The Diners' Club


What is it?

Many months ago I was reading Games magazine and came across a mention of a group of friends in Vancouver (British Columbia) that ate out together often. They wanted to try a new restaurant, but couldn't decide on one. So what they did was pop open the Yellow Pages to the restaurants section and chose the first restaurant listed.

The next week they chose the next one. And so on. Over the next few months their friends would occasionally join in, and then their friends. And come rain or shine, at least a few people would be there.


Why?

I thought this was a cool idea, and so did quite a few of my friends. We often go out to eat, but usually to the same old restaurants. And we often have a hard time deciding which ones we want to go to, so we end up eating at the same restaurants all the time, which can get boring even if the food is excellent.

So we figured, why not expand our epicurean horizons and visit new restaurants with a group of our friends? No reason not to, and so our Diners' Club was born.


When?

Usually I send out mail to the list, specifying a restaurant, day and time and ask who will be showing up so I can make reservations.

Occasionally I will ask for restaurant suggestions. You'll notice that we aren't going through the phone book alphabetically - I guess we are trying to make sure we get a tasty, fun dinner and not trust to luck.

Most of the dinners are on the weekends, because the group is mostly composed of students from MIT, Harvard, Tufts, and BU as well as some who are now in the "Real World" (but obviously still in the area).


Where?

Okay, here's the restaurants we have dined at so far, listed by date. Because our only guaranteed transportation is the MBTA (besides our own feet), each restaurant needs to be easily accessible. And I'm including the list of which esteemed diners sampled the fare at each place:

Date Restaurant & Location The Fine Diners
09/22/96 Redbones
Davis Square
pmccormi, mjduff, mamas, mouse, drlcs, cthomas, wchuang
09/29/96 Vinny Testa's
Green Line C train, Tappan St
pmccormi, mjduff, mamas, mouse, drlcs, cthomas, wchuang, ranald w/Katie, sraheja, eboyce, banerji
10/14/96 La Paloma
Red Line, Wollaston
mamas, mouse, drlcs, cthomas, sraheja, ranald w/Katie, chans, wchuang
10/21/96 Soleil
Harvard Square
pmccormi, mamas, mouse, drlcs, cthomas, anjchang, jimbones, chans, sit, ranald w/Katie, wchuang
11/10/96 Asiana Grill
Arlington Center
pmccormi, mamas, mouse, drlcs, cthomas, mjduff, wchuang
11/23/96 Magnolia's
Inman Square
wchuang, chans, sraheja, ranald, bert, abbe, mamas, mouse
12/09/96 Koreana
Cambridge (Prospect/Broadway)
wchuang, mjduff, mamas, mouse, cthomas, kdnguyen, banerji
01/11/97 Bombay Club
Harvard Square
wchuang, mjduff, mamas, mouse, cthomas, kdnguyen, pmccormi
01/19/97 Jacob Wirth's
Boston (39 Stuart St)
wchuang, mjduff, mamas, mouse, cthomas, ranald, sit, chans
02/02/97 Old Spaghetti Factory
Boston
wchuang, mjduff, mamas, mouse, cthomas, eboyce w/friend, kdnguyen, drlcs, pmccormi, nmehta, eilonwy, chans, sit, banerji, sraheja, llchen, bbrooks
02/09/97 Tasca's
Brighton (1612 Comm Ave)
wchuang, mamas, mouse, ranald, sit, chans, edloper, drlcs, cthomas, kdnguyen
03/01/97 Chinatown Eatery
Boston (Chinatown)
wchuang, mamas, mouse, ranald, cthomas, kdnguyen
03/08/97 Pour House
Boston (Boylston St)
wchuang, mamas, mouse, cthomas, kdnguyen, sit, chans, ranald, drlcs, edloper
03/22/97 Rio's Bar and Grill
Harvard Square
wchuang, mamas, mouse, cthomas, kdnguyen, ranald, pmccormi, drlcs
04/06/97 Indian Cafe
Brookline (1665 Beacon St)
wchuang, mamas, cthomas, kdnguyen, ranald, pcheng, jthunter
04/13/97 Village Smokehouse
Brookline Village
wchuang, mamas, cthomas, kdnguyen, ranald, chans
04/27/97 The Noodle Bar
Boston (Commons)
wchuang, cthomas, kdnguyen, ranald, jthunter, ayiu, akwan w/friend
06/01/97 Ma Soba
Harvard Square
wchuang, mjduff, mamas, mouse, ranald, dingli w/2 friends, jimbones, anjchang, sraheja
06/28/97 Hilltop Steakhouse
Braintree
wchuang, mouse w/friend, mamas, cthomas, ranald
10/25/97 Helmand of Afghanistan
by the CambridgeSide Galleria
wchuang w/friend, drlcs, mouse, mamas, sit, chans, jthunter, cthomas, anjchang
02/01/98 Cheescake Factory
in the CambridgeSide Galleria
wchuang w/friend, mouse, cthomas, kdnguyen, ranald, fawn, pcheng w/friend, pmccormi
02/08/98 Pho Pasteur
Harvard Square (Garage Mall)
wchuang w/friend, mouse, cthomas, kdnguyen, anjchang, banerji, ranald, fawn, jthunter
03/01/98 Sail Loft
Kendall Square
(One Memorial Dr)
wchuang w/friend, mamas, mouse, pcheng, fawn, ranald, cthomas, kdnguyen, jthunter, pmccormi
03/08/98 Atasca
Broadway St near Prospect St
wchuang w/friend, mamas, mouse, pcheng, fawn, ranald, cmhowell, cthomas, kdnguyen, jthunter, banerji w/friend, anjchang
03/29/98 S & S
Inman Square
wchuang, cthomas, kdnguyen, jthunter, pmccormi, mouse, pcheng
06/14/98 Kokopelli's Chili Co. & Southwestern Grill
Washington Square, Green C Line
wchuang, ranald, cmhowell, cthomas, kdnguyen, pmccormi, fawn, dave
10/18/98 K C's Peppercorn Grill
Central Square
wchuang, mouse, pmccormi, cekerrig, accardi
02/20/99 China Pearl
Chinatown
wchuang, mouse, chans, anjchang
02/27/99 Elephant Walk
Porter Square
pmccormi, accardi, chans, abraham, banerji, ranald, cmhowell
04/19/99 Redbones (revisited)
Davis Square
wchuang, navaz, ranald, cmhowell, chans, abraham, banerji, pmccormi, accardi, cthomas, tarah
06/13/99 P. F. Chang's
8 Park Plaza
wchuang, navaz, abraham, chans
06/27/99 Jake's Boss BBQ
West Roxbury (Washington & Williams St)
wchuang, navaz, abraham, chans, cthomas, heather, ranald, victoria
07/05/99 East Coast Grill
Inman Square
wchuang, navaz, abraham, chans, cthomas, heather, brendan, ranald, cmhowell, anjchang, eboyce, rushlyn, npioch, mjduff, alisa, elron
07/17/99 No Name Seafood
Boston Fish Pier
cthomas, heather
07/25/99 Marche' (Movenpick)
Prudential Center
wchuang, fawn, cthomas, heather, ranald, cmhowell
08/01/99 Border Cafe
Harvard Square
wchuang, navaz, ranald, cmhowell
08/22/99 Jumbalaya
Central Square
wchuang, navaz, ranald
09/05/99 The Austin Grill
Central Square
wchuang, cmhowell, ranald
11/07/99 Max's Restaurant
Redwood City (CA)
wchuang, pmccormi, mouse, mamas

As you can see, occasionally we take long breaks, because the dinners can be kind of expensive (and occasionally time-consuming to travel to and from). Finals and other exam periods usually put a cramp in the schedule as well. But the Diners' Club will continue dining!


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