Best Restaurants in Boston – Back Bay – Contessa Boston

$$$$ Italian
3 Newbury St, Back Bay
+1 617-741-3404
www.contessatrattoria.com

An Italian restaurant worthy of its regal name, all-day Contessa sits atop the swanky Newbury Boston and it comes from the industry veterans responsible for Carbone in NYC.

And thanks to its glass enclosure, it’s a rooftop restaurant you can count on enjoying year-round.

Best Restaurants in Boston – Back Bay – Krasi

$$$ Greek
48 Gloucester St, Boston, MA 02115
(617) 536-0230
krasiboston.com

Krasi, a swanky Greek wine bar and restaurant located just off of a bustling corner of Newbury Street in Back Bay, opened just before the pandemic hit in 2020.

Now, you’ll be lucky if you score a reservation.

The team is top-notch: Krasi’s executive chef Valentine Howell is a James Beard finalist this year, and expert wine director Evan Turner leads a bunch of fun programs at the restaurant, including a monthly wine club.

Mooncusser

$$$$ Seafood Restaurant
304 Stuart St, Boston, MA 02116
(617) 917-5193
mooncusserboston.com

Mooncusser can’t quite be contained in just one box.

It’s a seafood restaurant, but it’s just as interested in playing with chicken and pork and whatever vegetables are in season throughout the year.

It’s fine dining, but it’s far from the hushed, stuffy image that phrase can conjure up in Boston.

The experimental tasting menu riffs off of New England ingredients without getting bogged down by tradition, which makes it a fun, forward-thinking ride to buckle into for a night.

Just remember: If you really like a particular dish, savor each bite, because chef Carl Dooley and his team rip up the menu and rewrite it every six weeks or so.

Best Restaurants in Boston – Back Bay – Mamma Maria

$$$ Italian
3 North Square Boston 02113
(617) 523-0077
mammamaria.com

When you walk into Mamma Maria you get a tingling sensation that you have mistakenly entered someone’s luxuriously historic home.

This is the feeling you experience at so many little trattorias in London or Paris with a Michelin Star. Mamma Maria is one of Boston’s truly fine dining establishments and you will realize why they are a notch above the rest as soon as you take your first bite.

Everything is made from scratch and prepared with precision.

Also, the wine list impresses.

Asta

$$$$ Funky
47 Massachusetts Ave, Boston 02116
617-585-9575
www.astaboston.com

Chef Alex Crabb (of Noma and L’Espalier), offers a tasting-menu-only format at Asta that challenges what we all expect here in Boston.

The funky dishes combined with the relaxed atmosphere give Asta the feeling of a trendy Michelin starred spot in a city like Copenhagen or Amsterdam.

And we wouldn’t mind if more of these cool-kid approved spots would pop up in Boston.

Best Restaurants in Boston – Back Bay – The Capital Grille

$$$$ Steak house
900 Boylston St, Boston, MA 02115
(617) 262-8900
thecapitalgrille.com

Classy chophouse presenting surf ‘n’ turf classics & an ample wine selection in ornate rooms.

Grill 23 & Bar is a recipient of Wine Spectator’s Grand Award for their winning wine list—one of only 100 restaurants in the world to receive this coveted honor.

Grill 23 & Bar serves Brandt Beef.

The Brandt family raises vegetarian-fed, hormone-free, and antibiotic-free beef on their California farm using sustainable farming and humane husbandry practices.

Brandt Beef is the only beef producer in the country to earn Master Chefs’ Institute Seal of Excellence for its commitment to producing a superior culinary product.

Tender and flavorful, Brandt Beef provides the highest quality steaks to a limited number of restaurants around the country.

Himmel Hospitality Group owns and operates four of New England’s top restaurants: Harvest, Bistro du Midi, and The Banks Fish House in addition to Grill 23.

Best Restaurants in Boston – Beacon Hill – Grotto

$$$ Italian restaurant
37 Bowdoin St, Boston, MA 02114
(617) 227-3434
grottorestaurant.com

Subterranean hideaway boasts refined Italian cooking, notable wine list & nightly prix fixe option.

Occupying an inconspicuous, subterranean spot on the back side of Beacon Hill, Grotto has earned itself high praise with imaginative, contemporary Italian cuisine.

The dining room’s exposed brick walls covered with artwork from local creative-types give Grotto an intimate and cozy feel that’s hard to find anywhere nearby.

Grotto offers $45, $48, $53 and $56 per person prix fixe prices for dinner every night.

The three course option is available seven days a week during all hours of dinner operation.

Best Restaurants in Boston – China Town – o ya

$$$$ Japanese restaurant
9 East St, Boston, MA 02111
(617) 654-9900
o-ya.restaurant

Acclaimed, inventive sushi, Japanese small plates & tasting menus crafted in elegant surrounds.

o ya boston accepts reservations up to sixty days in advance.

A nightly chef’s-choice omakase menu is offered, featuring signature o ya favorites as well as seasonal specials.

Adjustments to this menu for most food allergies and aversions can be accommodated with 24 hours notice.

Requests for modified vegetarian omakases will require at least 72 hours advance notice.

Best Restaurants in Boston – Downtown – Yvonne’s

$$$ New American restaurant
2 Winter Pl, Boston, MA 02108
(617) 267-0047
yvonnesboston.com

A well-executed embrace of the modern speakeasy hidden behind a faux hair salon.

Refined yet playful supper club in a handsome hideaway accented with marble & mahogany wood.

The huge space has plenty of banquettes, booths, and nooks, making it the perfect place to hide out in, whether for an after-work bite or a late-night cocktail.

The small-plate menu ranges from Korean street food to Argentine asado; dishes create interesting pairings with the wide-ranging drinks list.

Creative types, young professionals, groups of girlfriends, even a Red Soxer or two can all be spotted here.

The people-watching is nonpareil.

Best Restaurants in Boston – East Boston – Rino’s Place

$$ Italian restaurant
258 Saratoga St, Boston, MA 02128
(617) 567-7412
rinosplace.com

Homey family-owned restaurant known for homemade pasta & Italian comfort-food favorites.

At Rino’s Place, Guy Fiorelli claims they’re following all the rules and offering “authentic Italian dishes just like they do in Italy,” with one addition: ridiculously large portions.

You’ll taste the passion for the food in dishes like Shrimp With Lemon Liquor, Rino’s Special and the Lobster Ravioli.

The menu runs the spectrum: homemade pastas with sauces spanning the pages of your go-to traditional Italian cookbook, heaping seafood dishes, hefty servings of tender chicken, beef, and veal (most served with pasta, of course).

Basically, if you’re looking for any Italian dish you’ll find it here, and it’ll be delicious.

Special Dishes: Shrimp with Lemon Liquor, Rino’s Special, Lobster Ravioli.

Best Restaurants in Boston – Fenway – Kenmore – Blaze Pizza

$ Pizza restaurant
1282 Boylston St, Boston, MA 02215
(617) 297-9585
blazepizza.com

Thin-crust pies are quick-crisped at this modern chain of fast-casual pizza joints.

Founded in 2011 by Elise and Rick Wetzel, with celebrity investor LeBron James as a franchise owner,  Blaze Pizza has become THE place for build-your-own pizzas cooked to order in three minutes.

The Wetzels, who created Wetzel’s Pretzels, realized the power and the dough in dough as a delivery system for all kinds of flavors.

The simple pretzels now come in multiple flavors and combinations in malls across America.

Blaze Pizza has taken their decadent Cheesy Bread to the next level by adding chopped garlic and our signature Pesto Drizzle.

Best Restaurants in Boston – North End – Regina’s Pizza

$$ Pizza restaurant
11 1/2 Thacher St, Boston, MA 02113
(617) 227-0765
pizzeriaregina.com

Circa-1926 local chain for thin-crust, brick-oven pizzas in a no-frills setting.

Since 1926, Regina Pizzeria has been greeting guests in the North End of Boston.

For over three generations, Regina’s delicious brick oven pizza has been inspired by the love of good food and the special pride of the Polcari Family.

People have been flocking to Boston’s “Little Italy” in the North End for a taste of Regina’s famous brick-oven, thin-crust pizzas for almost a century.

At this local staple, known as “Boston’s original pizzeria,” diners wait in line for the spicy sauce, salty cheese and fresh, local ingredients.

Best Restaurants in Boston – South Boston – Cafe Polonia

$$ Polish restaurant
611 Dorchester Ave, Boston, MA 02127
(617) 269-0110
cafepolonia.com

Polish comfort fare includes pierogi, kielbasa, potato pancakes & other classics in a crafty space.

The Polish restaurant located on Dot Avenue in Andrew Square, opened back in 2002 and served up potato pancakes, pierogi, kielbasa, cabbage stew, and more.

Guy Fiorelli says that Cafe Polonia is a real-deal Polish joint where everything is cooked the proper way. T

hey serve all the traditional Polish dishes, like their handmade meat pierogi that Guy says will change the way you think about these bites.

Also have a taste of the Knight’s Cutlet, which is a stuffed pork loin.

Special Dishes: Meat Pierogi, Knight’s Cutlet

Best Restaurants in Boston – South End – KAVA neo-taverna

$$$ Greek restaurant
315 Shawmut Ave, Boston, MA 02118
(617) 356-1100
kavaneotaverna.com

An intimate, sophisticated neighborhood spot for Greek small plates & imported wine & spirits.

Inside Kava Neo-Taverna there is an actual mural of a Greek grandfather painted inside the Restaurant.

Kava Neo-Taverna aims to be a transplant of Greece of sorts, with much of its interior decorating imported from the European country and with plenty of food brought in from the Mediterranean.

The restaurant is the work of George Axiotis, Irakli Gogitidze, and Shahrokh Reza, who have stocked the bar with standard craft beers and spirits along with Greek wines.

Kava Neo-Taverna serves small plates, seafood, baklava, and more, as previously reported.

Best Restaurants in Boston – West End – Tasty Burger

$ Hamburger restaurant
1 Nashua St, Boston, MA 02114
(617) 303-0800
tastyburger.com

North Station-side branch of a local retro burger chain with beer & wine.

Tasty Burger was founded by a group of chef friends who dreamed of opening a burger joint, Tasty Burger opened its first location behind the historic Fenway Park in Boston, Mass. in 2010.

Tasty Burger is a modern fast food neighborhood burger restaurant, Tasty Burger quickly became known as the city’s favorite spot to grab a great-tasting burger.

Tasty Burger teamed up with neighbors at Fenway Park, Tasty Burger was the Official Burger of the Boston Red Sox from 2014-2020, making delicious burgers available inside the park to hundreds of thousands of baseball fans every year.

Tasty Burger has five locations around the Boston area and growing, Tasty Burger is a modern fast food neighborhood burger restaurant. 

Best Restaurants in Boston – Wharf – Waterfront – Row 34

$$$ Seafood Restaurant
383 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210
(617) 553-5900
row34.com

This stylish brick-&-wood eatery serves an extensive oyster menu plus fish entrees & craft beers.

Fashionably simple, Row 34 in Fort Point Channel, within the Seaport District, has quickly made a splash in the restaurant scene.

Serving simple, fresh seafood, Row 34 churns out plates of seafood to be eaten with enjoyment.

Row 34 has a focus on pairing their menu items, including raw bar favorites with beer.

Row 34 offers crisp, clean, expertly shucked, local oysters alongside a pint of a craft draft or bottle of beer for a coupling you won’t soon forget.

The main course selections consist of the freshest fish they can find and cooks it up in every way imaginable: pan seared, roasted, grilled, baked, battered and fried.