Want to Find a Great Boston Restaurant?

Here's how to find the best places to dine in Boston

Actually, finding a great Boston restaurant is easy. You can find plenty of fabulous choices just about anywhere in the city.  With so many options to choose from, you can try your favorite cuisine . . . or find something new and exciting.

So keep reading to find out more about what you'll find, plus a few tips about dining in Boston.  Or, for lists of restaurants by type, cuisine, and city neighborhood, go straight to our Guide to Boston's Best Restaurants

So, What is Boston Cuisine Like?

Boston food used to be considered bland and unimaginative . . . but not any more!

With more celebrity chefs than anyone can count, you'll find an amazing range of mouth-watering choices. 

And you'll enjoy the quality.  From high-end “splurge” to cheap eats, succulent seafood to sizzling steakhouses, Boston restaurants emphasize fresh ingredients, creative preparations, and exciting flavors.

While you'll find places belonging to highly-regarded national and even international chains, you'll also find an amazing number of local chef/owner restaurants. 

Best of all, you can find great Boston restaurants in neighborhoods throughout the city - Back Bay, Bay Village, the South End, and more.  If you're a Boston visitor, you'll find plenty of wonderful choices near your hotel or easily reached by a short walk or cab ride.  

What Types of Food Do Boston Restaurant Menus Feature?

Many Boston restaurant menus feature the local specialty, seafood, and most others include at least a few seafood dishes.  

Whether you choose boiled lobster straight from the shell, New England clam chowder, fish and chips, or just decide to hang out in an oyster bar, you’ll find that Boston seafood restaurants serve fish that’s freshly caught from the sea.

If you’ve never eaten whole boiled lobster in the shell, check out our detailed instructions on how to eat lobster.  We make it easy for you!

And Carnivores, no need to worry - great steakhouses also abound!   Whether you crave juicy, expertly aged sirloin with all the trimmings or a perfectly cooked burger flanked melt-in-your-mouth French fries, you'll find exactly what you want at the steakhouses, plus many of Boston's other traditional restaurants.

And if you're a vegetarian who avoids or abhors meat, don’t worry - while few Boston restaurants are strictly vegetarian, most restaurants serve plenty of delicious vegetarian choices.

You’ll Discover a Wide Variety of Ethnic Food

Fabulous Boston Italian restaurants are found in every neighborhood in the city.

Boston's North End features an abundance of Italian restaurants and fabulous bakeries. 

Stop by Mike’s Pastry, Modern Pastry, or one of the other irresistible bakeries for an expresso and delectable chocolate cannoli.

French restaurants also figure prominently in the Boston restaurant scene - everything from casual but wonderful neighborhood bistros to high-end places that can only be described as “sublime.”

Asian restaurants tightly pack Boston’s Chinatown neighborhood, where you’ll find not just Chinese but also Taiwanese, Vietnamese, Malaysian, and even Indonesian food.   Here and in other neighborhoods, you’ll also discover Cambodian, Thai, Japanese, Middle Eastern, Persian, Afghani, and Indian places.

Too hungry to read more?   Consult our Guide to Boston Best Restaurants.   Otherwise, keep reading for a quick overview of what you'll find.

You’ll Also Discover Other Local Boston and New England Specialties

Maybe because of our long history, Boston has lots of local specialties - plus we enjoy New England specialties as well. 

New England clam chowder is too yummy to miss!  Ditto for broiled Boston scrod, steamers, mussels, baked stuffed clams, Yankee pot roast, and New England boiled dinner (which tastes much better than it sounds).

And you'll also want to enjoy oysters on the half shell, oyster stew, whole boiled lobster, New England clambakes and shore dinners, Cape Cod littlenecks, native swordfish, Boston baked beans, Indian pudding, frappes, Boston cream pie . . . my mouth is watering as I write this.

You can even eat in some of the oldest Boston restaurants:  Union Oyster House and Durgin Park, both close to historic Quincy Market, with its authentic Food Hall.   And while you're in the neighborhood, you might as well also stop by one of Boston's historic taverns for a pint or two.  Or choose a Boston Irish pub - if your timing is good, you'll hear some rousing Irish music. 

Tips for Vegetarians

You'll find relatively few strictly vegetarian or vegan Boston restaurants.  But don't worry.  Boston boasts a large number of vegetarians, and most restaurants know this.  You'll usually find plenty of yummy vegetarian selections on Boston restaurant menus. 

Also, if you're planning to go to a mostly non-vegetarian restaurant, many chefs will be happy to prepare a special vegetarian meal for you if you call a couple of days in advance to request it.  This gives them enough time to buy extra veggies and any other needed ingredients.

Splurge or Budget - You'll Eat Well!

Best of all, although you’ll find plenty of splurge restaurants in Boston, you can also eat very, very well without spending a fortune.  

Thanks in part to our large student population, you’ll discover that Boston has delicious, affordable restaurants in every neighborhood.

But when you do want an impressive place for that important business lunch, or a special ambiance for a romantic proposal or celebratory dinner, or a festive spot for a late supper after a gala evening at the theater, Boston has plenty of choices for these occasions as well.

How Do You Find a Great Boston Restaurant?

That's easy - consult our Guide to Best Restaurants in Boston!

We list restaurant choices in 3 ways:

• Special Categories
• Cuisine
• Neighborhood

For most of these categories, you’ll find a broad selection of restaurants representing most price ranges. Unless the category is cuisine-specific, you’ll also find a selection of food types.

Dress for Dinner?

Yes, of course—wear something. But in most places, business casual (or even just plain casual) is fine.

Guys, throw on a jacket.   Add a tie if you want or need to impress.

Gals, something black and chic always works well here. Add a silk or cashmere shawl if you tend to get chilly.

How Much Will You Spend?

That varies on so many factors!   Although we don't know how much you'll order to eat or drink, we can help you compare relative costs of main dishes at different restaurants.  Click here to learn how to compare the Cost of Eating Out in Boston.

One Final Tip . . .

Except for the most casual places, you should make reservations if at all possible, especially for dinner.   If you have any special requests, this is a good time to make them. 

Bostonians tend to eat out a lot, often right in the neighborhood.

Add in a smattering (or more) of tourists and visitors, perhaps an after-work gathering, a couple of business dinners, a few family groups—and suddenly that cute Beacon Hill bistro or the homey North End seafood place that looks spacious and empty when you pass by mid-afternoon is overflowing with diners who linger, oblivious to the hungry lines forming outside the door.

So avoid disappointment—call ahead to reserve.

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