Lobster rolls, North End red sauce and the country's oldest oyster bar.
Free cancellation on most tours, with live prices on the partner's site.
Boston eats off the water. Day-boat scallops from Chatham, Duxbury oysters from row 34, lobster pulled out of the Gulf of Maine and trucked into the kitchen at Neptune Oyster by 11am, plus cod cured into the Friday fish-and-chips that built the city's pre-revolution fortune. The North End still rolls cannoli on Hanover Street: Mike's Pastry has fed the tourist line since 1946, Modern Pastry has fed the locals since 1930. Cambridge runs the country's most serious Eastern Mediterranean kitchen at Ana Sortun's Oleana, plus the Joanne Chang pastry empire across ten Flour Bakeries. Chinatown packs Cantonese roast-meat counters, Taiwanese soup-dumpling rooms and Vietnamese pho shops into ten short blocks south of Boylston. Dorchester Avenue runs a mile of Vietnamese banh mi, Cape Verdean restaurants and Irish pubs in a single subway corridor. Tasting menus at O Ya, Krasi, Pammy's and Sarma run $150 to $300 a head. Lobster rolls on a buttered split-top bun, served warm with drawn butter or cool with mayo, are the city's signature plate; you eat them at Neptune in the North End or in line outside the Pauli's window. The constant is provenance: chefs name the boat, the farm, the bay, every time.
Guided tour · 3 hours
Sample and learn about iconic Boston dishes as you’re treated to the city’s best spots for Lobster Rolls, New England Clam Chowder, Boston Baked Beans and Brown Bread ...
Guided tour · 2 hours
Choose a 2-hour express or 3-hour full Boston food tour. Taste clam chowder, arancini, brick oven pizza, cannoli, and more while exploring the North End’s history and ...
Guided tour · 2.5 hours
Sample Boston's most iconic seafood dishes on a guided walking tour. Enjoy fresh, local favorites and learn about local history during your adventure.
The plates that define eating in Boston.
The Boston lobster roll is fresh-picked Gulf of Maine lobster meat tossed warm with drawn butter or cold with mayonnaise, served in a buttered top-split bun.
Where Neptune Oyster, Pauli's, James Hook & Co, Row 34, Saltie Girl
Where to eat Lobster roll in Boston →New England clam chowder is a thick cream-and-potato soup with chopped quahog clams and salt pork, served with oyster crackers. The city's signature cold-weather soup in Boston since the 1700s.
Where Union Oyster House, Legal Sea Foods Long Wharf, Neptune Oyster, James Hook & Co
Where to eat New England clam chowder in Boston →Boston cream pie is two layers of sponge cake filled with thick pastry cream and topped with chocolate ganache. Massachusetts's official state dessert since 1996, invented at the Parker House Hotel in 1856.
Where Modern Pastry, Mike's Pastry, Flour Bakery, Tatte Bakery & Cafe
Where to eat Boston cream pie in Boston →Boston baked beans are navy beans slow-cooked overnight with salt pork, molasses, brown sugar, mustard and onion. The dish that gave Boston the Beantown nickname and ran the Saturday-night Puritan table since the 1600s.
Where Union Oyster House, Legal Sea Foods Long Wharf
Where to eat Boston baked beans in Boston →Whole soft-shell clams, dipped in evaporated milk and corn flour and deep-fried until golden. Invented at Woodman's of Essex on the North Shore in 1916, a New England summer-shack staple in Boston ever since.
Where Neptune Oyster, Union Oyster House, Legal Sea Foods Long Wharf, Pauli's
Where to eat Fried clams in Boston →New England fish and chips is beer-battered or breadcrumbed haddock or cod, deep-fried until crisp, served with thick-cut fries and tartar sauce. The Friday-night Catholic-Irish staple in Boston since the 1880s.
Where Union Oyster House, Legal Sea Foods Long Wharf, South End Buttery, James Hook & Co
Where to eat New England fish and chips in Boston →Parker House rolls are soft, buttery yeast rolls folded into a half-moon shape and baked golden. Invented at the Parker House Hotel on School Street in Boston in the 1870s; a staple of New England Thanksgiving tables.
Where Flour Bakery, Modern Pastry, Union Oyster House
Where to eat Parker House rolls in Boston →Scrod is a young Atlantic cod or haddock, typically under 2.5 pounds, broiled with breadcrumbs and lemon butter. The defining Boston seafood-room weeknight order from the 1920s through the 1980s.
Where Union Oyster House, Legal Sea Foods Long Wharf
Where to eat Scrod in Boston →Yeast-raised doughnut split and filled with vanilla pastry cream, then dipped in dark chocolate glaze. The official doughnut of Massachusetts since 2003. Eaten in three bites, ideally with black coffee at a counter.
Where Mike's Pastry, Modern Pastry, Flour Bakery, Tatte Bakery & Cafe, Iggy's Bread, Sofra Bakery & Cafe
Where to eat Boston cream doughnut in Boston →A handful of the places we send friends to when they are in Boston.
Neptune Oyster on Salem Street has run the city's defining raw bar in Boston since 2004. 42 seats, no reservations, Gulf of Maine lobster roll on a buttered.
OrderThe hot-buttered lobster roll, full-claw and tail.
Union Oyster House on Union Street has shucked oysters in Boston since 1826, the oldest continuously operating restaurant in the United States.
OrderA dozen Wellfleets at the U-shaped bar and a cup of clam chowder.
Mamma Maria on North Square is the North End's fine-dining anchor in Boston, in a five-room brick townhouse since 1973. Kitchen leans italian.
OrderThe pappardelle bolognese; the kitchen makes the pasta in-house.
Giacomo's on Hanover Street has run a no-reservations Italian-American room in Boston's North End since 1985. Priced at $$. At 355 Hanover St.
OrderLobster ravioli with vodka sauce, the house signature.
Damien DiPaola named Carmelina's after his mother and runs it on Hanover Street as a regional Italian kitchen in Boston since 2012. Located in North End.
OrderThe carbonara pasta with smoked pancetta and pecorino.
Regina Pizzeria on Thacher Street has fired thin-crust pies in Boston's North End since 1926. The original location is the one that matters, brick oven.
OrderThe Margherita pie, blistered crust, just-melted mozzarella.
Boston's Italian heart since the 1860s. Hanover Street rolls cannoli, Salem Street pours espresso, and the side streets run a dozen red-sauce trattorias.
Best for: Italian, Bakeries, Seafood, Late night
Newbury Street brownstones, Boylston shopping and the hotel-bar dining row. Krasi's Greek list and Saltie Girl's seafood counter live here.
Best for: Fine dining, Seafood, Brunch, Cafes
Brownstone Boston at table. Tremont Street runs Toro, Coppa and Myers and Chang inside ten blocks; Washington Street fills with brunch lines on Sundays.
Best for: Tapas, Brunch, Wine bars, Vegan
Gas-lamp streets and steakhouse rooms. Mooo runs the porterhouse seat; Charles Street keeps a row of small wine bars and bakeries.
Best for: Steakhouses, Fine dining, Cafes, Wine bars
Boston's newest food district built on old wharf land. Row 34's seafood room, Trillium's three-storey taproom and the harbor walkways.
Best for: Seafood, Breweries, Cafes, Brunch
Boston's third-largest Chinatown packs Cantonese roast-meat counters, Taiwanese soup dumplings and Vietnamese pho into ten blocks south of Boylston.
Best for: Cantonese, Dim sum, Taiwanese, Vietnamese, Late night
Lobster roll
The Boston lobster roll is fresh-picked Gulf of Maine lobster meat tossed warm with drawn butter or cold with mayonnaise, served in a buttered top-split bun
New England clam chowder
New England clam chowder is a thick cream-and-potato soup with chopped quahog clams and salt pork, served with oyster crackers
Boston cream pie
Boston cream pie is two layers of sponge cake filled with thick pastry cream and topped with chocolate ganache
Boston baked beans
Boston baked beans are navy beans slow-cooked overnight with salt pork, molasses, brown sugar, mustard and onion
Fried clams
Whole soft-shell clams, dipped in evaporated milk and corn flour and deep-fried until golden
North End
Boston's Italian heart since the 1860s
Back Bay
Newbury Street brownstones, Boylston shopping and the hotel-bar dining row
South End
Brownstone Boston at table
Beacon Hill
Gas-lamp streets and steakhouse rooms
A sample of Boston hotels from our booking partner, who list 568 here. Live prices and availability open on their site.
Hotel Boston
A stay at Hotel Boston places you in the heart of Boston, within a 5-minute drive of Brighton Music Hall an...
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Hampton Inn & Suites Boston Crosstown Center
With a stay at Hampton Inn & Suites Boston Crosstown Center in Boston (South End), you'll be within a 15-mi...
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Found Hotel Boston Common
Located in Boston (Theatre District), Found Hotel Boston Common is within a 15-minute walk of Boston Common...
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Boston Lodge and Suites
A stay at Boston Lodge and Suites places you in the heart of Boston, within a 5-minute drive of Franklin Pa...
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Courtyard by Marriott Boston-South Boston
Located in Boston (Dorchester), Courtyard by Marriott Boston-South Boston is within a 5-minute drive of Bos...
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HI Boston
With a stay at HI Boston, you'll be centrally located in Boston, steps from Cutler Majestic Theatre and wit...
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The Bostonian Boston
With a stay at The Bostonian Boston, you'll be centrally located in Boston, steps from Faneuil Hall Marketp...
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Harborside Inn Of Boston
Harborside Inn Of Boston is in the heart of Boston, within a 5-minute walk of New England Aquarium and Quin...
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Moxy Boston Downtown
With a stay at Moxy Boston Downtown in Boston (Downtown Boston), you'll be steps from Wilbur Theatre and Bo...
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citizenM Boston North Station
A stay at citizenM Boston North Station places you in the heart of Boston, steps from TD Garden and 5 minut...
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Boston Omni Parker House Hotel
Boston Omni Parker House Hotel is centrally located in Boston, a 3-minute walk from Boston City Hall and 7 ...
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Courtyard by Marriott Boston Downtown
With a stay at Courtyard by Marriott Boston Downtown, you'll be centrally located in Boston, steps from Boc...
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Also compare: Holidu in Boston from USD 174/night · LateRooms in Boston · Expedia in Boston
Stays are listed by our booking partners, not editor picks. We earn a commission if you book, at no cost to you.
Every restaurant, cafe, market and bar we cover in Boston, pinned. Click a pin for the page.
Peak food season: May to October, lobster season, soft-shell clams and Cape Cod oysters at peak. September is the chef-shopping farmstand month. February to March, lobster prices spike and many small rooms run shorter hours.
Local dining hours: Lunch 11:30-14:30. Dinner 17:00-22:00, last seating often 21:00. Late-night kitchens in Chinatown, Allston and Kenmore Square run to 02:00 on weekends; most of the city closes by 23:00.
Tipping: Tip 18 to 22 percent on the pre-tax total at sit-down restaurants. Bars and counters get $1 to $2 per drink or 18 to 20 percent. Tasting menus often add service automatically; check the bill before adding more.
Boston's signature dishes include Lobster roll, New England clam chowder, Boston cream pie, Boston baked beans, North End cannoli. See our signature dishes chapter for where to eat each.
TableJourney editors map Boston by district. North End, Back Bay, South End, Beacon Hill are among the strongest for food, each with its own guide.
Editor picks in Boston include O Ya, Oleana, UNI, plus the full fine dining chapter on TableJourney.
TableJourney covers 5 editor-picked food tours in Boston, with what each shows you and how much to budget.
TableJourney's Boston dietary chapter covers vegan, vegetarian, gluten_free, halal, kosher venues, each editor-picked with what to order and how to ask.
