Billing itself as a destination for vegetarians and the health conscious, Ball Square’s Yak & Yeti offers Nepali and Indian cuisine ranging from tandori specialties to lentil offerings.

Our Scout Deal voucher gets you $20 worth of food for only $12.

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Find our $15 voucher for $25 worth of food here.

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Following up on the wildly successful Eat Outside the Square Foodie Crawl, East Broadway has introduced Two for Tuesdays. Participating restaurants offer a two for the price of one special every Tuesday until March 15, 2012. The specials vary by week, so ask for the details when you stop in. They are available from 4:00 – closing. This week the specials are:

Mt. Vernon Restaurant (14 Broadway): Pork chops or Baked schrod with salad, potato & vegetable for $20.99
Taco Loco (44 Broadway): Tacos
Los Paisanos Restaurant (62 Broadway): Pupusas, tortas, and burritos
Vinny’s Ristorante (76 Broadway): tba
Tapatio Mexican Grille (82 Broadway): Pupusas
Gauchao (102 Broadway): Desserts
Ola Café (112 Broadway): Ham & cheese croissant, medium coffee, and any pastry
Brasil Steakhouse (129 Broadway): 2 all-you-can-eat buffets (BBQ included) for $15.99
Taqueria Montecristo (146 Broadway): Enchiladas and tacos
Fasika Ethiopian Restaurant (145-147 Broadway): tba
Casey’s Tavern (173 Broadway): Appetizers
Maya Sol (179 Broadway): Tacos

Visit eastsomervillemainstreets.org for details on each week’s event.

Happy Eating!

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When we spoke to SLF executive director Joe Grafton recently, he softened that statement, explaining, “Our position is not a straight ‘no Wal-Mart under any circumstances’ position.” In speaking to us and on SLF’s blog, Grafton said SLF and other community groups were figuring out a set of conditions under which they would support a Wal-Mart store opening in Somerville.

We decided to weigh the pros and cons of having Wal-Mart move into town, based on input from SLF, the City of Somerville and others.

PRO:
If a Wal-Mart moves in, it could help get the ball rolling on Assembly Square redevelopment.
Improvements being made to roadways and the physical plant, together with planned new housing units, should help draw businesses to the area. Redevelopment is just getting started; if a large, well-known business like Wal-Mart moves in, it would be a vote of confidence that could well attract other tenants. “Every new foot in through the door makes it a more attractive area to the next foot in through the door,” says Michael Meehan, the city’s former director of communications. (At the time Scout spoke to Meehan, he still held the position.)

CON:
Average wages could be lower than the $13.18 per hour Wal-Mart cites as the average for Massachusetts employees.
Wal-Mart lists the average hourly wages for “regular, full-time associates” in each state. As we reported in our earlier post, it makes a difference whether the average wage Wal-Mart cites includes both full- and part-time workers, because many Wal-Mart workers are part-timers who might earn less. Wal-Mart spokesman Steve Restivo said the majority of jobs Wal-Mart creates are full-time, but he didn’t provide a specific percentage.

We look at other pros and cons of how Wal-Mart could affect employment, grocery prices and other factors in the November/December print issue of Scout.

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A Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market. This is the type of store that's being proposed for Assembly Square. Photo: Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart hasn’t even applied for a permit yet, but predictably, there’s already controversy about its plans to open a Neighborhood Market grocery store in Assembly Square.

Some don’t see a need for the store. Maureen Barillaro of Somerville Climate Action told the Scout:

“We have Market Basket, we have Shaw’s. We have Stop & Shop. We have Johnnie’s Foodmaster. Somerville’s four square miles, so there is a way to get to any affordable market already.”

Mayor Joe Curtatone disagrees. “We know from Shape Up Somerville and our transportation data where produce and grocery stores exist [and] where there’s a need. There’s a rising need in the East Broadway corridor and Assembly Square.” And he pointed out that plans to build 2,100 residential units will only increase that need.

“This is not a Wal-Mart superstore that would give rise to the concerns about cannibalizing small business,” Curtatone said. (The plan is for a 34,000 square-foot grocery store.) “It may give competition to Stop & Shop, but in that case competition’s good, so we can have more affordable access.”

Is the mayor correct in that last statement?

“I don’t know that there’s enough data yet to fully analyze the impact of smaller [Wal-Mart] stores,”  says Ken Jacobs, chair of the University of California, Berkeley, Center for Labor Research and Education. But he adds: “Given Wal-Mart’s supply-chain management system, which is the chief reason they are able to undercut competitors, one would expect that they would still have a competitive advantage, and that that would have an impact on other retailers.”

One impact might be lower retail-employment rates in Somerville; Jacobs says a study by economist David Neumark at the University of California, Irvine found that for every retail job created by Wal-Mart, 1.4 retail jobs are lost.

And, counter to Wal-Mart’s claims that its wages are competitive (see the September/October Scout), the Labor Center’s research shows Wal-Mart’s average wages are substantially lower than the general average for both general merchandise and grocery workers — and that, in turn, pushes down wages at other businesses.

Wal-Mart spokesman Steve Restivo said the average wage for the company’s non-management workers in Massachusetts is $13.18 per hour. Jacobs said it would be important know whether that average included both full- and part-time workers, because many Wal-Mart workers are part-timers who might earn less. Restivo told us the majority of jobs Wal-Mart creates are full-time, but didn’t provide a specific percentage.

The city would want to clarify Wal-Mart’s employment practices, and would look for a guarantee that Somerville residents would get preference in hiring, according to Curtatone. Asked how such an agreement would be enforced, he said it would depend on the type of agreement. “We’ll be waiting to see what they [Wal-Mart] put on the table.”

As an example, the agreement the city struck with IKEA calls for the company to donate $100,000 toward a job-training and readiness program. “It will provide training for any job, not just at IKEA,” Curtatone said. “In addition, the city will work with IKEA to make sure Somerville residents get notice of any job opportunities.”

A similar agreement with Wal-Mart would probably be a step in the right direction; according to Jacobs, local-hire agreements tend to work much better if there’s a local training program that can provide job candidates (versus, say, trying to assess after the fact whether local candidates have been hired).

Another big issue: how much a Wal-Mart would contribute to the city’s tax base. Critics say tax revenues from retail stores tend to be less than promised. We look at that question, and at reports that a high percentage of Wal-Mart employees are on public assistance, in the September/October Scout.

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Vendors at the Somerville/Davis Square Farmers Market arrive around 10 a.m. every Wednesday. Photo by Maja Orsic.

On the evening of June 21, to honor the summer solstice (and because I missed the 87 bus), I walked 1.7 miles from Davis Square to the intersection of Beacon and Washington Streets. Along the way, I noticed other Somerville residents celebrating the first day of summer in style.

Outdoor seating was plentiful at Mike’s Food & Spirits (9 Davis Sq), The Burren (247 Elm St) and Posto (187 Elm St), where I saw groups, couples, and solo diners enjoying food and taking in the fresh air. Even patrons of The Pulse Café (195 Elm St), which does not offer sidewalk seating but whose indoor lights flooded the sidewalk, seemed to be soaking up the 70-degree weather.

Before reaching Union Square, I stopped at Conway Playground (560 Somerville Ave) to take in a few minutes of recreational softball. The air was still and, as bikers zipped by on the street behind me, I witnessed an effortless double play by the team in the field.

Most Somerville realtors call the area bordering Beacon and Washington Streets Dalì, referencing Dalì Restaurant & Tapas Bar (415 Washington St), which has anchored the intersection since 1989. Like Dalì, most corners of Somerville are defined by food and those who seek it out. To celebrate local flavors this summer, try the Somerville/Davis Square Farmers Market (Day & Herbert St), which takes place every Wednesday from 12 p.m to 6 p.m. through November 23.

Cover thumbnail of Somerville/Davis Square Farmers Market courtesy of yelp.com

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Miss Black Massachusetts, Claire Elise Johnson, admires the strawberries at Mystic Market

Somerville resident Claire Elise Johnson, Miss Black Massachusetts, was on hand to open the new Mystic Market in the Mystic River Development/Mystic View Apartment complex Saturday, June 18. The market is an initiative of Shape Up Somerville to bring fresh food to the North side of Winter Hill. When I arrived, Claire was playing games with some of the neighborhood kids. When she took a break, I asked her why she was here. She told me that her platform, “Generation ACTIVE: Accompanying Children Towards Increased Vitality via Exercise,” is about healthy movement and healthy eating. She is excited about the new market and the food access opportunities it brings to the Mystic View Apartments. Claire hopes to attend more of the markets this season as her schedule permits.

The market is open from 11 a.m. to3 p.m. every Saturday, from June through October. Stop by and pick up some fresh food!

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A team of local chefs prepare bacon for a competition. Matt Timms, lower left.

“You come and you’ll get 20 bites of different delicious bacon recipes. You come and vote on your favorite recipes. And if you come, we’ll raffle off a year’s supply of Hormel bacon,” explains Matt Timms, the leader and founder of Chili Takedown.

Described by the New York Times as “the spirit of two wholly American pursuits – overeating and winning,” Chili Takedown is a themed cooking competition pitting local cooks in a battle of culinary skill. Tasked with using only one main ingredient in each competition, the local chefs prepare bulk dishes that visitors sample and vote upon.

“We wanted to only have teams of local cooks. I don’t want to use the word amateur; these people are well versed in the kitchen,” notes Timms. “We just wanted to avoid celebrities and people who felt entitlement. We want this to be a huge party with chill people who love to cook and to show off their skills.”

This year’s Takedown will see 20 teams of cooks creating delicious – and hardly nutritious – dishes centered on the greasy treat, bacon. Through their sponsor, Hormel, Timms’ group will provide all the pork products each team requires.

Wanting to keep the event small, Timms only sold a few hundred tickets for Boston Bacon Takedown. As of writing, the event is already sold out. While he wanted to hold something bigger, constraints kept them from increasing the ticket capacity beyond 200. “We want to let in more people,” says Timms. “But we also want everyone to have a taste of the bacon. It’s tough to ask [chefs] to make so much food for so many people for free.”

“It’s going to be a blast,” adds Timms. “I love Boston and I love holding events here. I just hope that this will turn into a Boston tradition.” Tune in to 100.7 WZLX at 7:30 a.m this Friday, June 17 to listen to Timms talk more about the event and his group. For more information or to learn about future Takedown events, go to his website.

photo courtesy Matt Timms

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Eggs Benedict consuming a burrito with ferocious intensity. Photo by Tucker Leary.

The life of an undergrad is filled with food that is most likely not the healthiest. Convenience and price are the strongest selling points when your target demographic is unemployed 18-22-year-olds.

In my experience, the burrito has overthrown the burger and pizza, taking residence as the fast food “king of the hill.” With a Boloco, Chipotle, or Qdoba on every corner the ubiquitous burrito is a favorite of many, including myself.

Arguments over which place is the best are frequent among friends of mine, but their fruitless plight to convert others is missing a key ingredient: authenticity. What the average college student fails to realize is that locally owned and operated burrito joints offer the best experience when it comes to Mexican cuisine. Taco Loco (44 Broadway), for instance, has been chosen as the best Mexican Restaurant in Somerville, and their burritos match those at any chain restaurants in size and flavor. Tu y Yo (858 Broadway) was voted the best Mexican in Boston in 2008 and Cantina La Mexicana (247 Washington St) was named the best Burrito in Boston in 2009 — and I’m willing to bet most BU and Suffolk students don’t know either exists.

These are just a few of the many fantastic Mexican/Burrito places all over Somervile. Those naive students are sorely missing out on the pupusas and enchiladas that Chipotle and others are lacking. Before I graduated and moved to East Somerville I had never heard of any of these places myself. But now that I’ve gone local, I’m never going back.

Thumbnail photo from unbreaded.com

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Kerry Lavin of Arts at the Armory says the Armory cafe -- serving coffee, sandwiches, smoothies, beer and wine -- will open in two weeks (May 21). Hours will be 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday.

While attending Day 1 of the New England Bicycle Expo (NEBE) at Arts at the Armory (191 Highland Ave), we couldn’t help but notice the offerings of wine and beer available at the “preview” cafe, which was set up in a corner of the gigantic exhibit room.

Kerry Lavin, 38, was behind the counter. She explained that the cafe — you can see some of its wares on the left — was a preview of the joint that will open at the Armory in roughly two weeks (May 21). Hours will be 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday.

While the “preview” was in the Armory’s main exhibition room, the actual cafe will be in the first room on the left, as soon as you enter the Armory through its Highland Ave front doors.

The menu will include coffee, smoothies, sandwiches, beer and wine. The beers include Pretty Things Jack D’Or, Rogue Dead Guy Ale, Gonzo Imperial Porter and Pabst Blue Ribbon.

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