Guide to Best Boston Restaurants

With so many restaurants in Boston, how do you choose?

Dining in Boston restaurants ranks high as a favorite experience among visitors and residents alike.  But with so many excellent restaurants in Boston, how do you choose?

To make picking where to eat in Boston easier, I've organized restaurants by neighborhood, location, and type in our Boston Restaurant Guide.

Whether you're looking for the best seafood restaurants in Boston or the best steakhouses . . . Downtown Boston restaurants or Italian restaurants . . . splurge or inexpensive restaurants or other categories, use Boston Discovery Restaurant Guide as your starting point. 

You can also find questions asked by other site visitors (and Boston Discovery Guide's answers) - or ask your own.  Finally, be sure to check our Boston Restaurant Tips and FAQs page for answers to the most common questions.

One of Boston's Top Restaurants in the Fenway Neighborhood

Although you will find some places for dining in Boston that you'll recognize as part of national chains - including our own Legal Sea Foods - many of the best Boston restaurants are chef-owned.  Dining in them gives you a unique and wonderful experience that you'll savor long after your Boston trip is over.

Boston Restaurant Guide by Neighborhoods and Locations

Boston Restaurants by Neighborhood

Boston Neighborhood Map for Restaurant Locations

Does a morning of sightseeing in Beacon Hill mean you shouldn't consider a Back Bay restaurant for lunch?  Not at all!  Central Boston's compact size means you can easily and quickly walk from one neighborhood to another.  This map will give you an idea of how the city is laid out.  Check our Boston sightseeing guide to find attractions in each neighborhood.

Boston Restaurants by Location

Boston seafood restaurants near Logan Airport

Restaurants near Black Falcon Cruise Terminal

Food trucks on the Rose Kennedy Greenway - plus other nearby places to eat

Boston Restaurants Discounts, Deals, and Savings

Boston locals find Boston restaurant deals, discounts, and savings all the time - and if you're a Boston visitors, you can too. 

Here are the 3 best places to find special deals, discounts of 50% or more, and big savings in restaurants in Boston:

Today's Daily Deal for Boston Restaurant Savings 50% or More	Entertainment Book Huge Selection - 700 Boston and Boston area Restaurants	Restaurant.com Save 60% or More On Boston Restaurants

Boston Restaurants by Type and Occasion

Boston Bars and Pubs Serving Tasty Food

Boston's first European settlers, the Puritans, drank only beer (aside from the occasional cup of tea) because they were afraid to drink the water, and some of the first public buildings they erected were taverns.  We still boast lots of bars and pubs here in Boston, and aside from the beverages they serve, they're a vibrant part of the dining scene.

Want to raise a pint while enjoying fish and chips in Paul Revere’s favorite tavern?   Or grab a burger in a great sports bar near Fenway Park or near TD Garden?  Or listen to Irish music while you enjoy traditional Irish fare?   Check out these options: 

• Historic Boston Bars
• Best Boston bars near Fenway
• Best Boston bars near the Garden
• Boston Irish Pubs
• Boston Sports Bars

Where to Go for Wine and Food Pairings

Wine rivals beer for popularity in Boston, although wine bars have not caught on here to the same degree as in other cities around the world.  Still, a number of Boston restaurants offer wine pairings.  Here's where to find some of the best:

Boston wine bars with wine and food pairings

Your Boston Restaurant Questions and Comments

Read all the interesting Boston restaurants questions and comments from other visitors, and Boston Discovery Guide's responses.

When asking your question or sharing a memorable Boston restaurant experience, please fill out the whole form, including lines that say "optional."

After you send your question or experience, you'll see a page that thanks you and asks you to set notification options. We highly recommend that you check the first 2 boxes so that you'll know we received your question and be notified when we reply. When you see Boston Discovery Guide's reply, please let us know you've received it and let us know if we helped.

Please note: We can't respond to questions about restaurant addresses, hours, ingredients in specific dishes, or anything else that you can easily look up on-line or that only the restaurant would know. We also are unlikely to be able to answer questions about restaurants outside of central Boston. Finally, we do not publish comments that sound like self-promotion, competitor-bashing, or thinly disguised advertising!

Thanks for getting in touch.

Boston Restaurant Answers from Boston Discovery Guide

Boston Discovery Guide's answers to Boston restaurant questions

Back Bay Restaurants Guide

Home to some of the city's trendiest shops, beautiful historic churches, stunning architecture, and luxurious hotels, Back Bay is also where you'll find some of the best Boston restaurants in all price ranges.

Here are some top Back Bay restaurants to consider:

• Abe and Louie's Prime Steakhouse
• Capital Grille Boston
• Davio’s Northern Italian Steakhouse
• Grill 23 and Bar
• Haru
• Jasper White’s Summer Shack
• Legal Sea Foods
• L’Espalier
• Piattini
• Top of the Hub

More Back Bay restaurants

Beacon Hill Restaurants

One of the city's oldest neighborhoods, historical Beacon Hill has a wide variety of great restaurants, many with talented chef/owners.

Here are just a few of the Beacon Hill restaurants that you'll enjoy:

• 75 Chestnut
• Antonio’s Cucina Italiana
• Grotto
• Panificio Bistro Bakery
• No. 9 Park
• The Hungry I
• Lala Rokh

Charlestown Restaurants

Another old Boston neighborhood, Charlestown has 2 popular Freedom Trail sites - the Bunker Hill Monument and the USS Constitution - plus HarborWalk and charming neighborhoods to explore. You'll also enjoy the restaurants, including the Warren Tavern, built in 1780 right after the Revolutionary War.

You're sure to enjoy these restaurants:

• Warren Tavern
• Tavern on the Water

Downtown Waterfront Restaurants

The sinking of the elevated Central Artery reunited Boston's Waterfront with the rest of Downtown.  We're still getting used to it.  Waterfront and near-the-waterfront restaurants provide a great excuse to stroll along the water and admire the views. 

• Meritage
• Legal Sea Foods
• Sel de la Terre

Chinatown Restaurants

Not just Chinese restaurants fill Boston's thriving Chinatown.  You'll also find Taiwanese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Korean, Malaysian, Thai, and other Asian restaurants.  Chinatown restaurants tend to stay open later than others in the city, so they're a popular spot after the theaters close.  And for brunch, you can't beat Chinatown's dim sum restaurants!

• Chau Chau City
• China Pearl
• Xinh Xinh
• Ginza
• Taiwan Café
• Pho Hoa

Leather District Restaurants

This small but trendy leather-factories-turned-lofts area next to Chinatown has a few equally trendy restaurants.  Generally speaking, you'll find innovative cuisine, creative drinks, wine pairings, and jazz. 

• Les Zygomates
• O Ya
• Sorriso

Financial District / Downtown Crossing / Ladder District

Even though Downtown Crossing and the Financial District comprise distinct areas, Financial District employees flood many Downtown Crossing restaurants at noon - so we combine them. The Ladder District? Well, that term never caught on locally, but you'll see it in guidebooks so we include it. 

• Times Irish Pub and Restaurant
• The Vault
• Vinalia Restaurant, Lounge, and Wine Bar
• Radius
• Café Fleuri
• Locke-Ober

Historic Downtown Boston / Faneuil Hall Marketplace 

• Durgin Park
• Union Oyster House
• Mooo

Boston Theatre District Restaurants

• Jacob Wirth
• Teatro
• Montien

Park Square Restaurants

Boston's Park Square, a tiny area between the Public Garden and Back Bay, packs in a lot of restaurants for its size.  

• Finale
• Legal Sea Foods
• Via Matta

Fenway Restaurants

• Eastern Standard Boston
• Brasserie Jo
• Petit Robert Bistro
• Canestaro Restaurant
• Elephant Walk

More Fenway restaurants

North End Restaurants (and Bakeries!)

Boston's North End is justly famous for its wonderful small restaurants and bakeries.  You'll find many of the city's most popular Italian eateries here, many of them on Hanover Street. 

• Daily Catch
• Modern Pastry
• Mike’s Pastry
• Mamma Maria
• Neptune Oyster

More North End restaurants

South Boston Waterfront Restaurants (Seaport District and Fort Point)

• Barking Crab
• Legal Harborside
• Flour Bakery+Café

More about South Boston Waterfront restaurants

South End Restaurants

Boston's South End boasts the city's highest concentration of chef/owner restaurants. 

You'll love these, as well as all of the many other choices.

• Aquitaine
• B&G Oysters
• Flour Bakery+Café
• Mistral
• Myers+Chang
• Petit Robert Bistro
• South End gourmet markets (check out the cooking classes!)

More about South End Restaurants

West End/Government Center/TD Garden

Home to Boston's mammoth Government Center, some of the city's premier hospitals, high-rise luxury condos, and TD Garden, Boston's West End has some of the country's oldest restaurants and taverns along with newer places.

Here's a small sample of places for you to enjoy:

• Kinsale Irish Pub and Restaurant
• Scampo
• Plus, Best Boston Bars near the Garden

Legal Sea Foods at Terminal B in Boston Logan Airport

Return from Boson Restaurants to Boston Tourism and Discovery Guide home page