The Top 100 Places to Eat and Drink Near The Dining Room
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Rank 1. The Dining Room
New England
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Rank 2. Flag Leaf Bakery
Bakery
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- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Northeast · Lee Frank
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Northeast · Lee Frank
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Rank 17. Rare Steakhouse
Steakhouse
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Rank 20. Row 34
New England Seafood
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- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Bar
- Boston Magazine 2025 · #16 · Top 50 Restaurants in Boston
- Eater The 38 Essential Restaurants in Boston
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Rank 23. Sarma
Eastern Mediterranean
- USA Today 2026 · Restaurants of the Year
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Nominee · Outstanding Chef · Cassie Piuma
- Boston Magazine 2025 · Best Restaurant · Best of Boston
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Rank 24. Talulla
Italian
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Nominee · Best Chef: Northeast · Conor Dennehy
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Northeast · Conor Dennehy
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Rank 25. Vida Cantina
Modern Mexican
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Chef · David Vargas
- James Beard Awards 2022 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Northeast · David Vargas
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Rank 26. Urban Hearth
New American
A spare dining room with a four-seat bar frames Chef Erin Miller's seasonal cooking, which draws from New England farms and foraged finds—heirloom tomatoes with whipped goat cheese and black sesame crisps, fazzoletti pasta ribboned with saffron and ricotta. The kitchen's restraint and precision suggest a chef more interested in the integrity of her ingredients than in spectacle.
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Nominee · Best Chef: Northeast · Erin Miller
- Boston Magazine 2025 · Best Locavore Restaurant · Best of Boston
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
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Rank 27. The Koji Club
Sake Cocktail Bar
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service · Alyssa Mikiko DiPasquale
- Esquire 2023 · The Best Bars in America
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service · Alyssa Mikiko DiPasquale
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- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker · Monica Glass
- Eater Best New Bakery
- Boston Magazine 2025 · Best Gluten-Free Shop · Best of Boston
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Rank 29. Wusong Tiki Bar
New England/Chinese
- USA Today 2025 · Restaurants of the Year
- Eater The Best Bars Around Boston
- Eater The 38 Essential Restaurants in Boston
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- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Northeast · Patricia Estorino
- Boston Magazine 2025 · Best Cuban Restaurant · Best of Boston
- Boston Magazine 2025 · #46 · Top 50 Restaurants in Boston
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Rank 31. Giulia
Italian
The room hums with the controlled chaos of a place that knows what it does well: pasta, nine varieties of it, rotating daily. Fusilli arrives bright with tomato and zucchini; pappardelle ribbons carry braised wild boar with the weight of patient cooking. An all-Italian wine list anchors the experience. Counter seats along the bar stay open for walk-ins brave enough to take their chances.
- New England 2024 · Pastry Chef of the Year · Yankee Food Awards · Renae Connolly
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in Boston Right Now
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Rank 32. Moëca
Seafood
The room hums with the ease of people who know they're in good hands—soft light, attentive servers, the kind of composure that signals a place confident in what it does. Seafood leads here, from tamarind-lacquered monkfish to lobster spaghetti, sourced with care and seasoned for the world.
- Bon Appétit 2023 · America's Best New Restaurants
- New England 2024 · Pastry Chef of the Year · Yankee Food Awards · Renae Connolly
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
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Rank 33. Nightshade Noodle Bar
Noodles
A black box in Lynn where Chef Rachel Miller's kitchen operates without rules: uni custard meets torched cinnamon and red curry hollandaise; house-made noodles tangle with caramelized garlic, chili crisp, beef and peanuts. The playlist is loud, the staff unguarded, the cooking fearlessly restless.
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Nominee · Outstanding Chef · Rachel Miller
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Northeast · Rachel Miller
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Northeast · Rachel Miller
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- Boston Magazine 2025 · Best Day-to-Night Spot · Best of Boston
- Eater The Best Coffee Shops Around Boston
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Rank 35. Jahunger
Uyghur Noodles
Uyghur cooking from Xinjiang arrives in Cambridge with hand-pulled noodles that are chewy and substantial, their strands slick with chili oil and Sichuan pepper. Family-run and unadorned, the place offers dumplings and homemade yogurt alongside lamb dishes that carry both Chinese and Arabic spice.
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Northeast · Subat Dilmurat
- Boston Magazine 2025 · #43 · Top 50 Restaurants in Boston
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Rank 36. Sumiao Hunan Kitchen
Hunan Chinese
Sumiao Chen abandoned science to open this bright Kendall Square kitchen devoted to Hunan's fiery, funky cooking, where even obligatory dishes like General Tso's chicken receive house-made sauce. The stir-fried rice noodles—egg, chives, pickled green beans—and Grandma's five-spice pork with firm tofu announce a chef thinking beyond the expected.
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- Boston Magazine 2025 · Best Chinese Restaurant · Best of Boston
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in Boston Right Now
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- Boston Magazine 2025 · Best Classy Steak Tips · Best of Boston
- Boston Magazine 2025 · #41 · Top 50 Restaurants in Boston
- Eater The 38 Essential Restaurants in Boston
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Rank 38. Pammy's
Mediterranean
Chris and Pam Willis's kitchen in a salvaged-wood dining room turns out Mediterranean cooking with real precision—bacalao enriched with mascarpone and studded with boquerones and sour cherries, squid ink gnocchi as light as air. A prix-fixe format built for flexibility and a neighborhood warmth that never feels forced.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- Boston Magazine 2025 · #17 · Top 50 Restaurants in Boston
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in Boston Right Now
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- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Northeast · Patricia Estorino
- Boston Magazine 2025 · Best Cuban Restaurant · Best of Boston
- Boston Magazine 2025 · #46 · Top 50 Restaurants in Boston
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Rank 40. Union Oyster House
Seafood
- World Culinary Awards 2025 · Nominee · World's Best Landmark Restaurant
- Eater Tourist Trap Restaurants That Are Actually Good in Boston
- World Culinary Awards 2025 · Winner · North America's Best Landmark Restaurant
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- New England 2025 · Best New Value Meal · Yankee Food Awards
- Boston Magazine 2025 · Best Reason to Stay In and Eat · Best of Boston
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Rank 42. Bagelsaurus
Bakery
- Bon Appétit The Very Best Bagels in the US (Yes, Outside New York)
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in Boston Right Now
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Rank 46. Pagu
Asian
Tracy Chang's Spanish-Asian hybrid cooking pairs bold flavors with quality ingredients—patatas bravas with mojo verde alongside crab laksa with ramen. A Cambridge stalwart since 2017 that moves beyond dining with cooking classes and community dinners.
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurant
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Northeast · Tracy Chang
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
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- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in Boston Right Now
- Eater The 38 Essential Restaurants in Boston
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Rank 49. La Royal
Peruvian
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Best New Restaurant
- Esquire 2023 · Pisco Martini · The Best Martinis in America
- Boston Magazine 2025 · #24 · Top 50 Restaurants in Boston
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- Boston Magazine 2025 · #9 · Top 50 Restaurants in Boston
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in Boston Right Now
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Rank 53. Oleana
Turkish Middle Eastern
Wood-paneled rooms and hanging blue-glass amulets set a protective, chalet-like warmth at this Cambridge stalwart devoted to Turkish and Eastern Mediterranean cooking. The small-plates menu—vegetables, fish, meat—yields ricotta dumplings and quail kebab with pistachio that justify the perpetual crowds.
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- Boston Magazine 2025 · Best Vietnamese Restaurant · Best of Boston
- Boston Magazine 2025 · #34 · Top 50 Restaurants in Boston
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Rank 55. Thistle & Leek
New American
Wood paneling and a relaxed sprawl mask the exacting work happening in this Newton kitchen, where focaccia, pasta, and ice cream emerge from scratch. The seasonal menu pivots daily—sesame bread with chèvre and fava beans, lamb meatballs in tomato-ginger curry—with equal devotion to a properly roasted chicken and a pint.
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Rank 56. Cicada Coffee Bar
Vietnamese Coffee
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Emerging Chef · Vinh Le
- Eater The Best Coffee Shops Around Boston
- Eater The 38 Essential Restaurants in Boston
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- Boston Magazine 2025 · #30 · Top 50 Restaurants in Boston
- Boston Magazine 2025 · Best Allston/Brighton Restaurant · Best of Boston
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- Boston Magazine 2025 · Best Private Dining Room · Best of Boston
- New England 2023 · Best New Restaurants in Boston
- Boston Magazine 2025 · #39 · Top 50 Restaurants in Boston
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- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in Boston Right Now
- Bon Appétit 2018 · #8 · America's Best New Restaurants
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Rank 84. La Saison Bakery
Iranian Bakery
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Rank 87. Sofra Bakery & Cafe
Turkish Bakery
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Rank 95. Salt patisserie
Brazilian/French
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Rank 96. Rosenfeld’s Bagels
Bakery
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Rank 98. Rebel Rebel
Natural Wine Bar
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program
- James Beard Awards 2022 · Nominee · Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program
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