Paxton Center Grille

How lucky the regulars are at this affordably upscale eatery

by Jim Johnson

Paxton Center Grille
687 Pleasant Street (Route 122), Paxton
756-9662
Sun. 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m.
Wed.-Sat. 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m.
Major credit cards
Full bar
Handicap accessible

I've been thinking about putting together a year-end Top Ten list. If I do, it's likely that the Paxton Center Grille will be on it. A week after a friend and I dined there, the experience still stands out for its upscale but decidedly accessible fare, its cordial and knowledgeable service, and its bargain prices. Add to that a colonial setting, and it's about as good as it gets, at least for a place where only a handful of entrees exceeds $10.

The Paxton Center Grille has been around in various incarnations since the days before Paul Revere was captured by the British. Most recently, it had been Forefathers, a local institution of sorts.

I'd expected fairly standard pub fare, and much of the menu hints at pub-style dining but adds a creative twist. For example, you can order chicken fingers, but wouldn't you rather have the chicken satay with Thai peanut sauce? Or would you prefer the shrimp cocktail, or tropical barbecued shrimp? On many menus, roast turkey comes with a Stovetop variation and a scoop of jellied cranberry sauce. At the Paxton Center Grille, it comes with a cornbread, walnut, and sage stuffing. Even the veggies stand out. The salad is Caesar (or, for a buck extra, mesclun), the coleslaw spicy, the fries made from sweet potatoes. I'll get to the desserts later.

"We used to get an older crowd, mostly from nearby," our server told us. "The new owners want to keep the regulars but also appeal to a broader clientele."

Indeed, when we arrived, the lounge was filled with a comfortable blend of folks. Some may have spent their afternoons in boardrooms, others in barnyards. It's the nature of the region, where farmland and posh subdivisions seem to coexist in relative harmony.

Our 6:30 arrival placed us in the middle of the dinner crowd, and a friendly greeter put the wait at about 30 minutes. We decided to spend that time in the lounge area (a separate wing), which held a bar as well as a comfortable seating area. When 30 minutes had passed, the greeter came in to apologize that the 30 minutes had become 40. Her sincerity and smile had already won us over, so the added wait didn't matter. In fact, five minutes later we were seated. Our server came by promptly, welcomed us and, when she presented the specials, discussed them rather than recited them, no cheat sheet in sight.

My friend and I agreed quickly on appetizers: baked artichoke dip ($4.95) and tropical barbecued shrimp ($4.50). The dip was sensuously superb, a smooth blend of artichoke, eggplant, garlic, and herbs served with crusty, warm French bread and crackers (the bread was superb, but we could have done without the cellophane on the crackers). We suspected a hint of lemon, which added depth to the lingering flavors.

Six large shrimp came skewered, charcoal-grilled, and served in a zesty citrus sauce. The shrimp were moist and hinted of smoke, while the sauce tasted fresh. We later learned that it contained ginger, ketchup, orange juice, lemon juice, garlic, and pepper.

We enjoyed superb salads as we awaited our entrees: a Caesar for my friend, a mesclun (mixed wild greens) for me.

Choosing entrees had been difficult. We'd been torn by front-runners like spice-rubbed roast prime rib, baked salmon with a ginger nut crust, and Jamaican jerk chicken served with fruit salsa. If we'd been on a budget, we might have considered items from the Tavern Fare menu (average price is $5) like French dip roast beef on sour dough grilled chicken with muenster cheese and spicy mayo. Ultimately, we ordered pork tenderloin ($9.95) and fresh tuna steak au poivre (market price, this night $11.95).

The pork was perfect: char-grilled to medium rare, sliced, and fanned across a spiced peach sauce. The roasted mashed potatoes were fresh and shamelessly laden with garlic. The tuna was even better, an inch-thick steak coated with coarsely ground black pepper.

Sashimi grade, the tuna was rare in the middle for a delightful contrast of the buttery interior and pungent, crusted exterior.

Suffice it to say that we enjoyed the chocolate soufflé torte (that was somehow light and dense at the same time) and the creme caramel, which was as good as it gets.

Our server, beyond being an excellent waitress, was a fun person, who showed her genuineness in an occasional wink or grab of the arm. If she hadn't been working, we'd have invited her to join us.

We spent $43 for the two of us and left, in my tablemate's words, "filled and fulfilled."