Where to eat in Boston?
Have you ever been to Boston? Until recently I hadn’t, but it certainly won’t be my last time! I had the chance to go to this beautiful city for a conference and decided to extend my stay for a couple of days so my mom and sister could join me for a mini-girls getaway. We try to do this at least once a year – but this year we happen to squeeze in two trips! (Check out highlights from our Quebec City weekend here).
One of the top priorities on our trips is finding amazing local cuisine, and of course wine to go with it. I had know doubt that we would come across great food in Boston, as I had a ton of recommendations. I was most excited for all of the seafood. Below I’ll break down all of our favourites including one restaurant that had a two and a half hour wait (but was totally worth it!).
Where to eat breakfast in Boston:
We stayed at the Lenox Hotel which is the Back Bay area. We decided to try out City Table, the restaurant attached to the hotel for a tasty breakfast before venturing out for the day. We each had a custom made omelette served with breakfast potatoes and a side of fruit. It was super tasty and kept us full for the morning!
Brownstone was another breakfast spot we tried out which was also located in Back Bay and a great spot for some morning fuel. While we didn’t have the chance to try out Stephanie’s on Newbury – it came highly recommended it, so try to check it out!
Where to eat lunch in Boston:
We happened to stumble upon Marliave while looking for a place to eat on our first day together. But what a great find! I would highly recommend the mussels, seafood salad and of course the fries!
Row 34 is an absolute must if you go to Boston, so much so that I went twice! They have amazing oysters and don’t forget to try their lobster rolls. Make sure you also book a reservation, tables are certainly a hot commodity! I would recommend going for lunch or around happy hour for oysters.
Going to visit the Harvard campus should also be at the top of your to do list when you visit Boston, it is just a short Uber over to Cambridge from the Back Bay area. It was seriously the most beautiful campus I have ever seen. But of course being around all of that ‘knowledge’ made us hungry.
We again, happened to stumble upon another restaurant that was a fave, called The Red House. The restaurant is in a house that was built in 1802! It is so cute and quaint and has a wood burning fireplace that we fell in love with. I would recommend the mussels from brussels, brussels sprout salad, octopus salad and if you are looking for something light to wash it all down, try the Downeast Cider.
Where to eat chowder in Boston:
You can’t go to Boston without having clam chowder, I definitely recommend the clam chowder from Row 34!
I also loved this lobster chowder from The Red House.
Where to eat dinner in Boston:
One of my recommendations would be Sportello located in the Seaport area. Sportello is Italian for ‘counter service’ and the restaurant is set up with a counter like bar all around the kitchen. I absolutely love restaurants set up this way – definitely a go to for date night. Honestly everything on the menu sounded fabulous. Their bolognese was amazing – so I’m guessing if they can do this really well, everything else has to be good.
Neptune Oyster is the restaurant that had the two and a half hour wait but was TOTALLY worth it. It seems like everyone who goes there knows about this because even when we were sitting at the table, anyone walking in who was told to wait a while was okay with it. (That’s when you know it’s good!). Neptune is located in the North End which is essentially a strip of Italian restaurants. If you have time to kill, go there put your name down and then go somewhere else like Bacco’s down the street for a drink or two to kill time.
We ordered the tuna tartare, oysters, Icelandic char and Lobster Squid Ink risotto (pictured below). I can honestly say the char and risotto were two of my top ten favorite dishes of ALL time. So much flavor, words cannot describe! Just do yourself a favor and try it if you go to Boston!
Where to get treats in Boston:
Can’t forget about these! We picked up some apple cider donuts from Red Apple Farm in the Boston Public Market. If the sound of it doesn’t tempt you, the smell of it once you are in the market certainly will!
Of course we also had the try the infamous Mike’s Pastry. And all I can say is HOLY CANNOLI these were great. They are also probably the biggest cannolis I have ever seen, so don’t go on a full stomach! I love that they have a ton of flavours to choose from. We went with pistachio, hazelnut and pecan caramel. WOWZA! 
Tips for getting into top Boston restaurants:
Last but not least I will leave you with some advice. I’m not sure if the conference made the city extra busy but if you want to get in to most places you absolutely need reservations. So make sure to do your research in advance and make reservations wherever and whenever possible. Or for places like Neptune, go early put your name in and then find a way to kill time.
Hopefully these recommendations were helpful, let me know which ones you try if you ever go to Boston!