Kealalani

While I haven;t been there for years, the original summer shack at Alewife is authentic.

Hell jasper White earned his right. I have been given gifts of a couple of his cookbooks. I would not recomend the Boston location.

Going out on a limb here, and I have not had the opportunity, but another authentic might be the pairing up of Lydia Shire and Jasper White who have had great careers.

http://towneboston.com/

china_cat

Gail, you're not alone. I like Summer Shack as well. And I think the food is authentic. Although the "shack-like" atmosphere is a tad contrived. you know, the picnic tables and corn dogs...that part is a little hokey. But the pan roasted lobster is killer. And we always enjoy the fried clams and the fresh oysters.

Speaking of oysters...I'm hearing good things about Island Creek Oyster Bar as another authentic New England seafood restaurant. Its in Commonwealth Hotel, Kenmore Square, in the space formerly housing Great Bay. I'm going this week, will let you know

irishswampyankee

Not sure what you mean by "authentic". Never thought of BBQ as authentic Boston but whatever. Other suggestions - Regina Pizzaria and the No Name. Both have been around for decades. My son loves Island Creek Oyster Bar but probably quite pricey for a whole meal and it's fairly new.

bosgal

I too am thrown off a bit by what exactly you're looking for - do you mean you're looking for a restaurant that actually serves authentic cuisine, or more like an institution(I would put Durgin Park, Union Oyster House under this classification). I think Boston has a lot of authentic restaurants, many of which were already mentioned - Angela's Cafe for Mexican, Helmand for Afghan, Toro for tapas(my absolute favorite - food is really good and your son might enjoy the "scene" - it is absolutely noisy though), Jumbo Seafood for Chinese, Summer Shack, and many others already mentioned.

I think making the distinction would help us make better suggestions. Some of mine:

Authentic:

Petit Robert Bistro(French) - for me, one of the most genuine for French food and very unpretentious and reasonably priced(compared to La Voile and Sel de la Terre, I'm not even including L'Espalier here due to the price point). My French friends swear by it and were very happy that it was reasonably priced. My family has had large reunions there on the weekends for brunch and what's nice is you can choose from basically all their menus - lunch, brunch and dinner menus so the selection is quite big. Dinners is also always nice.

La Verdad is fun Mexican - you can eat at the taqueria part where you just order up on the counter and eat it in one of the tables or go to the bar/restaurant part for drinks and full service. Owned by the same chef as Toro, KO Prime, Clio and Coppa

Coppa - authentic italian, same owner as above

Fugakyu - Japanese - there's a couple of other good ones(Oishii-for me totally overpriced), O Ya - haven't been but heard it's very good but also very expensive and/or overpriced, Douzo - more "cool vibe" and also if you are there for drinks, but overall, I still prefer Fugkyu if it's just for the food. Tried and true : ). If it's a large party, you can also reserve one of the tatami rooms where you get your own private area so you're segregated)

Insitution:

Locke Ober - haven't been but owned by Lydia Shire who is an institution herself

Barking Crab, maybe?

Hope that helps!

Ackislander

She didn't ask for the best casual food in Boston/Cambridge, she asked for "character and authenticity" and gave two examples of the kind of places she had in mind.

"Character and authenticity" imply something you can't get anywhere else. Mr Bartley's is a perfect example. Is the food fantastic? No. But it is unique and the experience is unique.

The Summer Shack: the food at the Alewife location is fine if you don't have great expectations. I have actually eaten decently in the Back Bay location, though the best location was the one in Terminal 1 at Logan. But the experience has nothing to do with Boston. They are like Joe's Crab Shack, which is franchised everywhere. The "experience" was created by an interior decorator.

I like Petite Robert a lot and eat there whenever I can. The food is good and it reminds me of Paris. But it could be in Paris. There is nothing Boston/Cambridge about it.

Why would I seek out authentic Texas barbecue in Boston, or really way the hell out in Northborough if I lived on the North Show?

If you want an authentic Cambridge/Boston asian restaurant experience, try Mary Chung's in Central Square. It has been there forever (though it was closed for a couple of years to much gnashing of teeth)and is filled with MIT types, asian and not. I have actually walked around and asked people what they were eating before ordering rather than using the menu.

The East Coast Grill is noisy, but you will never, ever be rushed to finish your meal. We have ordered our dinner course by course over the evening without complaint. It is noisy because a lot of people are having a wonderful time (and perhaps drinking a bit too much). Fish dishes are expensive, but fish is expensive everywhere for good reason. It is endangered. The pulled pork platter is a bargain.

Juldie

I thought I would let you know where we ended up for my son's Birthday since everyone was so helpful. By the way, I have bookmarked this and plan to share the list with him and try some myself.

We went to Toro, thanks TammyDe. We waited about 40 minutes even though I was told when we got there it might be one to one and half hours. There wasn't a long line but a lot of people were at the bar waiting for a table. Everyone loved the drinks, and we thoroughly enjoyed the tapas. We had a perfect table by the window; it was lightly snowing outside so it was very cozy. We ordered 9 tapas plates for the 4 us and it came to about $90. All of the reviews I read are all true, the corn is amazing.

It was a hip, comfortable and and trendy place is the way my son described it when we talked about it a couple of days later. He enjoyed the meal and experience, but interestingly he said he wouldn't describe Toro as an authentic restaurant, as he sees it. It made no difference because he had a wonderful Birthday dinner.

My only disappointment is the lack of dessert on the menu. I know we could have brought some dessert in but having worked all day, and in the snow had to get from the north shore to Brookline and then to the the restaurant, there was no time for it. Being a birthday celebration, it would have really finished the evening off if they had a decent selection. All they have is fresh fruit or fried churros with chocolate sauce. It wasn't appealing to any of us. I asked if they had ice cream and they didn't. So we left and wound up in JP Licks on Harvard Street. We went by Finale but nobody really wanted fancy kind of desserts.

It was an interesting dining experience, and we all had a nice out. We will definitely try the mexican restaurant , Angela Cafe recommended and some others. My son's quest for authentic experiences in Boston will continue. We have had some interesting discussions about what authentic means when it comes to restaurants and how everyone defines that differently. Thanks everyone for your help.

cw

Thanks for your review and reporting on where you went.

Authentic is in the eyes of the beholder, I guess, but it makes for an interesting discussion.

Glad you had a good time and that your son enjoyed it.

Cranachin

Juldie - Thought of you when I got an email with the following title:

Authentic American Food Traditions Take Many Forms in New England

It had info for all 6 New England states -

http://www.visit-massachusetts.com/c...nies_list.html

http://www.visit-newhampshire.com/cu...nies_list.html

http://www.visitri.com/current_categ...nies_list.html

http://www.visit-maine.com/current_c...nies_list.html

http://www.visitconnecticut.com/curr...nies_list.html

http://www.visit-vermont.com/current...nies_list.html

emd3

I'm not sure exactly what you are looking for either.

But I'd take him and his bro to Sol Azteca (in Brookline, close to BU) if they have not been there.

Who would think there would be such a good Mexican restaurant in Boston. And it has some atmosphere, w/the colorful tiled-top tables and Mexican tables and chairs, etc.

Food is very good (fajitas are fantastic, come out on the sizzling cast iron pan) and the margaritas (many different fun varieties- try the Cadillac)) are very very good. And they have nopalitas as an appetizer! THAT is very authentic. The enchiladas de mole verde and the enchiladas de mole poblano are heavenly (the latter are very very good). The mole negro sauce is very good. Chile Rellenos are very good also.

I gave my twenty yr old son, who goes to BU, a gift certificate to Sol Azteca and he was gleeful, which is more than I can say for most gifts I have gotten him. And my son knows good Mexican food - we have traveled through Mexico together.

emd3

HAhahaha, just realized this post was from January! Oh well, I hope someone tries Sol Azteca.

bachslunch

Sol Azteca does dish out good Mexican food in a mid-price-range sit-down circumstance. Other places in Boston and Cambridge of this type to consider (not Mission style burrito joints or Tex-Mex options) are Casa Romero (Boston, Back Bay), Zocalo (Allston and Back Bay), and Ole Mexican Grill (Cambridge, Inman Square). I've had good experiences at all of them.

Of course, Boston is not the west or southwest, and those who insist on having Mexican food up to the standards found in that part of the US may prefer other cuisine options. For example, I had mole to die for at Red Iguana in Salt Lake City, and no place in Boston reaches that standard in my experience.