Boston restaurant recommendations

Um. Wait a sec - I don't know any restaurants in Boston Boston. Wandering about Central & Harvard Square (on zee Red Line) would get you some fine eateries with the college-type pricing. And there's the Delihaus ... somewhere near Fenway Park. Diner-type place, very dinery.

Oh, shit. Just wait for Dan to tell you where to go.

Umm ... so, sort of a combo of generally southern things and the same sorts of west African influences you see in Caribbean cooking. Fried chicken, candied yams, collard greens, cornbread, chitlins, catfish ...

Pho Pasteur in Harvard Square: This one is in the Garage Mall, which is really difficult to miss once you're in Harvard Square. Basically, if you get off the T at the Harvard stop, you chould be able to see the big glowing red awning from the entrance to the T. The Garage Mall sits between JFK and Dunster Street practically in the middle of Harvard Square; Pho Pasteur is closest to the Dunster Street entrance. It's incredibly good Vietnamese food; you can get a huge bowl of soup with rice noodles and a spring roll for something like $6. Rice dishes are similarly priced. There's also a Pho Pasteur in the theater district on Stuart Street which is significantly more expensive.

There are several good restaurants in Chinatown, but I can't really speak to how inexpensive they are. Look for Chau-Chau City, The Golden Pearl, and The Dynasty.

Also, Copley Square has a great place that isn't that expensive called the White Star Tavern. Also, if you're in the Copley/Prudential area, you should check out Marche, which is in Prudential Center and is extremely cool; basically, it's a warehouse of food stations and you can wander from place to place taking your pick from seafood, pizza, sushi, grilled stuff, decadent deserts, a dediacted wine bar, etc. They give you a piece of paper when you walk in and, as you get stuff from different stations, they stamp the paper with what you've ordered. You then pay on the way out. It can be dangerous, particularly if you go for the more expensive stuff, but they do this great potato dish called Rosti which is hyper- filling, plus their pizza is reasonable.

A long time ago, I would have tried to send you to Bob the Chef's but that place is hyper-expensive now and just isn't vegetarian- friendly. I can't think of the soul food place that Nitsuh is thinking of in Allston. There are a bunch of places on Commenwealth Ave. alongside Boston University which are pretty reasonable, however. (You'll want to take the B train on the green line.) In particular, there's a Thai restaurant at (I believe) the BU West stop that's pretty good. Click here for a map of the B train; the three BU stops are all a good bet for finding cheap food, as is Kenmore Square (if all else fails, there's a Pizzeria Uno there).

Actually, if you know about where you're going to be, I can try to tell you some decent restaurants that are near there.

That's a shame ... that place was damn good.

Revive! Six years later!
Are there any good restaurants in the North End, or is that an oxymoron? I lived there, on Henchman Street when I was 17, LONG LONG ago, and ate out a lot, but it was basically generic food. I suspect the same is true now. I haven't lucked out on my recent forays, that's for sure. With such heavy tourist traffic, why bother spending the bucks on a great chef?
Tell me I'm wrong—we're headed into town next week.

i will be in boston starting tomorrow and i would like this question answered as well!

So, somebody—answer!

Santarpio's pizza in East Boston. An unbelievable thin pie, near the airport.

(non North End content)

I thought Rendezvous in Central Square was pleasant enough. Not amazing or anything. Good bread.

is the East Coast Grill-affil'd sandwich place any good?

But I want amazing!
I've been underwhelmed the last couple of times I've eaten at the East Coast Grill in Inman Square. Too bad, because it's right near the apt. where we stay.

Are there any good, date worthy, restaurants in Harvard Square?

How far outside of the sq are you will to go and what kind of $ are we talking? Let me know and I'll have a think . . .

What's your budget like? Most of the places I'd point you towards are $$$$ except for Grafton St.

xpost! hahaha

Lol Dan, exactly. I thought of a couple places immediately but they're pretty steep.

Just how important a date is this?

Anyway, my shortlist (places I've actually eaten) across a smattering of price points:

Upstairs on the Square
Craigie Street Bistrot
Casablanca
Harvest
Legal Seafood
Bartley's
Tanjore
West Side Lounge
Temple Bar
Henrietta's Table

I dunno if I would choose Bartley's for a fancy date :/

He said "good", not "fancy"!

Never been to Upstairs, but if you're looking for something in that range I can heartily recommend Craigie Street. Excellent food and it's a little off the beaten path so you'll look like you know what's up.

Upstairs is awesome and impressive. It's pricey but totally worth it: http://www.upstairsonthesquare.com/menus_soiree.html

DP's suggestions are good - I really like West Side Lounge and it should be more reasonable $ wise.

not quite harvard square, but oleana is grebt

Yeah, Oleana is awesome!

^ True. If you're willing to consider Davis Sq then Diva is good for Indian food and has a cool lounge/bar.

Just how important a date is this?

Pretty important. We've been sleeping together for a few weeks and have yet to go out on a proper date. She lives in Davis, so anywhere between Harvard and Davis could work.

Harvard would be nice though because we'll be at a thing at Harvard Book Store till 8 or so. Any thoughts about Chez Henri?

West Side Lounge is probably my favorite option around Harvard/Porter if you're looking for something reasonably affordable without sacrificing quality or dateworthiness. A little more relaxed than some of these other places, and isn't too far of a walk. And their cocktails are pretty good, if that's your thing.

Funny, I lived in Porter for years, and I still don't know anybody that's actually eaten at Chez Henri...

Oleana is pretty great. Go there.

Pretty important. We've been sleeping together for a few weeks and have yet to go out on a proper date. She lives in Davis,

my sister lives in davis square, i'm calling her when i get home from work and if she's going to dinner in harvard square i'm flying back and kicking your ass goodman.

Chez Henri always looks pretty rad but I've never eaten there either. There is a beautiful picture of their Cuban sandwich in last week's Globe Magazine.

where is a place that serves CORN DOGS? I need them.

http://www.summershackrestaurant.com/

lol I am going to the one at Mohegan Sun

Can anyone recommend a good saturday brunch/lunch place in dowtown boston or cambridge?

Yes, sure there are a lot of good ones. Where exactly are you staying? That should help narrow it down a little.

Actually, at the airport, kind of a flying visit for a wedding on friday then flying out saturday afternoon. So by a T stop would be good.

Ha - we live right near the airport.

OK well if you have a couple hours to kill then I'd suggest going downtown to Newbury St area maybe. Take the Blue Line to Gov't Ctr. and then change for any of the Green Line inbound trains except the 'E'. Get off at Hynes. Exit the station and make a right and then another right. That's Newbury St. Or just take a cab. ;-)

There is a bookstore/cafe on the right called Trident. It's on the first block, I think. They do very good breakfast and lunch: http://www.tridentbookscafe.com/NASApp/store/IndexJsp?s=regionalcatalog
It's cute delicious and funky but not conducive to large groups.

Newbury Street and the surrounding area has tons of shops/ other restaurants on it and ends at the public gardens which is very pretty.

If you don't really want to see anything but just want an amazing brunch then go to Zaftigs in Brookline. http://www.zaftigs.com/

That is on the Green C line outbound from gov't ctr. Be prepared to wait for a table and then eat some awesome food.

Trident is awesome and pretty crowded, Zaftigs is good and a little overpriced and ridiculously crowded. They have good brunch at Eastern Standard in Kenmore Square that costs about the same as Zaftigs and is always quiet at brunch-time. It's seconds from the T. I know all the South End places do brunch too (Masa looked like it had a REALLY tasty brunch menu), but I never feel like dragging my ass to the South End for that part of the day.

Yeah, I feel the same way about the South End usually.

Eastern Standard looks good! That's in the Hotel Commonwealth, right? I've never been. I always assumed it would be much pricier.

go to the 99.

lol The 99 in Charlestown new BHCC is the single most depressing restaurant I've ever been to.

holy balls! there are 114 99's! i thought there were maybe 15 or 20. god that's fucked up. i can't remember the last time i went to the nines. i think i was with my dad and some of his friends before a college hockey game.

I have yet to see a 99 in person. One day.

lol The 99 in Charlestown new BHCC is the single most depressing restaurant I've ever been to.

I've heard rumors they have a shuttle for Bruins game!

s

Yeah ES is in the Hotel Commonwealth. Dinner is expensive but brunch isn't too bad. Really great cocktail menu too.

I believe that Charlestown 99 is the site of a well-known underworld hit from the 90s, in full view of a dinnertime crowd. Oh, Charlestown. That said the suburban 99s are reasonable bar food outposts if you just want some wings or something. During my almost-year of postcollegiate exile in the Mass. suburbs my friends and I were there at least twice a month. It was an odd time of my life.

I haven't been to any 99s since that one and it was in 2002 and I just popped in to use their restroom.

You know I think you're right about the mob thing at that 99. I can't remember the details but I'm sure I've heard that before. I lived in Charlestown in 2001-2002 and LOVED it. The only issue I had was that
I felt a little removed from the rest of my friends/the city.

ES is good for cocktails and OK for dinner too. haven't been to brunch - i suspect that it may not be so quiet on day game days, though (which this saturday isn't) as it's always rammed before games.

n.b. if this is the brunch i'm thinking of then ES sounds good, basically.

then let us make it so

You'll have to report back on how it was. :-)

let me chack with my better half first but does look good.

Upstairs on the Square is really good, as noted upthread

True but $$$$$$.

So ENBB, you said you live near the airport now? Like East Boston? What do you think about that?

hey, where the fuck has jhoshea been?

^^^ I have been wondering this too!!!

Yes, East Boston. We're in Jeffries Point which is by Maverick Station. http://eastboston.povo.com/Jeffries_Point. We're one block from this: http://eastboston.povo.com/Listing:Piers_Park_on_Marginal_Street and so far we LOVE living there.

Our place is huge and we're only paying $200 more than we were for a studio in Brighton. The commute is so quick. Met a friend in DT x-ing the other night and then got on at state and was at Maverick in 2 stops and home in 20 mins. That would have taken me almost an hour when we were in Brighton.

That sounds awesome...I wish I worked downtown and not 30 miles away so I could potentially have that kind of commute.

Eastern Standard is a great call, since the Red Sox are out of town.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1291/1161890749_87e5d2c47c.jpg

It's a huge hike to get to unless you live nearby, but Sorella's in JP is probably my favorite brunch in Boston, and definitely has the most schizophrenic menu. "YOUR IN ITALY TRY IT"

anyone know anything about Belmont, especially for breakfast/lunch? i'll be staying there this weekend for a wedding.