Boston.
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85 places
Rooms you can walk into, ranked the way I would send you.
Key: what the badges mean
★ Michelin star · Bib Bib Gourmand · Green ★ Michelin Green Star · Michelin in the Michelin guide, no distinction · J Jeff's own note · Jeff ★★★★☆ 2019 his own rating out of five, and the year he gave it · new the venue itself opened recently · just added recently added to Jeff's list, whatever its age · 2◆ independent chef/industry recommendations · ! hygiene caution in force · ? no current public hygiene record, not a caution · keep walking Jeff has been and would walk past it · the line under a name says when to go: Destination (plan around it) / Solid (the dependable send) / Listed (on the radar). Under it, where the entry states one: how the room takes bookings, and the date I last checked the entry.
Go here first.
Where I'd actually send you first: the rooms I'd put a visitor in on night one, in town rather than an hour down the highway, spread so six cards are six different answers. Producers, markets and the rest of the city are below.
Sarma Restaurantjust added?
Destination · Middle Eastern and Mediterranean small plates · Somerville · $$$
booking essential
Lamb kofte sliders, harissa BBQ duck skewers and a latke chaat that buries mini potato pancakes under tamarind-cranberry chutney and apple tzatziki.
PaguBibjust added?
Solid · Spanish and Japanese · Central Square · $$
book ahead
Patatas bravas with mojo verde land on the same table as crab laksa with ramen noodles, and both come out of Tracy Chang's kitchen in Central Square. MICHELIN has given it a Bib Gourmand.
Santarpio's Pizzajust added?
Solid · Pizza and charcoal-grilled skewers · East Boston · $$
walk-in
Cornmeal under the whole pie, the toppings baked beneath the sauce and cheese, and a coal barbecue by the door doing lamb skewers at $17.50. Dan Secatore called it the best pizza in Boston.
Pammy'sjust added?
Solid · Italian-leaning New American · Cambridge · $$$
book ahead
The lumache come slicked with a Bolognese that turns out, halfway down the bowl, to have gochujang in it.
Fool's Errand?
Listed · Snacks and cocktails · Fenway · $$
walk-in
Four hundred square feet, no chairs, and snacks built like canapés: potato mille-feuille fried in layers, salmon on bread smeared with Brillat-Savarin.
Barismojust added?
Listed · Specialty coffee · East Arlington · $
walk-in
The roasting happens at 171 Massachusetts Ave, so the bags on the shelf were roasted behind the counter you are standing at.
Somewhere tonight.
One tap hides everything shut today and everything that needs a booking, then sorts the rest by how close it is to you. I don’t publish opening hours, because they go stale faster than anyone can check them. Check the door before you go.
The dependable sends
Good cooking needs no occasion, and these are the ones I hand out on a normal Tuesday. 1 here.
New Deal Fish Marketjust added?
Fish and shellfish · East Cambridge · $$
walk-in
Carl Fantasia is the third generation behind this counter and buys at the South Boston docks every morning.
On my list
These are on my list; I haven't been yet. 78 here.
Rebel Rebeljust added?
Natural wine · Union Square · $$
walk-in
Lauren Friel opened this Bow Market wine bar in 2018 and pours natural wine the way the bars she drank in in London and Paris do, with the wine leading and the food kept short.
Regina Pizzeria (North End)just added?
Brick-oven pizza · North End · $$
walk-in
Brick-oven pies out of the same Thacher Street room since 1926, on a dough aged with the house yeast the Polcari family has kept.
Noah's Kitchenjust added?
Sichuan · Brookline Village · $$
book ahead
Noah Jiang trained at the Sichuan Culinary School in Chengdu and cooked at Alley 41 in Flushing before opening here on his birthday in October 2020.
Little Donkeyjust added?
Global small plates · Central Square · $$$
book ahead
Istanbul manti, farro fried rice seasoned with lime leaf and lemongrass, and a raw bar that will sell you a $98 seafood tower. Ken Oringer has run it in Central Square since July 2016.
J.T. Farnham'sjust added?
Fried clams and North Shore seafood · Essex · $$
walk-in
Fried whole-belly clams on the Essex marsh, in the town where the fried clam was invented. The yellow sign reads "Famous fried clams" and the kitchen leaves the argument there.
Lone Star Taco Barjust added?
Tacos, tequila and mezcal · East Cambridge · $$
walk-in
Tacos and grilled street corn out of the Allston bar's second kitchen, with more than eighty tequilas and mezcals behind the counter.