The Resy Guide to Boston’s Essential Cozy Locales

This Southie natural wine bar is a go-to during the cooler months by virtue of its homey, tile-filled dining room, and a substantial wine list (with Bordeaux by the glass). Food-wise, the menu offers smaller plates like toast with housemade ricotta, or a plate of grilled romaine hearts that sidles up beside heartier fare like the delightfully unfussy Gray’s Burger. The coziness factor is upped further on Sundays, which sees the kitchen send out fried chicken sandwiches slathered with hot sauce and ranch on toasted potato buns with pickles.

Vincent’s is located on the corner of a quiet residential street, and serves guests in a parlor-like dining room abutted by a fun-sized wooden bar. Wherever you sit, you’ll be treated to simple yet thoughtful fare like tempura octopus with brown butter celery root, smoked pork sausage with anadama bread and brown ale gravy, and a “Chicken Two Ways” plate that pairs a fried chicken thigh to tikka masala-style chicken sausage, with creamed corn and pepper relish.

What’s cozier than meatballs, pasta, and pizza on a cold day? Aldo’s Meatballs are one of the signatures of Contessa, the first Boston restaurant from New York’s Major Food Group, located atop the swanky Newbury Boston.

Pro Tip: Those famous meatballs are one of the courses in Contessa’s Thanksgiving Dinner. 

With its tufted leather banquettes and shaker chairs, Black Lamb nails the comfy brasserie feel – but no place is as cozy as the handful of seats and tables beside its marble raw bar, found in a separate back room. The edible side of the menu warms with a French onion soup fortified by short rib and sherry, or coq au vin with fingerling potatoes; meanwhile, the potable portion boasts a Corn Maze Manhattan with a cider reduction and fall spices.

1928 Beacon Hill leans into the neighborhood’s historic feel with an antiques-filled dining room, Chesterfield banquettes aplenty, and a “ship room” festooned with nautical ropes and oil paintings of vintage sailing vessels. Admire the clubby scenery as you nosh on comforting plates of braised shorts ribs and housemade pappardelle Bolognese.

It’s all comfort food, all the time at Stillwater, which proudly serves chicken fried ribeye in a peppered cream gravy and Ritz Cracker-crusted fried chicken thighs with whipped potatoes and three onion gravy. However, the down-home menu throws a few curveballs including a dish of sweet potato and ricotta dumplings with a whiskey cream reduction, and crispy skin salmon with kielbasa and red eye gravy (we’re detecting a gravy theme).

This longstanding South End restaurant occupies a space shaped (and roughly sized) like a shoebox, split between a long wooden bar on one side and high leather booths on the other. It’s where locals head for rewarding, end-of-the-work-week fare like steak frites in a port demi-glace with Roquefort butter, spicy paccheri pasta with shrimp and scallions, or roasted turkey meatloaf with Turkish fig gravy and chive mashed potatoes.

While any of the numerous Smoke Shop locations across town would fall under the “cozy” rubric, we chose Harvard Square’s based on its smaller size—and the location-specific availability of Nashville hot chicken sliders with mayo and pickles on potato buns. You might also find yourself tucking into a plate of Texas-style brisket or cheddar jalapeno sausage links, with pimento mac and cheese or Texas toast on the side.