12 Best Restaurants in Massachusetts, USA

At the corner of two avenues (Commonwealth and Massachusetts), which is how this restaurant got its name (deux is French for "two"), you'll find this snazzy, dark-wood enclave serving sophisticated dishes like spice-crusted ahi tuna and braised pork belly, pan-seared Atlantic halibut, and organic chicken with parsnip and foie gras agnolotti. Make sure to pair your meal with a bottle from the thoughtfully crafted and surprisingly affordable wine list served by an attentive staff.

Delicious food and good wine keep this small restaurant packed most nights. This gem can almost be missed just off busy North Street, but couples looking for an intimate date night or professionals grabbing after-work drinks have made it a hot spot.

This loft-like restaurant with a harborside deck has enjoyed legendary status since the mid-1970s; these days, the focus is on re-interpreting summer classics that highlight local produce and fresh seafood. The two-course dinner menu ($85), served in the dining room, features such delectables as iced Nantucket oysters, perhaps followed by slow-poached salmon with fingerling sweet potatoes and miso aioli. The bar grill offers a short, well-curated a la carte menu. (Moroccan-spiced eggplant "parm" is a favorite.) Hurricane lamps lend a soft glow to well-spaced tables; the vibe is best described as barefoot-chic. (But do wear shoes!)

Featuring floor-to-ceiling windows and sweeping 270-degree views of the Boston Harbor waterfront, this sophisticated and lively restaurant serves up midsized plates that are meant to be shared—two to three per person. The well-curated menu features meat and produce from the owner's 360-acre New Hampshire farm, as well as handmade pasta and sustainably sourced seafood. Diners with specialized diets can choose from many gluten-free, dairy-free, and/or vegan dishes. 

Silver service, crystal chandeliers, a roaring fireplace, book-lined shelves, and a gilded bar area set the tone at this brassy, classic reimagined supper club. You'll want to start with an ice-cold martini or cava by the glass, and then move on to a bounty of food options, including snacks, stone-fired pitas, toasts, sharing plates, and bigger "feasts" for two-plus people. This is so much more than a restaurant—it's an experience. 

Enjoy earthy, market-fresh dishes at this cozy, brick-walled former butcher shop, where foodies, families, and folks from the neighborhood and beyond can't get enough of dream-team chefs David Punch and Lydia Reichert's culinary homage to New England. Begin with a cocktail from the excellent bar and end with a satisfied smile—made even bigger because area parking is plentiful and mainly free.

Black Lamb's chefs call the American brasserie "a love letter to the South End." Translation: they pour their hearts into the menu to captivate the palates of all who dine there, with dishes such as duck breast frites, lamb burger, roasted cauliflower with anchovies, and day-boat scallops. Take a seat on the seasonal patio for people-watching.

In a Greek Revival–style building known as the Whistling Swan lie two restaurants; the more notable one is on the second floor in an unpretentious space resembling a barn hayloft. The Duck offers up generous portions of everything from salad to braised lamb as well as various dishes, which, naturally, incorporate duck.

This upscale pub with a few modern dining rooms and porch seating is the perfect place to grab dinner if you're looking for something casual. The menu isn't large, but offers reliably good, but slightly fussy, pub standards.

With three foodie destinations under one roof, The Shed is a dining hat trick right in the middle of Cambridge Crossing's Picnic Grove (a lush green area in the heart of the city). The Lexington is chef-owner Will Gilson's shining star of the space, serving up dishes that highlight foods from the Herb Lyceum, a 4-acre working farm in Groton operated by his family since the 1800s. Dine high above the city on the restaurant's coveted roof deck. Favorites have included grilled Berkshire chops, rabbit mafadine, mushroom tartine, and spring rigatone. The Shed also is home to sister eateries Cafe Beatrice, an early-morning breakfast spot, and Geppetto, an eatery for all things Italian. Gilson also has a new Mediterranean-inspired café, Amba, between Kendall Square and Cambridge Crossing.

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay’s venture within the Mandarin Oriental hotel offers a taste of his most well-known dishes along with a few local twists. While his famous beef Wellington sits front and center as a no-brainer choice entrée, he also gives a properly placed nod to local seafood with jumbo lump crab cakes and lobster rolls, as well as Boston lager-steamed mussels, crispy-skin salmon, and fish-and-chips. The five-course chef's table menu has the best of it all.

This tiny candlelit space is an enchanting mix of elegance and chummy neighborhood revelry—both in the atmosphere and the food. Simple but high-quality dishes, such as gnocchi alfredo and braised lamb shank, are prepared expertly, and the menu changes frequently; fun theme nights include "Beerger Tuesday," when you can enjoy a burger, beer, and fries for just $16, and "Pasta Thursday," with a different featured pasta, accompanied by a serving of wine, for $22.