Thoreau Street between
Main Street and Sudbury Road in Concord MA
(map) is
a commercial zone with a half-dozen places
clustered around the Concord Depot (train
station), 1/2 mile (800 meters, 10-minute
walk) southwest of Monument
Square.
Whether it's a cup of coffee from Starbucks or Dunkin'
Donuts, a Chinese buffet lunch,
a slice of pizza, a huge ice cream
cone or some French
provincial cuisine, this is a good
place to look.
If you order your food to go, you can eat
it on benches behind the
depot, in front of the Concord
Free Public Library (a five-minute walk northeast along
Sudbury Road), or at Walden
Pond (1.4 miles/2.25
km, a 25-minute walk southeast along Thoreau
Street and Walden Street).
Starbucks Coffee
Right at the corner of Thoreau Street at
159 Sudbury Road, this cozy Starbucks has
dark roast coffee concoctions, too small
a parking lot, and you can only turn right
when exiting it. Park on Thoreau Street
northwest of Sudbury Road—it's less hassle.
I assume you know the beverage.
Dunkin' Donuts
Cater-corner to Starbucks across the intersection
with Sudbury Road at 117 Thoreau Street,
Dunkin' (tel 978-371-0949) has medium-roast
coffee and a more comfortable parking lot
than Starbucks'.
New London Style Pizza
At 71 Thoreau Street (tel 978-369-7053) across
from the depot, it's good for quick, inexpensive
pizza, calzones and sandwiches.
Country Kitchen
A tiny yellow cottage at 181 Sudbury Road
(tel 978-371-0181) across the railroad
tracks from Starbucks, it serves soups
(try the clam chowder), salads and sandwiches
(turkey breast, roasted fresh daily, is
the best). More...
Concord Provisions
This upscale grocery store at 73 Thoreau
Street (tel 978-369-5555) across from the
depot, at the corner with Middle Street,
sells sandwiches, salads, cheeses, breads,
crackers and lots of wines—everything you'd
need for a fine picnic.
La Provence
Owned and operated by a French-born couple,
this café-épicerie at 105 Thoreau Street
(tel 978-371-7428) is popular for coffee,
breakfast, lunch, snacks
and supper, taken indoors, outdoors, or take-away.
Farfalle Italian
Market
& Café
Across the railroad tracks from
the depot on the southwest side in the Concord
Crossing complex, Farfalle (tel
978-369-2900) serves breakfast, light lunches
and suppers, sells Italian foods, and has
a good selection of wines.
Chang An Restaurant
Also in the Concord Crossing complex,
Chang An (tel 978-369-5288) is a full-service
Chinese restaurant with an inexpensive daily
luncheon buffet and a separate bar.
80 Thoreau
Opened in April 2011, 80 Thoreau (the street
address) is an upscale restaurant serving
New American Cuisine upstairs in the Concord
Depot building. Fine cuisine, healthy (ie,
not huge) portions, fairly lofty prices (especially
for wine),
attentive service, a good dining experience.
The bar/lounge scene in a separate space
is popular as well.
Bedford Farms Ice Cream
On the northwest side of the depot building
at 68 Thoreau Street (tel 978-341-0000),
this little cabin of a place sells gigantic
ice cream cones and dishes.
Unless
you are ravenous, order a kiddy-sized cone:
it's still huge.
Also consider the restaurants in
Concord Center near Monument Square, a 10-minute
walk from the depot; and the restaurants
in West Concord, 2.7 miles away on the other
side of MA Route 2.
