19 Best Restaurants in Downtown Boston, Boston

This place is famous among the city's working professionals, who willingly wait in long lines for the signature Chilean-style sandwich, a delicious combination of green beans, chicken, muenster cheese, tomatoes, and an avocado spread on fresh bread. There are a few other offerings, including empanadas and rice pudding.

After more than a decade, locals still love this vegetarian restaurant's chickpea fritters, not to mention the daily changing menu of freshly prepared sustainable and local veg- and vegan-friendly sandwiches and plates. Boston and Cambridge feature a number of Clover locations, but this one is bright and airy with huge windows that open onto School Street. Awesome place to stop for lunch along the Freedom Trail.

Charcuterie, tinned fish, ceviche: You can eat well at this excellent Downtown wine bar that's small in size but big in reputation. Definitely make a reservation before showing up; it can be busy, even on a Wednesday night. The owner and her staff are incredibly well educated on wines, and they can lead you through the curated wine list.

This upscale bakery and café takes pastries to the next level. From tea cakes to the Jerusalem bagel, expect hearty baked goods with an air of elegance and influenced by the owner's Israeli heritage. Fantastic coffee drinks include the house's signature halva latte. A breakfast, lunch, and brunch menu features hearty plates all day, from breakfast sandwiches to salads, bowls, and shakshuka (an egg dish with tomatoes and peppers). The café's vibe welcomes those who appreciate attention to detail in both the food and the bright, lively atmosphere—so expect to wait in line. Tatte started as a single location in 2008; today it has expanded with locations across Boston.

Airy and classic in atmosphere, this modern restaurant focuses on two things: food and local history (it is, after all, situated in a historic 1902 building). The menu features elevated takes on comfort food; at lunch expect more sandwiches. Who wouldn't want to dive into a tater tot poutine or a bowl of house-made onion dip with potato chips, while chatting up your dining partners and enjoying the live music that happens on most nights? Social describes the vibe on most nights, more so later into the evening.  Bostonia gets busy, so it's a good idea to make a reservation.

On weekday mornings and afternoons, locally operated food trucks congregate at Dewey Square plaza on the Rose Kennedy Greenway, ready to serve Financial District professionals an eat-it-while-you-walk or picnic meal. Typically, four to five different options offer variety from curry to Korean. Surrounded by organic gardens, public art, and Fort Point Channel, the setting creates atmosphere for a cheap and tasty lunch.

If you like a premium coffee, head to this fancier-than-mainstream café with origins in Massachusetts. Original, fair-trade roasts are used to make all types of drip coffee and espresso drinks. There's also a small selection of sandwiches, avocado toast, and baked goods.

Grand and resplendent in appearance—it is located in a luxury hotel and former Federal Reserve Bank, after all—Grana features upscale yet casual Italian dishes for lunch and weekend brunch that invite you to dig in. The only drawback to this place is that it isn't open for dinner.

Walk into this restaurant across from the Boston Common and you'll get what you would expect from the namesake personality. The food is Southern in inspiration, but wholly American, with chicken wings in various flavors, "trash-can" nachos, hefty sandwiches, and a great hot honey fried chicken dish. The cocktails are delicious, and if you order a strawberry margarita on the rocks, it comes mixed with fresh fruit and Fieri's own smoky mezcal. This place is within yards of the Boch Center and Emerson's Cutler Majestic, so it makes for a casual pre-theater dining option.

You're guaranteed a tasty meal at this lively bar restaurant that can really get packed. Beer, American comfort food, and sandwiches—like a killer burger and a Nashville hot chicken—are on the menu, as well as a solid lineup of cocktails.

What began as a tiny restaurant adjacent to a Cambridge fish market has grown to important regional status, with more than 30 East Coast locations, including almost a dozen in Boston. The hallmark is the freshest possible seafood, whether you have it wood-grilled, in New England chowder, or doused in an Asia-inspired sauce. The jumbo lump crab cakes are divine (no fillers) and the clam chowder is so good it has become a menu staple at presidential inaugurations. For a true taste of New England, don't miss the golden cracker-crowned baked lobster stuffed with shrimp and scallops, one of the most popular entrées at all Legal restaurants.

If you've never heard of chifa cuisine (yeah, it's a real thing), you'll wonder why not after having a meal at RUKA, where the kitchen creates dishes inspired by Cantonese-Peruvian and Japanese culinary traditions. The menu features bountiful sushi options, raw bar items, snacks, and wok-prepared dishes. Cocktails are crafted creatively, and presentations are one-of-a-kind.

Some would argue that this small, local, independent chain may have the best Italian-style pizza in Boston. Families on the go or solitary travelers looking for a quick bite should stop in for a slice and a soda. Be aware that at Sal's, one order actually means two slices. Eat standing at the indoor counter, or cross Tremont Street and find a place to picnic right on Boston Common.

It's unlikely you'll simply happen upon this famed Boston sandwich joint, tucked away as it is, but the hefty sandwiches (they weigh pounds) are worth the trouble of looking. The line typically snakes out the door, but while you're standing in it, you can savor the deli-like smells and browse the meats behind the counter. Despite the place being somewhat small and only being open three hours per day, it's crowded with communal tables, so you can sit and eat or take your sandwich to-go.

Devotees of this retro-cool basement restaurant with strong cocktails and reasonable prices swear by the no-fuss menu options, such as a truly addictive macaroni and cheese, meat loaf with mashed potatoes, and steak tips. The wine list is compact but varied and has one of the lowest markups in the city. Once the after-work crowd pours in, the room can become a bit loud, which means everyone is having a good time.

This local burger joint (there are a few of them, actually) channels a malt shop from the 1950s while serving milkshakes, beer and wine, and soda, the latter in some uncommon flavors like Fresca and Cheerwine. The star of the menu is, of course, the burger, which comes in the most basic version or more daring renditions like a spicy jalapeño or brûléed gorgonzola. Combos and meal deals lower the already inexpensive prices.

Dig into snack items and meals with global flourishes at this dark-wood and leather-dressed restaurant. You may need to use your phone to light up the menu before ordering—it can get pretty dark inside. Into the evening, as it would at any social hot spot, the convivial din gets louder, especially at the bar.

Across from Boston Common, Thinking Cup caters to a mixed crowd of area professionals and students from nearby Emerson College. Rarely is the coffeehouse not packed with caffeine addicts looking for their next fix of Stumptown coffee, whether it's in the form of a single origin pour-over or a macchiato. Tasty selection of breakfast pastries, sandwiches, and desserts also make Thinking Cup a great place for lunch or a snack.

For a big, brassy, bountiful night out in an iconic Boston building, head to this reimagined supper club inside the ornate former 1862 Locke-Ober restaurant. The buffed and beautiful sink into plush chairs in the book-packed library or at the original mahogany mirrored bar to swill down ice-cold martinis and large format drinks. Should cocktails morph into dinner, white-clothed tables glowing with votives provide a cushy place to share plates of globally inspired comfort food or dig into a few "feasts."