By Bonnie Adams, Managing Editor
File photo/Nancy Brumback
Hudson – If you are looking for a warm, comfortable place to celebrate with your Valentine this year, but don’t want to pay exorbitant prices or be shoehorned into an overcrowded restaurant, then there is definitely a much better choice – Checkerboards Restaurant & Bar.
The popular Hudson restaurant is offering a delectable Valentine’s Day menu on Saturday, Feb. 14 and Sunday, Feb. 15. For only $59.95 per couple, you will have a choice of six options: Surf and Turf, Prime Rib, Grilled Sword Steak, Veal Milano, Italian Combo platter or Baked Stuffed Shrimp. The package also includes soup or salad to start, two sides, dessert to share and coffee or tea.
Co-owner Jill Smith said the restaurant has been offering this special package for several years now, to great acclaim.
“It has been really popular,” she said. “This is a whole new menu – these are items not normally offered on our regular menu. We also are featuring a special ‘chocolat razberi’ martini.”
Smith co-owns the restaurant with her father Joe Martocci and brother-in-law Chris Tsiros.
Checkerboard’s regular menu, Tsiros said, features fresh seafood, homemade Italian dishes, steaks, salads, homemade soups, chowders, pizzas and much more.
The kitchen’s staff starts the day off at 6 a.m., preparing everything from scratch, he said. Fresh seafood is delivered daily.
There are dozens of items on the menu from pizza, sandwiches and burgers to homemade soups and salads. Dinner entrees include a variety of pasta, such as penne a la vodka, lasagna, and tortellini with meat sauce, meatloaf and steak tips.
Seafood selections include baked haddock and scallops, blackened swordfish, crab cakes, pineapple sesame salmon, and fried seafood plates.
The restaurant has also added several seasonal “comfort” food type dishes, Smith said.
“We have some heartier-type dishes such as homemade meatloaf, macaroni and cheese with lobster or chorizo, and chicken pot pie,” she said. “We still have our famous chili, which flies out the door during the winter months. And our popular prime rib is available every Saturday evening.”
The restaurant also offers vegan, low carb and gluten-free options. And they also have a special winter martini menu which features a variety of hot winter drinks.
Checkerboards has a large dining room that features spacious booths, warm gold walls, and painted artwork and murals. Another room has more of a pub-type atmosphere, with bar seating and high top tables. Flat screen televisions are in all of the dining areas so you can watch your favorite sporting events. Keno is also available in each dining area.
Although they don’t take reservations, there is never more than a 15 or 20 minute wait, Smith said, even on busy weekend nights.
“You can relax in our lounge and enjoy a drink or play Keno,” she said. “You won’t have to wait too long.”
Checkerboards is located at 10 Technology Drive in Hudson, in the shopping center at the intersection of Route 85 and the connector to I-290.
“It’s a great location and very busy,” Tsiros said. “But there’s plenty of parking here. You will never have a problem finding a spot.”
They offer takeout and catering services as well.
Checkerboards is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays; 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; and noon to 10 p.m. Sundays.
For more information, call 978-562-4400 or visit the website, www.checkerboardsrestaurant.com. Be sure to also visit their Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/pages/Checkerboards-Pizza-Restaurant-Bar, where they feature lots of fun facts about food and photos of the friendly staff as well as their featured entrees.
Editor’s Note: The preceding is not an endorsement and is presented for informational purposes only.
