Boston restaurant recommendations

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!

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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.