Park Avenue Diner Review
In one of Bridgewater State University’s dining halls, Bears Den, a new restaurant has opened! Park Avenue Diner, or Park Ave. for those in the know, is Bears newest acquisition. Sporting a plethora of diner food, the restaurant is always seen with a line that spans all the way to the edge of the dining hall. You order your meal on one side of the structure, and then head around to the other side to pick it up.
There’s also a display case full of drinks for your convenience, and the open hibachi style grill allows you to watch as your food is prepared. When placing your order you have the option for various add-on’s to your meal, such as tomatoes, lettuce, fries, and that’s only to name a few!
Although much of their menu is reminiscent of Bear Bites, parked just outside, Park Ave. has a wide selection of breakfast, lunch, and dinner options for it’s patrons. Here are my thoughts on some of the menu items I have tried so far!
Breakfast: with a wide selection students may choose their breakfast for the day from four different types of pancakes, a variety of egg and cheese sandwiches, and a few types of French toast. I ordered the strawberries and cream French toast for breakfast, which is served on white bread that is lightly toasted, although it resembled a sandwich more than French toast with how they placed the strawberries and cream cheese in the middle of the two slices. It also with a decorative splash of a strawberry placed on whipped cream, which was a nice touch. I felt like they might have used a little too much egg when making the French toast, as I could still taste a little more egg than one normally would.
Lunch: I had the bacon cheeseburger with American cheese and a side of French fries. As far as the burger goes, the meat was tender and a bit soft compared to some other burgers, most of which tend to be crispy. The bun it was served on was soft and small, with two strips of bacon on it. I thought the cheeseburger was good, but it also felt as though the burger itself was a bit small and could have been a bit bigger. While I get where Park Ave. could be coming from trying to reduce the size of the burger to possibly make it healthier, the reduced size doesn’t really fill you up the way a full sized burger might.
Dinner: Out of many options, for dinner I choose the grilled chicken sandwich with lettuce and tomato. It was served on a bun, with the chicken, tomatoes, and lettuce as fresh as they could be. The piece of chicken was bigger than the grilled chicken that you can get at ECC, making the sandwich very filling. The marinade added to the grilled chicken was balsamic, which gave the chicken a very nice flavor. This was a very good meal, but I think that the sandwich would have been better if it was served on a piece of white or wheat bread rather than a bun.
Overall, Park Ave. has very enjoyable food and I recommend every student try their menu!
