Boston Restaurants
We’ve compiled the best of the best in Boston - browse our top choices for Restaurants during your stay.
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We’ve compiled the best of the best in Boston - browse our top choices for Restaurants during your stay.
When folks need coffee, a great sandwich, or an irresistible sweet, like a pecan sticky bun, lemon tart, or double chocolate cookie—or just a place to sit and chat—they pay a visit to one of owner Joanne Chang's 10 Flour bakeries, including this one in the South End. A communal table in the middle acts as a gathering spot, around which diners enjoy morning pastries, homemade soups, hearty bean and grain salads, and specialty sandwiches, which change seasonally.
Once a favorite of former Cambridge resident Julia Child, this sophisticated shrine to New England cuisine has been a perennial go-to spot for Harvard students when their parents are in town since 1975. The seasonal menu could feature Cape scallop crudo, fresh pasta with braised veal and pesto, or fresh Cape lobster with lemon hollandaise. The restaurant also serves lunch and à la carte brunch (cinnamon buns on the pastry board are worth the visit alone). In addition to the elegant dining room there's a lush outdoor patio (with fans as well as blankets and an outdoor fire place to accommodate any season).
Don't be surprised to see a queue at this neighborhood hot spot, no matter the time of day. Regulars happily line up for waffles topped with fresh fruit, caramel and banana french toast, huge salads, and hefty sandwiches, all made to order as you do from the counter. Newbies should note The Paramount's unspoken rule: Don't take a seat until after you wait in line, order, and pay.
Just off bustling Charles Street, this cozy neighborhood gem is filled to the brim with New England charm in the form of antique-chic decor that celebrates Boston's history. The menu of elevated American classics, from wedge salad to lobster rolls and filet mignon, is well curated, and the cocktails shine.
Sourcing ingredients from small, family farms is the main goal of this local, casual restaurant where hungry diners clamor for salads, burgers, and a few entrées. With its proximity to the TD Garden, it can and does get busy on game days, and service tends to slow down.
This brightly colored place with about a dozen tables turns out fresh, high-quality sandwiches and burgers, all served with coleslaw, dill pickle, and a smile. Beyond multiple beef burgers, you'll find classics like crispy, overstuffed Reubens, the Pastraminator, and the famous Atomic Meatloaf Meltdown, which has been highlighted on a number of foodie networks. Soups, salads, and chili are available, along with a small selection of beer and wine. If pies are more your thing, sister restaurant All-Star Pizza Bar is just across the street.
While close to Fenway Park, Audubon feels more like a neighborhood joint than a tourist spot, though it does fill up on game days. Service is outstanding and matches the delicious dishes, many of which are made for sharing. Warm pretzels, salt and pepper shrimp, and queso dip make you want to order seconds. The cocktail menu is fun, too, with drinks like the Very Sherry Cobbler, made with sherry, cinnamon, orange, lime, and allspice. Ask to sit on the patio in nice weather.
Creative, delicious, and irresistible, the sweet treats from Blackbird Doughnuts have a cult following—even rock star Adele praised them when in town for a concert. One of several outposts in the city, the Fenway location is tiny and it's a good idea to get there early before your fave flavor sells out.
This Fenway restaurant is famous for its enormous garage window which looks into Fenway Park, especially cool on game days, but it's also a fun place to relax with friends, nosh on nachos or fries, and catch all sorts of sporting events on the TV.
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.
With the Bunker Hill Monument in your sights, relax with a wood-fired pizza and a pint. Brewer's Fork's list of 30 draft cider and craft beers is impressive (yet approachable) and its wine list massive. Pizzas go beyond the basics with toppings like spicy clam, bacon jam, and smoked chicken, and the pie is served straight out of a gigantic fiery oven, the restaurant's only cooking method. Small plates such as wood-roasted meatballs and Jonah crab dip and piled-high sandwiches like Wagyu burger and super-slow roasted turkey help satisfy hearty appetites. Brunch is lively and fun, featuring frittatas, a pulled pork benny, and morning-friendly pizzas. There's even a mid-day menu of charcuterie and cheese boards and select pizzas between mealtimes. Decor includes pendant bulbs, daily special chalkboards, exposed brick walls, banquettes created from wine corks, and two seasonal patios.
This Cambridge hot spot is locally loved, which means there are usually long waiting times but the breakfast and lunch menus are worth it. The omelet menu is far beyond your basic egg and cheese, with combos such as fig, prosciutto, and goat cheese, and there's cinnamon swirl French toast, their 20-hour slow-cooked corned beef hash, and the signature eggs Benedict. The lunch crowd dines on panini, specialty sandwiches, and "big bowl" salads, They also serve up fair trade coffee, for an extra kick, as well as beer, wine, and cordials. Closing time is 2 or 4 pm, depending on the day, so be sure to stop in early.
All you want and expect from a modern public house, this spot has burgers, steak frites, and, as the name promises, plenty of oysters. In addition, the bar offers more than 200 whiskeys, along with plenty of craft beers and wines. Like pig roasts? Book the unusual Citizen Pig Roast for 10 people, a family-style feast with a suckling pig and all the fixings.
On this once industrial stretch of the Boston Harbor waterfront sits this gastropub, fittingly at the former site of the Cunard Steamship Company and Wharf. From within a contemporary and lively environment, peruse a Southern-inspired menu, regional craft beer, and wide windows that open onto the street. Nautical-themed embellishments harken back to local maritime history. In season, the roof deck opens, serving cocktails and great views.
Once beyond the vicinity of Harvard Square, Brattle Street lacks eateries, so before your walk consider stocking up at Darwin's Ltd. on Mt. Auburn, which carries delectable, Cambridge-inspired sandwiches and other "comestibles and caffeinated provisions."
With the dainty twinkle lights sitting against exposed brick elements, this neighborhood spot creates an intimate atmosphere with a lively energy. Chilled seafood starters along with smaller plates like mushroom toast and mussels Mozambique are perfect for lighter snacks, while housemade pastas and entrées, including pork Milanese, bean cassoulet, and Ora King salmon, are hearty additions to the table. The brunch crowd will happily fill up on dishes such as huevos rancheros and fried chicken and waffles. An outdoor brick patio is perfect for seasonal dining. The wine bar aspect is showcased through an impressive "by the glass" or bottle selection, along with craft beers and cocktails (their seasonal rosé sangria is a local favorite).
A good spot to refuel on a budget is Flour Bakery + Café, a perennial candidate for Boston's best sandwiches and stuffed bread. Also superb are the fresh pizzas, dinner specials, and delicious pastries. You may end up taking home one of their cookbooks as a sweet keepsake.
Here's a happy reminder that dinner with children doesn't have to mean hamburgers and juice for everyone. While the youngsters race around the designated play space with sippy cups before noshing on hot dogs and homemade mac and cheese, parents can sip sangria, beer, or any one of the carefully chosen wines before tucking into more sophisticated fare, such as grilled salmon or sirloin with blue-cheese butter, arugula, and fries. Come dessert, kids can order the chocolate chip cookie as big as their head, while parents can get their own sugar fix with some warm maple bread pudding topped with whipped cream. Folks visiting sans child may want to ask for one of the grown-ups tables in the quiet, screened-off area near the front, but they also might want to consider another restaurant altogether: diners have compared the place to a day-care center or romper room.
A nod to East Cambridge's place as the center of the nation’s glass-making industry and home to its largest glass factory, Glass House is an eye-catching restaurant that offers tasty American cuisine that delivers a good balance between sea and land (think charred octopus and bone-in rib eye). While the cocktail menu is full of creative drinks and the draft beer selections are strong, the mocktail list is just as impressive, with several fruity and fizzy refreshing drinks.
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.
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