Briar Patch Restaurant

Slim pickings in Amherst but Briar Patch is a perfectly nice place for a Sunday lunch.  

I was in town visiting my aunt and uncle and we came here Sunday brunch.    Aunt had the chicken salad plate (her favorite). Uncle had the crab cake (his favorite).  I had the grilled salmon salad.  My salmon was nicely grilled and served over a very generous portion of greens (almost too large to finish) and tossed with a nice honey mustard dressing.   My lunch was a good choice.

The restaurant has been in business since the 1940s and seems to do a pretty brisk business.  The menu has the basics does not try to do a lot of fancy stuff.  It knows is customer base and works hard to keep them happy.

I've eaten at Briar Patch a few times each month since I moved to Amherst in March 1999.  I can honestly say I've never had a bad meal, and the prices are great for the quality of food.

Let's face it - dining options in Amherst are limited.  Very. Limited.  But the Patch is a decent place for lunch or dinner (maybe not at peak dinner hours though).  During a recent trip from Atlanta to NY and back, my boyfriend and I stopped in for a snack and a beer.  There was only one craft brew available, which is unfortunate with Starr Hill being so close by!  Not a lot of vegetarian options besides the veggie melt-over (even all the salads have meat) and appetizers.  We knew going in that our options would be limited, which is why I said we went in for a "snack" :-)
Ordered an appetizer sampler with jalapeno poppers in place of the potato skins, which turned out to be an excellent decision because the poppers were the best part of the dish!  Everything else on it (onion rings, mozz sticks, mushrooms) was good, too.  Jim the bartender was very friendly.