Over 50? Hale No!

We decided to keep it local for our first Choo-Chew endeavor. The game plan? Jaime and Andy would board the train in Salem @ 5:59PM – North bound on the Rockport line.  Jennie and I would hop on in Beverly @ 6:03 – full steam ahead towards Beverly Farms.  Our agenda tonight – dinner at Hale St. Tavern and a nightcap at Cygnet. (There is a 10:25 train back inbound that worked out perfectly!)

Hale St. is part of the Serenitee Restaurant Group that includes 15 Walnut (a fave!), Cala's, Latitude 43, Backstage Bistro and Alchemy. We have been to most of them repeatedly, so we were excited to try Hale St.


Because it was our first night out as Choo-Chew Diners, we had to start at the Beverly Depot – as this is our home field train stop. So we arrived at the Depot early enough to get a pre-train drink at the bar. 

Service at the Depot is always consistent and friendly, not to mention the complimentary cheese and crackers are the perfect compliment. "Who would wait for a train out in the cold when wine and cheese are a few steps away?" –Jennie

When we arrive in Beverly Farms, we walk to Hale Street which is about a three minute walk from the station.  It’s a very small downtown area with some nice local shops including Glee, J. McLaughlin, The Book Shop and Vidalias.  It's somewhat of a ghost town by now, but we are glad we took the train, because even though most of the shops are closed by 6pm, parking is extremely limited. The Hale St. and Cygnet goers take up most of the street parking.

We get to Hale Street and the place is packed.  The hostess informs us of a 30 to 45 minute wait. Seeing how we have about 4 hours until we need to be back on the train, this shouldn’t be a problem.  We decided to try Cygnet for a drink while we waited for our table. The dining room is very busy and the bar is packed. The layout makes it a bit difficult to just grab a drink, but we manage to nab the corner and make the most of it. We were definitely in the minority – as most of the people here are "baby boomers."  Jaime and Jennie ordered a couple martinis. Jaime thought she would settle right in with the regulars and had an "Over 50" and Jennie had a Flirtini.  I had a Harpoon IPA which is always a safe choice for me, but I wish they had a better selection of craft beers.

We leave to go back to Hale St. as it has been about a half hour and proceed to wait about another 45 minutes until our table is actually ready. The Almost Famous Soundtrack helped pass the time – songs were 2 for $1! This also helped distract us from the two little brats children that were throwing Jenga pieces at the wall for twenty minutes, while their parents acted like they didn’t know them. Flying Jenga called for more drinks. They had a pretty good beer selection.

Ok, now let’s eat.  I start with the Caesar salad, always.  If the restaurant has one on the menu I’m getting it.  They have two sizes; I get the half size, and it was a good portion for a starter.  It has lots of finely shredded cheese on top and a whole bunch of garlicky croutons.  The dressing was ok but was a bit thicker than I really like and lacked a little zip to it. 

Next course – Angus Steak Tips in a chipotle BBQ Sauce – yum.  Asked for them medium and got them medium.  There is nothing that bothers me more than getting meat not cooked the way I want.  These were cooked perfectly and were so tender; the texture was that of filet mignon so it was hard to believe they were the steak tips.  The sauce was this perfect balance of spicy heat from the chipotle and sweetness from the brown sugar, I could literally put it on everything.  The smashed potatoes were chunky and creamy at the same time and you could tell they used lots of good butter and cream to give them that kind of sweet flavor.  Even the vegetable medley of sliced carrots, zucchini and summer squash, that are usually something I could take or leave, were missing from my plate when I was done.  No dessert for me, just coffee, something you’ll see I do all the time because I stuff myself early.

All in all the food was delicious. Service was friendly and we would definitely go back.


Here's what Jaime, Jennie and Andy have to say!


Jaime –
As the seafood lover of the group I felt slightly compelled to try something off the Hale Street sushi menu.  I owed it to the group in order to round out our first Choo-Chew review.


I ordered the sushi special which was a tuna roll with avocado with the added bonus of salmon sashimi draped on top of the roll - perfect cherry on top.  The roll (8 pieces) was drizzled with a pineapple sauce which added a tangy/sweet taste to the dish.   Overall the sushi was very fresh and there was a decent selection on the menu.  Nothing too exotic, but creative combinations and tasty looking variations on all of the favorites.   Some rolls even have North Shore themed names - the Beverly Farms, the Glousta, the Hot Girl.....







While I was super excited to see the sushi and oyster bar options on this otherwise "comfort food" type menu, I have to admit, this did not make the decision-making process an easy endeavor (I have entree commitment issues).  I would have ordered and adored about 95% of the menu.  While I greatly enjoyed the maki, I'm not going to lie, I had my eye on Andy's BBQ plate across the table and gently suggested that I would be willing to try some if need be. 

The atmosphere was lively, fun, and comfortable.  There was a great big communal table in the middle of the restaurant that is a must for me next time I'm there – and I'll definitely be back – I need to work my way through that menu.

Jennie –

I had to try the Grilled Cheese Dipper – for the name alone. It was good, nothing special. It came with a small, chilled tomato soup dipper, which was a bit bland. The fries were delish however! I ordered the Strawberry Banana something-or-other special for dessert. All you have to say is bananas, and I'm getting it!

Overall, we had a great time and would definitely go back. (I actually had gone a few days before and had a great time. I ordered the Hale Street Salad - mesclun greens, avocado, candied walnuts, blue cheese, apples and cider vinegar - which was delish!)

Andy –

I have a hard time passing up southern bbq food, especially ribs and corn bread.  So on this night, my only choice was between the Pulled Pork Dinner and the Hale St. BBQ Plate.  And really, why would I get just pulled pork if I could supplement it with chicken and steak?  The plate also included jalapeño corn bread, baked beans and braised collard greens.  The pulled pork and chicken were excellent and cooked perfectly; the steak was good although undercooked (medium-rare instead of medium-well); Jaime, Matt and I all agreed how good the barbecue sauce was; I really enjoyed the collard greens, which I don’t think I’d had before; and the hefty, moist piece of jalapeño corn bread was delicious.  As I write this I’m finishing off the corner of it that I brought home.

Based on food alone, I would definitely go back to Hale St. Tavern; there was a lot on the menu I'd still love to try, especially the sushi.  With the size of my plate, I didn't have a chance to try any of Jaime's!