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Eating Out
Guide to Drinking and Dining in Boston
What's your pleasure? Fresh
seafood from a little clam shack overlooking a fishing pier? Ethnic
specialities representing the peoples of the world who pass through
this eclectic city? Historic venues that serve the chowder, local
cod, or Indian pudding which New Englanders have dined on for years?
Boston's got it all. Try Quincy Market at Faneuil Hall, with a large
range of excellent restaurants you'll find a good cross-section of
the city's cosmopolitan cuisine on offer here.
Look to the North End (Hanover St, Salem St) for intimate Italian
trattoria, tiny cafés, and fabulous bakeries including Maria's (46
Cross St, Tel: +1 (1)617-523-1196) for the freshest, most authentic
cannoli, tiramisu, and marzipan. Few restaurants in this garlic and
espresso-scented neighbourhood accept reservations, not all take
credit cards, and dinnertime waits can be long - but it's well worth
dining here nonetheless.
The South End (Tremont St, Columbus Ave) is known for the Boston
Center for the Arts, its enclave of gay residents, and many of the
most sought after restaurant reservations in the Boston dining
scene. This residential neighborhood of brownstone homes, close to
Back Bay and the "Theater District", features casually elegant
dining. Here Boston's top chefs combine the best of New England's
produce with a French flair for sauces and presentation.
The Financial District (Temple Pl, High St, State St) and Back Bay
(Arlington St, Boylston St) are not just for business affairs.
You'll find fine dining, day or night, in the city's upscale hotels,
long-established restaurants, and acclaimed newcomers.
In Chinatown (Kneeland, Essex, Beach, Washington St) local polls
recommend Chau Chow City for dim sum, East Ocean City for Chinese
seafood, and Buddha's Delight for vegetarian fare, but its hard to
go wrong in any of the many simple, family-owned Chinese
restaurants.
Greater Boston offers wonderful dining, including ethnic, seafood,
and grilled specialities, in the towns of Cambridge, Brookline,
Waltham and beyond.
PRICE GUIDE: (average cost of a main course):
 =
less than USD10,
= USD10 - USD18,
= USD18+
Fine Dining
Aujourd 'Hui
Four Seasons Hotel
200 Boylston St
Tel: +1 (1)617-338-4400
Treat yourself at this refined dining room, named Zagat's Most
Popular Boston Restaurant, one of only two in the city awarded AAA's
five diamonds, and repeatedly honored for decor, wine, and the
French-influenced cuisine. Taste New England's best in corn soup
with pureed potato and smoked haddock, Maine lobster with crabmeat
wontons, or snapper with mussels, clams, and saffron broth. Sunday
brunch is a spectacular treat with carved roast beef, sushi, roasted
vegetables, seafood, salads, fruit trays, and 20 types of pastry.
Hamersley's Bistro
553 Tremont St
Tel: +1 (1)617-423-2700
Ranked at the very top of Boston's restaurants there is nothing
presumptuous about this warm and welcoming French bistro. Gordon
Hamersley is known for his grilled mushroom appetiser, roasted
chicken with parsley and lemon, and banana/chocolate/rum cake. Fresh
flavours pop out of innovative salads, house made fruit sorbet and
ice creams, tender steaks, and nut-crusted seafood.
Tea at the Ritz
15 Arlington St
Tel: +1 (1)617-536-5700
It's a 75 year old tradition. When the rush to see, learn, and do
becomes too much, or that New England weather turns on you, this may
be your best escape. Kindly staff escort you to the refined tea room
where harp music plays, comfortable couches await, and the greatest
stress that arises is over which tea to order. Choices include a
sweet tray and savoury tea sandwiches or sweets alone. Kids are
treated like royalty here. Reservations recommended.
Traditional
New England
Durgin Park
340 Faneuil Hall, Market Place
Tel: +1 (1)617-227-2038
A casual market ambience hides one of Boston's most popular
restaurants - Durgin Park has been feeding hungry locals for over a
century. Traditional New England dishes such as corned beef and
cabbage, lobsters and a fantastic clam chowder are all served up in
generous portions for reasonable prices (fluctuating depending on
the day's market price for fish). A combination of location and
quality means that you might have to wait for a table, but it's
worth it.
International
Radius
8 High St
Tel: +1 (1)617-426-1234
"Playfully sophisticated" is this restaurant's own description. is
modern, as is the artistically presented food. Each bite reveals
layer upon layer of flavour, including cote-de-boeuf in red wine
reduction and Chatham halibut with caramelized turnips and haricot
vert.
Harvest
44 Brattle St, Cambridge
Tel: +1 (1)617-868-2255
Most everything about Cambridge is more relaxed than Boston and
Harvest is a testament to that. Exquisite food and impeccable
service in this gently lit Harvard Square restaurant. Dress here is
more black turtlenecks than jacket and tie and the conversation is
always erudite from the Harvard alumni who patronise it.
Indian
Mantra
52 Temple Place
Tel: +1 (1)617-542-8111
The European-trained Indian chef/owner presents the flavours of his
native country with the sophisticated influence of French cooking.
It's the site of Boston's hottest scene at night and the city's best
gourmet meal deal at lunch. Indian flatbreads are served with
regional cranberry loaves. Fusion at its best. Indian spice haddock
melts in your mouth.
Sea food
Legal Sea Foods
Locations include: Long Wharf, Copley Place, 100 Huntington Ave, 800
Boylston St and various others across town
Tel: +1 (1)617-266-6800 (Boylston St branch)
New England's history and cuisine is linked with her coastal
location, and this is the place in Boston for seafood. Legal's has
been serving some of the region's best, at moderate prices, for 40
years. Lobster, of course, fish chowder served at presidential
inaugurations, and excellent grilled, Cajun spice, or
Asian-influenced dishes.
No Name Restaurant
15 Fish Pier
Tel: +1 (1)617-338-7539
There's no sign, not much ambience, and no pleasantries but seafood
doesn't get fresher or cheaper than this unless you catch it
yourself. Come for the fried and broiled dishes, waterfront view,
and consistently excellent food.
Italian
Trattoria Il Panino
11 Parmenter St and Faneuil Hall
Tel: +1 (1)617-720-1336 (Parmenter St branch)
There's nothing Americanised about the incredible pasta, chicken, or
veal dishes at this simple Italian eatery in the heart of the North
End. Don't miss the antipasto, perfect gnocchi with fresh basil, and
seafood, mushroom, or spinach ravioli.
Pizzeria Regina
11 Thatcher St
Tel: +1 (1)617-227-0765
A North End institution, Pizzeria Regina has been offering the
citizens of Boston pizza from its brick oven for the last 77 years,
and business shows no sign of slackening. A great place for an
Italian/American pizza and a couple of beers.
Malaysian
Penang
685 Washington St
Tel: +1 (1)617-451-6372
This Malaysian restaurant in Chinatown serves familiar Asian
favourites and more to a grateful Boston crowd where affordable,
multi-ethnic dining, including Thai and Portuguese influence, gets
rave reviews.
Chinese
Chau Chow City
81 Essex St
Tel: +1 (1)617-338-8158
If you like Dim Sum then head for Chau Chow City, three floors of
frenetic dining in the heart of Chinatown. It's noisy, crowded and
seemingly chaotic, but the food makes it all worthwhile. It's
genuinely Chinese though, and if you don't speak the lingo don't
expect the waiters to slow down to explain anything to you. Just
order away - everything is cheap and everything is delicious.
East Ocean City
27 Beach St
Tel: +1 (1)617-542-2504
This rather functional looking restaurant combines two of Boston's
favourite things, Chinese cooking and fish. The room is completely
dominated by its fish tanks where the dishes of the day while away
their final hours, but it's best not to introspect too much. The
perfect taste of the food when it arrives should erase any pangs of
guilt you might have.
Buddha's Delight
5 Beach St
Tel: +1 (1)617-451-2395
This inventive vegetarian restaurant isn't the most welcoming of
Chinatown's many eating establishments, but if you eschew meat and
dairy products then you should venture inside - for vegans this is
heaven sent. That isn't to say that only vegans should cross the
threshold here, you'll be amazed at the variety in taste and texture
the chefs manage to create in humble tofu and soya.
Bars
Boston is a pub town, and has been ever since the first thristy
sailors hove into port. The city's Irish credentials have resulted
in a remarkable number of Irish themed pubs, but many of them have
well established credentials and avoid the "oirish"that has proved
so popular over recent decades. The upshot is that you won't have
any problem finding a place to refresh yourself - whether your
tipple of choice is a sophisticated latte or a foaming pint of Sam
Adams, the local brew. It is impossible to offer an exhaustive list
of pubs and bars - there are simply too many, we can merely point
you to a few likely areas and choice establishments to get you
started.
Harvard Square, Cambridge is the place to go if you want not just a
cup of coffee but a place to take up residency for an hour or an
afternoon to read the papers, catch up on your journal, or start the
novel you've been meaning to write. You'll be in good company.
Newbury St is where you go for drinks, evenings and late nights
especially, to mingle with the beautiful people. It's where one goes
to be seen, so dress for the occasion.
Kenmore Square and Commonwealth Ave all the way into Allston draws
the college crowd from Boston University, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, and many nearby colleges. Beer is big here.
Doyle's
3484 Washington St
Tel: +1 (1)617-524-2345
This is more than a 100-year-old Irish pub. It's practically a local
holy site, a museum to beer, and favorite hangout of local
politicians and just plain regular folk. Serves over two dozen
drafts and features locally-made Sam Adams beer.
Boston Beerworks
61 Brookline Ave
Tel: +1 (1)617-536-2337
Beer is brewed on premises with seasonal flavours including local
favorites blueberry and watermelon (both better than they sound, or
look). Just don't go after a Red Sox baseball game when crowds are
brutal.
Caffé Vittoria
296 Hanover St
Tel: +1 (1)617-227-7606
It's a step back to Old World Italy. You'll hear Italian spoken as
you sip grappa or espresso from tiny café tables.
Clerys
113 Dartmouth St
Tel: +1 (1)617-536-9874
This popular Back Bay hangout attracts pretty much a cross section
of society, but manages to retain its own pressure free, convivial
ambience. Good honest food and pints of beer form the bill of fare.
Algiers
40 Brattle St, Cambridge
Tel: +1 (1)617-492-1557
Every Harvard Square café has its own character but this one has
more ambience than most with a Middle Eastern motif and menu, and a
wide selection of coffee, tea, and espresso drinks. Smoking section
upstairs.
Sonsie
327 Newbury St
Tel: +1 (1)617-351-2500
Yes, they serve lunch and dinner here too but the scene, which
spills out onto Newbury St. is definitely for drinks at night.
Top of the Hub
800 Boylston St
Tel: +1 (1)617-536-1775
Unquestionably Boston's best drink with a view, from the top of the
Prudential Center in Back Bay. Even Boston's congested streets look
enchanting from this perspective, especially as the sun gets low and
the city lights begin to sparkle.
Bell in Hand Tavern
45-55 Union St
Tel: +1 (1)617-227-2098
Dating from 1795 the Bell' is allegedly the oldest public house in
the USA, and it has a plaque to prove it. It has largely resisted
the temptation to fake some "Ye Olde" make up and the clientele
isn't made up of the old regulars you'd expect, but rather some
surprisingly young things.
The Green Dragon
11 Marshall St
Tel: +1 (1)617-367-0055
If you're on a historic drinking session then you might as well fall
out of the Bell' and into the Green Dragon nearby. With a dateline
of 1773 this pub is actually older than its neighbour, although
having had several rebuilds in that time it doesn't qualify for the
coveted oldest pub title. Instead the Green Dragon can claim a noble
pedigree, being where the sons of liberty got together and decided
to create America.
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