Boston Restaurants Guide: High End to Budget Dining in Boston

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Restaurants

With Boston's emergence as a first-class culinary destination, innovative and excellent restaurants are popping up everywhere. But don't get so caught up in the latest and greatest that you overlook restaurants that have stood the test of time.

Boston's classic restaurants offer a total dining experience in addition to a great meal. For carnivores, few would argue there's a steakhouse more quintessential than the Oak Room (Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel, 138 St. James Ave.; 617/267-5300; www.theoakroom.com), where the elegant dinging room is done up in dark wood paneling and heavy red draperies, conjuring up a feeling of old-world Boston like few other places in the city. The menu is classic steakhouse with New England influences – lobster bisque and clam chowder are a nod to the locale. A considerably less-pricey choice that duplicates the only-in-Boston feeling is the Union Oyster House (Freedom Trail, 41 Union St.; 617/227-2750; www.unionoysterhouse.com); sure it's touristy (note the gift shop), but as the oldest continually operating restaurant in the country and a favorite of John F. Kennedy's, there's no denying its place in history. We recommend skipping the dining room in favor of slurping oysters and littlenecks at the raw bar on the first floor. Locke-Ober's (3 Winter Place; 617/542-1340; www.locke-ober.com) legacy stretches back to 1853 and today is still one of Boston's top tables – elegant and timeless, serving outstanding French-inspired New England cuisine with dishes ranging from foie gras "steak" and escargot to lobster savannah and Boston scrod with crab.

Dining at one of the following high-end restaurants is worth the inevitable haggling over a reservation. Since opening No. 9 Park (9 Park St.; 617/742-9991; www.no9park.com) in 1998, Chef Barbara Lynch has been a darling of the Boston restaurant scene, and with good reason. The restaurant's low-key elegance and location overlooking Boston Common and the State House, when paired with its artisan wine list and Lynch's regionally inspired French and Italian cuisine, makes for a memorable meal; try the chef's tasting menu with wine pairings to experience the vast range of her talents. The North End's restaurants are hit-or-miss, but one that consistently knocks it out of the park is Prezza (24 Fleet St.; 617/227-1577; www.prezza.com), a welcome respite from the tourist-heavy tables on nearby Hanover Street. The menu is heavy on seafood and handmade pastas, but also includes homemade meatballs and veal porterhouse; the massive wine list is largely Italian. Before there was a wealth of great restaurants in the South End, there was Hamersley's (553 Tremont St.; 617/423-2700; www.hamersleysbistro.com), a neighborhood gem for almost 20 years. The interior is predominately French-country – cheery yellow walls and floral tapestries – as is the menu: classic roasted chicken and cassoulet are staples.

There are so many exceptional mid-priced restaurants in Boston you'll have a hard time narrowing your choices. Casa Romero (30 Gloucester St.; 617/536-4341; www.casaromero.com), loved equally for its food and atmosphere, is a must for any fan of Mexican cuisine. If the warm-weather patio is open, it's worth the wait for a table outside. If not, the tiled tabletops and brick walls create the kind of cozy environment that makes you want to linger for hours. The sangria is the best in the city, and the baked cheese and chorizo appetizer served with warm tortillas is delicious. Near the waterfront is the much-lauded Sel de la Terre (255 State St.; 617/720-1300; www.seldelaterre.com), a French brasserie serving Provencal-inspired dishes in a elegant but casual setting. Its name ("salt of the earth") reflects the rustic cuisine of southern France; the restaurant is famous for its bread, baked fresh every day and so tasty it is served in many other restaurants around the city. It's also sold in the adjacent boulangerie if you want to pair it up with an artisan cheese and have a picnic in nearby Christopher Columbus Park (see Exploring Boston). We've selected two restaurants where you can linger over drinks and lighter fare. New on the scene and very well-received in Beacon Hill, Bin 26 Enoteca (26 Charles St.; 617/723-5939; www.bin26.com) offers small plates of cured meats and artisan cheeses, perfect for snacking while sipping vino from its Italian wine list. For the best Spanish tapas and the best people watching in Boston, snag a table on the Newbury Street patio of Tapeo (266 Newbury St.; 617/267-4799; www.tapeo.com) and sip sangria and Spanish wines while you nosh on garlicky shrimp, baby lamb chops, and stuffed squid.

For gourmands on a budget, have no fear – we know the best places to dine on the cheap in Boston. The most obvious choice is Quincy Market (Faneuil Hall Marketplace; www.faneuilhallmarketplace.com) with 40-plus choices in its mammoth food court – there's chowder (aka chowdah), pizza, paninis, etc. Burrito lovers, brace yourselves: the best burrito in the country is not found in SoCal, San Francisco, and most certainly not in New York City, but in Boston at Anna's Taqueria (several locations; www.shopannas.com). Steamed tortillas (that's the trick) are stuffed with rice, beans, and carnitas, chicken, steak, or veggies and made with only the freshest ingredients. While a bit messier, the quesadillas are equally superb and have their own cult following. Locals are almost as fanatical about the pies at Pizzeria Regina (11 ½ Thatcher St.; 617/227-0765; www.polcaris.com), and though there are several outposts, we recommend skipping them and braving the line outside the original in the North End. Brick-oven pizza is the only thing on the menu – and though the waitresses are surly and the service spotty, it's a fun and delicious experience. If Chinese food is your thing, Boston's vibrant Chinatown is teeming with quality restaurants and low prices; we recommend two: Jumbo Seafood (5-9 Hudson St.; 617/542-2823) and Peach Farm (4 Tyler St.; 617/482-1116). What both lack in atmosphere, they more than make up with fresh seafood ranging from the basic to the adventurous; both are open late, as are most other restaurants in the neighborhood.