Continental

I must say, what a lovely, fun, amazing surprise!!! Unexpected perfect menu!!!
Very reasonable and the food was exceptional. We had escargot, salmon, vegetables and salads. The bartender was a sweetheart and the atmosphere is sort of dark, sexy, old school romantic. We had a lunch on a Saturday and will go back for dinner in a week or so. They also have live music at night and I am so looking forward.

Fabulous ! Took my parents there for an anniversary dinner on Sunday. Food was superb
Service was excellent. Can’t wait to return.

This place is VERY interesting — the place where every wannabe Mafioso and his goomah go to break bread. I have never been here until last nite. My Aunt Linda loves this place, coming for the early bird on prime rib night (a blue hair MUST). I dressed carefully for the occasion, choosing my favorite dress shirt, a black guayabera purchased on Calle Ocho in Little Havana, the same place that dressed Reagan. My lady friend wore her zebra-​striped halter with matching heels. I was going to take my brother’s white Caddy but his insurance had been cancelled at midnight, and my other brother’s burgundy Caddy was nowhere to be found — I mention that I’m from Revere? The parking lot was full of touring sedans: Buicks, Lincolns, Cadillacs, a beat up Jaguar. We ate in the lounge, which is the very definition of a «swanky cocktail lounge.» It was around eight o’clock, Frank Sinatra’s time for dinner, and the lights were dimmed for romance. Our server Molly was excellent — pleasant, like someone’s favorite aunt. The décor was amazing: amber and scarlet stained glass windows, bronze wall hangings of beribboned urns, the postage-​stamp sized parquet dance floor. The clientle was in full swing: sitting around the bar were men in golf shorts and polos; the leather banquette lined walls with women that looked like a cross between Liz Taylor and Liza Minelli — as in Liz and Liza NOW, w/​the garish earrings, ghoulish caberat makeup, the jewels — dripping from their necks, wrists, etc. The scent of Shalimar and Opium was heavy in the air. The men in their white shoes, the Figaro gold bracelets, the fancy watches peeking out from the sleeve of the sports coat. The most outrageously dressed woman of the night, great shape, wearing a floor-​length orange gown with a Versace-​esque print, piles of blonde hair piled on top of her head. I asked my friend, «is that a wig?» and my friend replied, between mouthfuls of bean dip and crackers, «YEAH! What do you think?»
On to the food: free apps — popovers were spectacular, what the Continental is known for; the chicken wings were alright; the corn fritters and spinach pie a delightful tease. I drank several Ketel One and tonics; my date Vodka Collins’, keeping with the atmosphere. I got the tenderloin; she the marsala. My steak was tender, served with mushroom sauce, and cooked to order — rare and red. The marsala was very bland, not worthy of even next day’s lunch. We split an order of escargot — excellent, and we asked for more bread to dip in the garlic and butter sauce; and the scallops and bacon. The bacon was cooked right, not raw. There was also live entertainment (Smokin’ Joe) and hearing such hits as «Rapture in Blue» and «Under the Boardwalk» and watching the couples on the dance floor doing the cha-​cha and the fox trot, with a great meal and genuine cocktails, made it an even better time. Even the other diners were pure comedy to watch. There was a table of women next to us, we were trying to figure out who they were and why they were there, and a bitchy one in the bunch was being a real c u next tuesday regarding the wine, declaring it to be «terrible» which only caused me and my friend to burst out in laughter at the audacity of her statement and the height of her rudeness towards the server, but she got another glass of whatever, and we made fun of her ruthlessly for the next ten minutes. Overall, the Continental is a howling good time. I’m having the French Onion soup on my next visit — you should, too.