Rolando's
By Carol Lawless
Collegian Correspondent
If any students were to visit 25 N. Pleasant Street in Amherst, across the street from the Amherst Brewing Company and next to Antonio’s, hoping for a Fatso’s burger, they would be in for a surprise.
Fatso’s, the popular burger joint familiar to UMass students and residents of the Amherst area, has been closed for a year. Do not fret, however. Students can still purchase well-priced burgers here.
In Fatso’s place resides a new eatery called Rolando’s. It offers a wide menu, including delicious roast beef sandwiches and falafel pockets filled to the brim with lettuce, tomato, tahini sauce, and choices of grilled steak, grilled chicken and feta cheese.
According to Rolando’s owner Bob Lauren, Fatso’s closed because “the owner was an owner of the Wing’s franchise and was too busy with that … I grew up in North Andover, Mass. eating at a place called Harrison’s Roast Beef. I had an idea for a while of having a roast beef place.”
Keeping the Fatso’s memory alive, visitors can choose from a wide variety of burgers. Meghan Lemay, a sophomore at UMass, was “surprised to see such a large selection of specialty burgers.”
Burger choices include the Bacon Cheese Deluxe, the Down Southie Burger, the Crispy Chicken Burger and the Spinach and Blue Cheese Burger, just to name a few.
A potentially surprising menu item is the inclusion of falafels.
“I wanted to have a really strong vegetarian menu,” Lauren said.
Falafel is not a typical dish served in restaurants, but is popular to many who have tasted it. Rolando’s menu describes the vegetarian favorite as “crushed chick peas with fresh herbs, onion, flour and seasoning made into a ball and deep fried to a beautiful golden brown.” Rolando’s chefs have perfected the art of cooking falafel and even offer falafel balls in their salads.
As written on their menu, Rolando’s roast beef “is from 100 percent natural fed, free roaming, humanely handled beef cattle raised without the use of hormones or antibiotics.” Along with a hearty portion of roast beef on a bun, they offer three varieties of sizes and several toppings, such as BBQ sauce, cheese, onion, mustard and horseradish.
The menu also includes Greek salad and chicken, steak and veggie wraps. Sides include french fries, hand-cut sweet potato fries, onion rings and chicken fingers.
In addition to owning Rolando’s, Bob Lauren has owned the popular burrito establishment Bueno Y Sano since 1995. Although business at Rolando’s is not as good as it is at Bueno Y Sano, Rolando’s has only been open since May 1 of last year. Lauren can often be found working at Bueno Y Sano, and occasionally at Rolando’s.
There is a friendly atmosphere and plentiful seating at Rolando’s, including a small bar at a window facing the sidewalk of Amherst Center, and four tables. The décor inside includes a mirrored wall and framed photographs of roast beef joints in Massachusetts, including a popular Revere eatery, Kelly’s Roast Beef.
Also on the wall is an ever-present reminder of Fatso’s, the well-known car logo that has long resided there.
Kevin Hulse, a newly graduated UMass student, “misses Fatso’s” but likes Rolando’s, calling it “a different kind of sandwich place” that he visited a lot over the summer and continues to visit.
Brett Widmeier, a friend of Hulse’s and a current student at UMass, was a first-time visitor after his friends recommended the falafel.
Rolando’s is open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. To read the full menu, leave comments, view customer and staff photos, and learn more about what they serve, visit rolandosamherst.com.
Carol Lawless can be reached at clawless@student.umass.edu.