A Danvers pub that soars beyond wings
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I never met a rib I didn't like (which partially accounts for why my own ribs are barely visible even on the clearest of days): baby backs, country-style, beef ribs, boneless ribs, and most recently Nina Simonds' steamed ribs in black bean sauce, which sounded almost healthy at first but turned out to be deep-fried before the steaming.
So while purists will harp that the baby back ribs found under the Four66's barbecue section are not really barbecued, it didn't make them any less tasty. They're oven-roasted, then slightly charred on the grill, the result being lean yet juicy, fall-off-the-bone meat with a hint of cinnamon. Extra sauce was sweet and like a thin gravy; if you insist on hot spice with your ribs, you'll find it in the cherry pepper that accompanies the dish. A half rack ($7.95) provides a genteel sufficiency for one person.
Braccia's Four66 Pub & Grille is laid out as a large sports bar with a dining room attached like a sidecar. It's the kind of place you'd expect pub grub such as burgers and Buffalo wings, and while it does these, it does more. Service is friendly and fast, with one waitress all but running on one busy night. Coordination and timing of food could sometimes have been better.
Four66 has a children's menu ranging from $3.25 for a hot dog with fries to $5.25 for steak tips. On Mondays and Tuesdays (excluding holidays), a $14.95 dinner-for-two section allows each diner seven choices of entree.
A pub-grub staple, jalapeno poppers ($5.95), had a crunchy, shell-like exterior and were mild with a faint burn in the aftertaste. The accompanying "coyote relish" was somewhere between a relish and a jelly, and packed some heat.
Less pubbish, grilled eggplant ($5.95) consisted of two long slices, crisp and blackened around the edges, that stood up well to the surrounding sweet marinara sauce with a hint of garlic. Feta cheese was sandwiched between the eggplant and a topping of roasted red peppers.
Grilled portobello mushrooms ($5.95) made good use of this large mushroom's meaty taste and texture. A soy-based marinade kept the meat juicy, creating the sensation of biting into a steak. The portobellos sat atop mixed greens, which they warmed nicely, and were flanked by roasted red peppers.
Caesar salad ($4.95) was cold, crisp romaine evenly coated with a creamy dressing that had a saltiness suggesting anchovies although none were visible.
Garden salad ($2.95 separately, free with entrees) was several cuts above the usual Cheap Eats fare: crisp greens that included baby spinach leaves, raddichio, and frisee along with red onion slices.
Potatoes were more than an afterthought. While silken creaminess used to be the goal of mashed potatoes, leaving the skins in the mix is now in vogue. Four66 manages to do both: creamy and with skins. Fries are the kind that remind you they were once potatoes, and a baked potato somehow survived the foil treatment with some flavor left. Fresh, crusty scali bread comes with every meal.
Chicken limone ($11.95) was a lightly fried palliard topped with sliced button mushrooms in a lemon-butter sauce that was brown, gravylike, and properly lemony. Chicken parmesan ($10.95) was fried to a crispness that didn't get soggy under the tomato sauce. Both came with a large bowl of ziti with marinara sauce.
One thing lacking on Four66's regular menu is a seafood entree at Cheap Eats prices. However, a daily special, lemon-pepper haddock ($11.95), did fill the bill, a huge fillet that was appropriately peppery. Slightly dry, it benefitted from the lemon wedges that were provided.
Chowder (a dollar a cup with an entree) was rich with clam flavor and some celery notes, and demonstrated that an honest chowder need not be thick.
Along with the old pub standby steak tips, Four66 offers a change of pace with lamb tips ($10.95), which we tried in a combo plate with sausage for $11.95. (A sausage plate alone is $5.95.) The tips were large, well-grilled but still moist, tender, and mild-flavored. The 8-inch segment of sausage came buried in a pile of sauteed onions and green bell peppers, the latter retaining their crispness. The lush, sweetly spiced sausage tasted homemade.
We found the perfect ending for any of this to be chocolate walnut pie ($3.85), topped with whipped cream and drizzled with chocolate syrup.
