The Food Snob was sad to see Nonni's vacate its home on Main Street. The brick oven pizza and lunch buffet were delightful. Nonetheless, when God closes a door, he opens a window. And, when he closes a restaurant, he often opens another restaurant in the exact same location. With the news that EJ's on Main would be replacing Nonni's in the Holiday Inn annex, the Snob geared up to find out what the new kid in town had on the menu.
Aesthetically, EJ's hasn't changed much; in fact, one can easilly see that they've just plastered their signage over the preexisting Nonni's logos in several places. The interior, too, was little changed. The dining room and bar (and that rustic brick oven) all appear to be about the same as before. That would probably have little effect on the menu, however.
The lunch menu was standard and spare; mostly soups, salads and sandwiches. The biggest lunch speciality seemed to be brick oven pizza. We wanted to get the chicken and applewood bacon pizza, we really did, but we had you in our hearts and minds, readers. Instead of locking in to one dish to review for you, my dining companion and I dabbled in a few different dishes to bring the whole picture to you.
We ordered a turkey club with seasoned curly fries, a roast beef panini with sweet potato fries and a cup of clam chowder. Then we kicked back and checked out the atmosphere. The brick oven brings a sense of warmth to the room, like a community hearth where townspeople may gather to warm up and share the stories of the day. And, the flatscreen TV tuned to SportsCenter is always nice.
Our sandwiches arrived shortly, and we pvied them up amongst us, along with the fries. The turkey club ($6.95) was the epitome of a club sandwich, with three thick, moist slices of bread surrounding the turkey, bacon, lettuce, tomato and onion. This sandwich seems to be a standard the world over, and they nailed it. The curly fries were hot, crisp and flavorful, leaving nothing to be desired.
The roast beef panini ($6.95) was equally excellent. Thinly-sliced, rare roast beef goes a long way with the Snob, so clearly we were happy. The sweet potato fries were at the perfect balance of crunchy outside and moist inside, not soggy like many of the sweet potato fry offerings in Concord.
Our only real complaint (and it's a small one) was about the clam chowder ($3.95). When given the choice between having it as an appetizer and having it with our sandwiches, we opted for the latter. Little did we know that it wouldn't come until we were halfway done eating! (Save your commentary about how fast we may devour our sandwiches). The potatoes within the chowder were a hair undercooked, which is a killer. Other than those complaints, it was tasty, with chunks of applewood bacon floating about and adding to the flavor. The only hesitation we might have regarding a return trip would be the lack of variety on the menu.
