Blue Parrot

123 Mt. Auburn St.

The Blue Parrot has a reputation for being frequented by Continental types, but more often it is crowded with Cambridge types in search of a continental atmosphere. The Parrot offers more than atmosphere, however. There are a variety of exotic main dishes at fairly reasonable prices, as well as some incredibly delicious hot and cold drinks and ice cream concoctions at fairly unreasonable prices.

The menu offers four or five hot main dishes ranging in price from $1.30 to $1.95 at lunch and rising by about 50 cents at dinner. In addition, there is a standard menu of lighter snacks, desserts, and crepes--which fall short of La Crepe in variety but far surpass them in quality. The garden salad, which features large chunks of cucumber, tomatoes, green pepper and carrots with an excellent house dressing, is also outstanding.

The wide variety of drinks and desserts makes the Parrot a good place for a mid-afternoon or late-night snack--but be prepared to spend at least 75 cents on weekend nights when there's a minimum.

The drinks range from exotic but simple syrup and soda combinations, like grenadine and tamarindo, to elaborate specialties dripping with whipped cream. Hot drinks include mint chocolate (also served cold) and Russky chai with strawberry jelly as a sweetner. And for those with simpler tastes a large glass of "George's water" is offered free of charge.

Ken's Pub

684 Mass Ave

An old friend just arrived in town for a visit. You want to go out and have a few drinks, but you're also looking for a more substantial meal than the standard hamburger platter served at most Cambridge bars.

Forget the Square: Both the drinks and the food are generally overpriced and sub-par. So where did you go? You could take a jaunt into Boston, but we'd recommend that you try Ken's Pub in Central Square first.

The lunch and dinner menus at Ken's feature a full variety of meals at very reasonable prices. The luncheon specials--ranging from $1.60 to $2.10--are especially worth the price. And the drinks at Ken's are better and lower priced than those at most Cambridge watering holes. A Bloody Mary in a beer mug served with your lunch will only set you back 80 cents.

The food at Ken's is good. Certainly it rivals the quality of any medium priced restaurant we've tried in Cambridge. The waiters and waitresses are nice and the atmosphere is conducive to almost any occasion. In fact, you probably don't want to wait until an out-of-town friend comes visiting to go to Ken's. From the looks of the clientele--a broad mixture of students, business people, secretaries, teenagers, families and old-folks--a lot of people in Cambridge who have already discovered Ken's like what they've found.

For late-nighters, Ken's is open until 1 a.m. for drinking and eating. The late night specials, served after about 9:30 p.m. are great for evening munchies. Ken's dessert specials, freshly baked in Ken's Allston bakery, should not be overlooked.

Whitney's

37 Boylston St.