top five places to wine and dine in boston – dining guide

5. The Faneuil Hall Marketplace

Located in the centre of Boston’s tourist district and with 17 restaurants and pubs to choose from, the Faneuil Hall Marketplace is the most accessible place for visitors to Boston to eat well. Similar to Ottawa’s Byward Market, Faneuil Hall also features a diverse assortment of shops, retail stores, and entertainment venues in one central facility.

Selections: McCormick and Schmick’s Seafood Restaurant, Rustic Kitchen Bistro, Plaza III Kansas City Steakhouse.

4. Beacon Hill

Beacon Hill’s cobbled sidewalks and brick rowhouses have become iconic in Boston’s colonial heritage. Many of the city’s finest eateries can be found alongside the nations first antique shops on Charles Street. Fine French and Italian cuisine can be found amongst the historic brownstone homes, while further down on Beacon Street, the Bull and Finch Pub, more famously known as ‘Cheers’, entertains a more domestic taste palette.

Selections: The Hungry I, The Beacon Hill Hotel and Bistro, Pigalle.

3. Back Bay

Did you ever want to eat at a café named for the famous clothier Armani? Along Boston’s fashionable Newbury Street, you can do just that. Back Bay has the city’s highest concentrations of fine dining establishments and is easily navigable. From quaint basement-to-sidewalk cafés along Newbury Street to the notorious dining institutions at the Prudential Centre, Back Bay features an endless assortment of restaurants to fit all tastes and budgets.

Selections: Papa Razzi, Sonsie International Café, The Grill 23 & Bar.

2. The Park Plaza

After a long day of wandering the continent’s most walkable city, you’ll want to sit down to a hearty, well-made meal. Dubbed ‘Boston’s Premiere Restaurant Destination’, the Park Plaza features everything from an Argentinean-inspired steakhouse to a dessert-only bar. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and everything in between can be had at a wide variety of different establishments.

See all of the Park Plaza’s dining choices.

1. The North End

Boston’s oldest and most dense neighbourhood is also its best for fine eating. As the nation’s most distinct ‘Little Italy’, Boston’s North End offers the most authentic Italian dining experience this side of the Atlantic. Salem, Hanover, Richmond and Endicott Streets form a virtually uninterrupted ribbon of restaurants, espresso cafés, gelaterias, and specialty grocers. Most restaurants feature porch windows that open wide to the streets, letting the festive atmosphere of a proud neighbourhood mingle with scents from the wood oven. A trip to Boston isn’t complete without a meal in the North End!

Selections: Ristorante Villa Francesca (top pick), Terramia Ristorante, Antico Forno.