By Bonnie Adams, Managing Editor
Hudson – This spring Checkerboards Restaurant & Bar will be celebrating its 25th year in business.
Chris Tsiros, who owns the restaurant with his father-in-law Joe Martocci and sister-in-law Jill Smith, said the owners take great pride in the fact that not only are they surviving in a tough industry but indeed thriving.
“We work very hard to make this the best restaurant,” he said. “There are three things that are critical for us – great food at a fair price; excellent customer service and cleanliness.”
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. But this is no generic, fast food spot.
Rather, it is a cozy, casual and spacious restaurant with three main dining areas that seat approximately 200 guests, guaranteeing that you will never have to wait for a table more than a few minutes.
A large dining room 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. And, as Tsiros said, the restaurant is impeccably clean.
Everything on Checkerboard’s menu has two things in common, he said – it is all fresh and made from scratch.
“We make all our own sauces and roast all our meats,” he said. “And fresh seafood is delivered to us six days a week.”
Their main menu features a great variety of appetizers, homemade soups, fresh seafood, Italian specialty dishes, freshly made burgers, their popular flatbread pizzas, steaks, and great seasonal 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.
They also offer vegan, low carb and gluten-free options.
For Valentine’s Day weekend this year, Saturday, Feb. 13, and Sunday, Feb. 14, the restaurant is once again offering its popular special menu. For $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.
“We could not have the level of success without our staff or our loyal customers, many of whom having been coming here for years,” Tsiros said.
“We are fortunate to have a great long standing staff whom all pride themselves with their jobs,” Smith said.
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. They also offer catering services for weddings, corporate parties, funeral collations or family parties, either at the restaurant or your own site.
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.
