37 editor picks in Boston.
37 upscale places in Boston, editor-picked. occasion restaurants in Boston: destination kitchens for celebrations and visits. All Boston food.
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.
TipPut your name on the iPad at 16:30, walk to a bar, and return when they text. The 20:00 wait can run 90 minutes.
Neptune Oyster on Salem Street runs the city's defining raw bar in Boston's North End since 2004. 42 seats, no reservations, hot-buttered lobster roll.
OrderHot-buttered lobster roll on a butter-toasted split-top bun.
TipPut your name on the iPad at 16:30. The wait at 18:30 runs 90 minutes; weekday lunch is the easy seat.
Ana Sortun's Inman Square room has run an Eastern Mediterranean kitchen in Cambridge since 2001. Turkish, Syrian and Lebanese plates from Siena Farms produce.
OrderThe sultan's delight: tamarind-glazed beef on smoky eggplant cream.
TipThe garden patio in summer is one of Cambridge's best outdoor seats. Books out three weeks ahead in season.
Cassie Piuma and Ana Sortun's meze room on Pearl Street in Somerville has run Turkish-style small plates since 2013. Kitchen leans eastern mediterranean.
OrderLamb manti, Turkish dumplings with yogurt and chili butter.
TipOrder the chef's choice tasting; the kitchen will send the best of the night unprompted.
Haley Fortier's Haley.Henry on Province Street has poured natural wine in Downtown Boston since 2016. 30 seats, small-grower European list, tinned fish.
TipWalk-ins from 17:00. The tinned fish board with butter toast is the food order; the Bugey-Cerdon is the cross-glass house pour.
Backbar in Union Square Somerville has poured artful cocktails behind an unmarked door in Boston since 2011. Order the greek mastiha milk punch.
TipWalk-in only, no reservations. Last call 23:15. Order from the staff-pick chalkboard for the best off-menu drink.
Demetri Tsolakis's Bar Vlaha on Beacon Street has poured northern Greek wine in Brookline since 2022. Open daily 17:00-23:00, brunch sat-sun 10:00-15:00.
TipVlahiko, the Greek grape named for the Vlachs, is the by-the-glass to order. Sunday brunch is the easy seat.
Ken Oringer and Jamie Bissonnette's Italian enoteca on Shawmut Avenue runs house-made charcuterie and Roman pastas in Boston's South End since 2009.
OrderThe charcuterie board, all five cuts, with the bagna cauda.
TipThe marble counter is the better solo seat. Walk in at 17:00 for the easy table.
Row 34 on Congress Street has run the Fort Point oyster room in Boston since 2013. Located in Seaport Fort Point. Priced at $$$. Kitchen leans seafood.
OrderA dozen mixed oysters and the crispy oysters with sriracha aioli.
TipThe bar runs the same menu without the reservation lead time, and Tuesday nights are the easy walk-in seat at the counter.
Brothers Kenshi and Seizi Imura run Cafe Sushi on Mass Ave near Harvard Square in Cambridge since 1984. Priced at $$$. Kitchen leans japanese.
OrderThe full omakase, $90 for 10 pieces and one cooked dish.
TipTwelve counter seats only; book on Tock 30 days ahead. Take-out bento boxes are the off-menu deal at lunch.
Row 34 on Congress Street has run the Fort Point oyster room in Boston since 2013. Named for row 34 in Duxbury Bay, 20 East Coast oyster varieties daily.
OrderA mixed dozen of East Coast oysters and the crispy oysters with sriracha aioli.
TipThe bar runs the same menu without the reservation lead time. Tuesday nights walk in easily.
Demetri Tsolakis's Krasi on Gloucester Street holds the country's largest all-Greek wine list in Boston's Back Bay since 2020. 300 Greek bottles.
TipThe bar serves the full menu for solo diners. Wines by the glass rotate weekly; ask for the Limnio.
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.
TipReservations open four weeks ahead on OpenTable. The bar is the easier walk-in seat at 17:30 weekdays.
Demetri Tsolakis's Krasi on Gloucester Street has poured the country's largest all-Greek wine list in Boston's Back Bay since 2020. Priced at $$$.
OrderThe taramosalata with house pita and a glass of Assyrtiko.
TipReservations open four weeks out on OpenTable. The bar serves the full menu for solo diners.
Ken Oringer and Jamie Bissonnette's Spanish tapas room on Washington Street has run the South End's small-plate template in Boston since 2005.
OrderGrilled corn with aioli, lime and queso fresco.
TipWalk-in only for dinner. Get to the bar at 17:00 to skip the 90-minute wait that builds by 19:00.
Damien DiPaola's Carmelina's on Hanover Street has run regional Italian in Boston's North End since 2012. Reservations available, family-style sharing.
OrderThe carbonara with smoked pancetta and pecorino, the kitchen signature.
TipOpenTable bookings four weeks ahead. Sunday lunch family gravy at 13:00 is the easy seat.
The Wig Shop has run a speakeasy-style cocktail bar behind a fake wig-shop storefront on Temple Place in Downtown Boston since 2019. 1940s magazine-ad decor.
TipFind the unmarked door inside the wig storefront.
Ken Oringer and Jamie Bissonnette's Coppa Enoteca on Shawmut Avenue has run an Italian wine bar in Boston's South End since 2009. Open daily 17:00-23:00.
TipThe marble counter is the better solo seat. Walk-in at 17:00 for the easy table.
Kathy Sidell's Back Bay seafood room on Dartmouth Street has run the tinned-fish-and-crudo agenda in Boston since 2016. At 279 Dartmouth St.
OrderTinned fish board with anchovies, mussels, sardines and butter on toast.
TipThe window counter is the easier walk-in seat at 17:30. Brunch books two weeks out on weekends.
Garrett Harker's Eastern Standard reopened in the Bower complex on Beacon Street in 2023, recovering the Kenmore Square brasserie template Boston lost.
OrderThe ESK burger with house frites and an Aviation cocktail.
TipPre-Sox-game dinner books out by 17:30. Late-night service runs to midnight on weekends.
Kathy Sidell's Saltie Girl on Dartmouth Street runs tinned fish, crudo and lobster rolls in Boston's Back Bay since 2016. Kitchen leans seafood.
OrderThe tinned fish board: anchovies, mussels and sardines on warm butter toast.
TipThe window counter is the walk-in seat. Brunch books two weeks out on Saturdays.
Yvonne's reopened the historic Locke-Ober space on Winter Place in Downtown Boston in 2015 as a modern supper club. Order the aviation cocktail.
TipThe library room is the quiet cocktail seat. Sunday and Monday nights are the easy walk-in slots.
The Gin Palace at Nine on Park Street is the cocktail bar inside the new Nine restaurant on Beacon Hill in Boston since August 2025. 80 gins from around.
TipWalk-in bar at the front; reservations for the dining room. Order the Gin and Tonic flight to compare three gins.
Trillium on Thomson Place is the Fort Point three-storey taproom and brewpub in Boston since 2018. The third-floor roof terrace is the marquee seat.
TipThird-floor roof seats fill by 17:00 in summer. Online order ahead for can release lineups.
Yvonne's reopened the historic Locke-Ober space on Winter Place in Downtown Boston in 2015 as a modern supper club. Located in Beacon Hill. Priced at $$$.
OrderTruffle cacio e pepe with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.
TipFind the unmarked door inside the Yvonne's hair salon entrance. The library room is the quiet seat.
Yvonne's reopened the historic Locke-Ober space on Winter Place in Downtown Boston in 2015 as a modern supper club. Located in Beacon Hill. Priced at $$$.
OrderTruffle cacio e pepe with shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano.
TipThe unmarked door is inside a fake wig shop. The library room is the quiet seat.
Julio de Haro's Estragon on Harrison Avenue has poured Spanish gin-tonics and tapas in Boston's South End since 2008. Boston Magazine Best of Boston 2023.
TipHappy hour 17:00-19:00 weekdays runs half-price tapas. The lounge is the walk-in seat; book the dining room for parties.
Caffe Vittoria on Hanover Street has poured espresso and grappa in Boston's North End since 1929. Four floors, three liquor bars, a cigar room.
TipBasement liquor bar after 21:00 is the under-toured seat. Grappa and espresso is the canonical close.
Harpoon Brewery's Beer Hall on Northern Avenue in Boston's Seaport has poured pints since 1986. Located in Seaport Fort Point. Order the harpoon ipa.
TipSaturday tour at 13:00 includes the full brewery and four pours. The hot pretzel is the kitchen signature.
Andrew Brady and Sara Markey's Field & Vine on Sanborn Court has run a natural-wine bistro in Union Square Somerville since 2017. Local-farm sourcing.
TipThe wine list rotates weekly; the by-the-glass Pet-Nat is the easy entry. Closed Sunday and Monday.
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.
TipSkip the dining-room tables and sit at the historic raw bar. The bar is the original 1826 plank.
Alibi inside the Liberty Hotel on Charles Street has run a former-jail-cell cocktail bar in Beacon Hill Boston since 2007. Order the charles street manhattan.
TipThe jail-cell booths book up by 19:00 on weekends. The bar lounge is the easier walk-in seat.
Nathalie Lete's Nathalie on Brookline Avenue has poured natural wine inside the Pierce Boston building in Boston's Fenway since 2018. At 186 Brookline Ave.
TipPre-Sox-game booking essential. Sunday brunch is the easy walk-in seat.
Tres Gatos on Centre Street has run an all-Spanish wine bar with a book and record shop in Jamaica Plain Boston since 2011. 100 percent Spanish list.
TipThe sherry list runs Manzanilla, Fino, Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez; ask for the tasting flight.
Legal Sea Foods on Long Wharf, near the New England Aquarium in Boston, has anchored the chain's flagship since 1968. Kitchen leans seafood.
OrderA cup of clam chowder, the recipe served at five presidential inaugurations.
TipLunch with a harbor-side window is the best seat. The raw bar runs daily until 22:00.
Bleacher Bar on Lansdowne Street sits beneath the centre-field bleachers at Fenway Park in Boston's Kenmore Square since 2008. Located in Kenmore Fenway.
TipReservations on the website during Sox games; arrive 2 hours before first pitch. The garage-door window opens onto the field on rainouts.
Phil Kruta's Brassica on Washington Street has poured natural wine in Jamaica Plain Boston since 2017, expanded to a larger room in 2025. Booking recommended.
TipCafe by day, wine bar by night. The pet-nat list rotates weekly; ask for the staff pick.
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