Tiny Petco and The 99 Restaurant in Charlestown

Last night after work, I joined Jamen for a ride to the world's smallest and dirtiest Petco in Cambridge, across from the Best Buy in the Cambridgeside Galleria.

Call me traditional - but when I go to a big box retailer, I want a sprawling parking lot, lots of square footage, and soccer moms galore.

Nonetheless, there we were. Shopping for the puggle that Jamen will be picking up a week from Saturday.

After shopping, the plan was to grab dinner. On the way into the tiny Petco parking area, we passed an Afghani restaurant called Helmand, which to my surprise, Jamen - the king of chain restaurants - said that he heard was good.

Excellent, I thought....we can try somewhere new!

But no - after spending about $200 on doggie treats, collars, and poop bags, Jamen wanted to go elsewhere.

So into Charlestown we went. I couldn't remember the name of The Warren Tavern, but that was in my sights and my intended destination.

Instead, we ended up at The 99 across from Bunker Hill Community College. Oddly enough, Jamen - the king of chain restaurants - had never been to The 99?! How can that be possible?

I hadn't been to this 99 in quite some time, but used to go almost every week during kickball season, back when See You Next Tuesday (that would be our final team's name) was dominating the middle rankings of our BSSC division.

Here's Jamen noshing on some very salty but free popcorn.


They appear to have redone the inside of The 99, complete with written signs all over the restaurant with the actually "99 reasons you'll always come back for more." I thought it was pretty clever, with reasons that we appropriate to where they were posted (Reason 42 - because you can take this card and call ahead for seating, Reason 67 - you can remove this divider and have more room for your friends...I'm sure the actual numbering and phrasing differs).

So Jamen is all set with his One New Thing this week - strangely enough, it's The 99. Mine is still to come.