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The Best Places in Boston

Eat + Drink + Do, change section

Departments

A department belongs to one section, so choosing one narrows the list to it.

Kinds of places

Cuisines


  1. Rank 191. Salt patisserie

    French-Brazilian


    Address
    792 Beacon St, Newton Center, MA · Newton Center
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 7 AM

    Monday 7 AM–5 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  2. Address
    111 Chelsea St, East Boston, MA · East Boston
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 11:30 AM

    Monday 11:30 AM–10 PM

    Online
    Website


  3. Rank 191. Third Cliff Bakery

    French Bakery

    A sun-filled corner bakery in Jamaica Plain where the croissant menu changes often enough to keep regulars guessing. Third Cliff built its following at a farmers market cart before settling into its permanent spot, and the French pastry classics get unexpected company here, kimchi cheddar croissants alongside vegan cardamom morning buns. The espresso is taken seriously. Neighborhood coffee shop energy, pastry-destination ambitions.






  4. Rank 210. Vida Cantina

    Modern Mexican


    Address
    2456 Lafayette Rd, Portsmouth, NH · Portsmouth
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 4 PM

    Monday 4 PM–9 PM

    Reserve
    Resy
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  5. Rank 212. Grace by Nia

    Soul Food

    The broad blue doors open onto a jazz-age fantasia: gold-accented walls, live music, and soul food in a Seaport dining room that feels like a speakeasy that upgraded its permits. Restaurateur Nia Grace runs this dinner-and-show spot, where oxtail and grits share the menu with easy cocktails and the band is not background noise. Boston Magazine named it one of the city's top fifty restaurants, and gave it Best Dinner and a Show.


  6. Rank 212. MIDA

    Italian


    Address
    261 Walnut St, Newton, MA · Newtonville
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 11 AM

    Monday 11 AM–10 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram


  7. Address
    163 Water St, Exeter, NH · Exeter
    Hours

    Closed today, opens Tue 4 PM

    Reserve
    Resy
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  8. Address
    468 Commonwealth Ave, Boston, MA · Boston
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 2 PM

    Monday 2 PM–10 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram


  9. Address
    110 Dorchester St, South Boston, MA · South Boston
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 11 AM

    Monday 11 AM–4 PM, 4 PM–10 PM, 10 PM–1 AM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram


  10. Address
    793 Boylston St, Boston, MA · Boston
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 11:30 AM

    Monday 11:30 AM–10 PM

    Reserve
    OpenTable
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  11. Address
    62 Water St, Framingham, MA · Framingham
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 11 AM

    Monday 11 AM–8:30 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  12. Rank 220. Mistral

    Mediterranean

    Duck on white tablecloths, no apology. Mistral is a full-service French-Mediterranean restaurant in the South End that has been around forever and still packs the room with business-casual regulars alongside tourist groups, both of whom tend to end up with the signature grilled thin-crust pizza in front of them regardless of what they planned to order. The bread is warm and crusty, the service is attentive, and the portions are substantial enough to quiet anyone who finds elegance unsatisfying.



  13. Nine seats, seventeen courses, and Johnny Cash on the speakers: No Relation is a sushi omakase tucked inside the South End's tropical bar Shore Leave, which you pass through to get here. The team behind it takes the fish seriously, mapping each source on the wall, while keeping the room loose enough that smiling-cat sake cups feel completely right. A caviar supplement exists for those who want to go further.


    Address
    11 William E. Mullins Way, Boston, MA · Boston
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 6 PM

    Monday 6 PM–8:30 PM

    Reserve
    OpenTable
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  14. Rank 220. Puritan & Company

    New American

    Parker House rolls with cultured butter arrive at the table early, which tells you something about where this New American restaurant's priorities lie. Will Gilson's Inman Square spot reworks New England staples with local ingredients and the occasional global detour, the kind of cooking that makes baked scrod feel like it had a bad publicist. Comfortable and neighborhood-rooted, it draws regulars who treat the bread course with appropriate seriousness.


    Address
    1166 Cambridge St, Cambridge, MA · Cambridge
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 5 PM

    Monday 5 PM–9 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  15. Address
    314 Main St, Cambridge, MA · Cambridge
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 11:30 AM

    Monday 11:30 AM–10 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  16. Address
    498 Commonwealth Ave, Boston, MA · Boston
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 4 PM

    Monday 4 PM–10 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  17. Address
    5 Portwalk Pl, Portsmouth, NH · Portsmouth
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 4 PM

    Monday 4 PM–9 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  18. Rank 220. Saigon Babylon

    Modern Vietnamese

    Five floors above Central Square, this modern Vietnamese restaurant rewards the climb with vintage furniture the team refurbished themselves and a room that feels like someone's very stylish living room went rogue. The cooking runs to turmeric rice with squab and lemongrass carpaccio, and the cocktail list has a gin drink with salted lime and tingly pepper that earns its place on the bill.


  19. Michael Schlow, the chef behind the late Radius and Via Matta, runs this polished seafood restaurant inside Encore Boston Harbor. The move is the deluxe seafood tower, which arrives before a menu of composed, elegant entrées. Make time for Old Wives' Tale, the nautical speakeasy tucked inside, where cocktails come dressed in mermaid sculptures and scattered seashells, as if the bartender and a prop department struck a deal.


  20. Rank 220. Table

    Italian

    A server once warned a full room of strangers, "It's a marathon, not a sprint," and they were not wrong. This tiny North End prix-fixe seats guests at two long communal tables for six courses of Italian comfort, the kind that leans into abundance rather than elegance. Staff T-shirts reading "Come hungry, be friendly" set the tone before the focaccia even lands.





  21. Address
    416 Centre St, Jamaica Plain, MA · Jamaica Plain
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 11:30 AM

    Monday 11:30 AM–9 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  22. Address
    42 Beach St, Boston, MA · Dorchester
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 11 AM

    Monday 11 AM–9:45 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  23. Address
    55 Boylston St, Chestnut Hill, MA · Chestnut Hill
    Hours

    Closed now, opens noon

    Monday Noon–10 PM

    Online
    Website


  24. Chef Jason Santos runs this Mexican-inspired brunch spot in the Seaport, where the mimosas arrive with a swirl of soft-serve sorbet and the street corn gets a dusting of Flamin' Hot Cheetos. The room is draped in pink flowers, which is either a design choice or an elaborate content strategy, and probably both. Come with a group, order widely from the tapas-style menu, and accept that your phone will not stay in your pocket.


    Address
    319 A St, Boston, MA · Boston
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 4 PM

    Monday 4 PM–10 PM

    Reserve
    OpenTable
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  25. Address
    75 Arlington St, Boston, MA · Hyde Park
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 11:30 AM

    Monday 11:30 AM–3 PM, 3 PM–10 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram


  26. Address
    26 Fan Pier Blvd, Boston, MA · Boston
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 11:30 AM

    Monday 11:30 AM–3 PM, 3 PM–10 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram


  27. Address
    1250 Market St, Lynnfield, MA · Lynnfield
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 11:30 AM

    Monday 11:30 AM–3 PM, 3 PM–10 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  28. Address
    236 Patriot Pl, Foxborough, MA · Foxboro
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 11:30 AM

    Monday 11:30 AM–3 PM, 3 PM–10 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  29. Address
    647 Tremont St, Boston, MA · Boston
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 5 PM

    Monday 5 PM–Midnight

    Reserve
    Resy
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram


  30. Address
    1220 Cambridge St, Cambridge, MA · Cambridge
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 11 AM

    Monday 11 AM–9 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram















  31. Address
    180 Newbury St, Boston, MA · Boston
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 8 AM

    Monday 8 AM–9 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  32. Address
    107 Seaport Blvd, Boston, MA · Boston
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 8 AM

    Monday 8 AM–9 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram


  33. Address
    401 Park Dr, Boston, MA · Boston
    Hours

    Closed today, opens Tue 11 AM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  34. Address
    21 Hudson St Unit 101 Boston, MA · Boston
    Hours

    Closed now, opens noon

    Monday Noon–10 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram







  35. Address
    2565 Washington St Roxbury, MA · Roxbury
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 8 AM

    Monday 8 AM–8 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  36. Address
    1 Broadway, Everett, MA · Everett
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 4 PM

    Monday 4 PM–2 AM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  37. Address
    16 Birch St, Roslindale, MA · Roslindale
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 8 AM

    Monday 8 AM–7 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  38. Address
    215 Charles St, Boston, MA · Boston
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 5 PM

    Monday 5 PM–10 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  39. The biscuits at this Fenway barbecue joint are built to soak up the drippings from brined, smoked chicken, which tells you something about the kitchen's priorities. Tiffani Faison of Food Network fame runs the place, and the slow-smoked ribs and charred brisket have kept regulars coming back for years. Coleslaw and picnic sides fill out the heavy trays. Boston Magazine named it the city's top barbecue in 2025.


    Address
    1381 Boylston St, Boston, MA · Boston
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 11:30 AM

    Monday 11:30 AM–9 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram





  40. Address
    17 Temple Pl, Boston, MA · Boston
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 5 PM

    Monday 5 PM–Midnight

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram


  41. Address
    24 Orleans St, Boston, MA · East Boston
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 4 PM

    Monday 4 PM–11 PM

    Reserve
    OpenTable
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram


  42. Address
    352 Hanover St, Boston, MA · Boston
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 4 PM

    Monday 4 PM–10 PM

    Reserve
    Resy
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram


  43. Address
    605 Tremont St, Ste G, Boston, MA · Boston
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 5 PM

    Monday 5 PM–11 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  44. Address
    195 Elm St, Somerville, MA · Somerville
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 11 AM

    Monday 11 AM–3 PM, 5 PM–9:30 PM

    Online
    Website


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Eat Score

The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

    How we score →

    Drink Score

    The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

      How we score →

      Stay Score

      Four fifths of the score is the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin Key outweighs a listicle. The last fifth is where it is: the ranked places to eat and things to do around it, and how safe the country is. When you sort by what's nearby, distance from you changes the order, never the score.

        How we score →

        Do Score

        The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

          How we score →

          Best Place Score

          The Best Place Score rates the area around a point, not any one place. The places are 60% of it: the best of what's within reach, weighed by distance. The setting is the other 40%: how life goes in that country (how people rate their own lives, how long and how well they live, how safe they are) and what it's like right there (the air, and the weather). If the score looks low, we probably haven't found enough critics out here yet.