interacts well with the customer.  In no particular order, here are some New England dining spot where we have found a  general commitment to excellence when it comes to "service with a smile (and yes, the food ranges from very good to outstanding, too):

Date night restaurants:
Clay Hill Farm, Cape Neddick, Maine
Salem Cross Inn, West Brookfield, Mass.

Family-style restaurants:
Hollis Country Kitchen, Hollis, N.H.
Tock of the Town, Medfield, Mass.
Commons Cafe and Eatery, Foxboro, Mass.
The Restaurant, Woburn, Mass (cafeteria-style service)
Vanilla Bean Cafe, Pomfret, Conn. (order at the counter)

Pizza:
Prince Pizzeria, Saugus, Mass.
New London Pizza, Concord, Mass.

Seafood restaurants:
Fisherman Restaurant, Noank, Conn.
Jake's Seafood, Hull, Mass.

Diners:
Don's Diner, Plainville, Mass.
Miss Lyndon Diner, Lyndonville, Vt.

We look forward to your feedback on New England restaurants with good service!