The Resy Guide to the Top Late-Night Dining in Boston

In a neighborhood populated by strollers and high-end toy stores, industry favorite Franklin Café remains a defiant night owl. The 26-year-old restaurant serves its full food menu nightly until 1:30 a.m., making it likely the only place in town you can enjoy hanger steak frites with Roquefort butter and a port demi-glace or roasted turkey meatloaf with Turkish fig gravy just five hours before sunrise.

The long-running, Fenway Park-adjacent sister establishment to the Franklin Café has a similar ethos, serving until midnight Monday through Wednesday and until 1 a.m. Thursday through Saturday. And what might you encounter for late-night noshing? Think roasted meatball Parm sliders, cold local lobster rolls with Kewpie mayo, and a house bacon cheeseburger topped by caramelized onions.

Now that Gray’s has extended its kitchen hours until 11 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, you can count on having a late-night snack beside your natural wine fix. Consider matching your glass of Chablis to smoked mackerel toast with radish and green onion, deviled eggs with fermented chile and anchovies, or beer-battered fried fish with lemon and aioli.

Following the great tradition of pizza places everywhere, Pastoral serves the ‘za until 1 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. But this is no walk-up slice joint we’re talking about: Pastoral possesses a wood-fired oven it puts to use making Neapolitan-style pies topped by the likes of veal meatballs and mozzarella or fire-roasted sweet potatoes, sage, and queso blanco. And should you forgo the pizza route, you can also enjoy fire-roasted chicken wings or eggplant fries with aioli and pizza dust.

On Fridays and Saturdays at Painted Burro’s Davis Square location, the Tequila flows until 1 a.m. and dinner is served until 11 p.m. That allows ample time to tuck into a birria quesadilla or a half-roasted “street cart” chicken with tamarind butter and an achiote-citrus marinade. And that doesn’t even cover the tacos: expect chicken tinga, Buffalo cauliflower, roasted potato, and more.

The South End’s resident “rum dungeon” keeps the kitchen going until 11 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, allowing patrons to enjoy both sides of a menu split between sushi and reimagined bar bites. The former includes brown butter lobster salad rolls and 18 types of nigiri, while the latter features okonomiyaki tater tots, A5 wagyu beef skewers, and an eponymous burger with miso teriyaki, avocado, and crispy onions.

Aside from serving upward of 75 beers by tap, City Tap Fort Point proffers hearty sud-soakers until 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. The munchies menu is divided between “Bar Favorites” like Nashville hot cauliflower and blue crab mac ‘n’ cheese, brick oven pizzas like the cremini-mushroom-and-goat-cheese Logan Square, and sandwiches that range from a pimento cheese-slathered fried chicken to a barbecue meatloaf sandwich with white cheddar and a sunny side-up egg.

The Charlestown old-reliable features a late-night menu that’s served ‘til 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until midnight Fridays and Saturdays. Close out the day with the likes of wood-fired Jonah crab artichoke dip, roasted chicken wings with spicy ancho chile, and pizzas including a spicy sausage pie made with pickled chile peppers, caramelized onions, and fresh mozzarella.

Late-lingering diners are served until 11 p.m. at Kendall Square’s groovy neo-dive bar. As for the fare, it’s precisely what you want to nibble on beside a Fernet-and-Coke pitcher in the after-hours: think smoked-and-fried chicken wings, Miller High Life-battered fish and chips, and a chicken katsu sandwich with pickled mushrooms and mayo.

The kitchen at this casual Back Bay bistro doesn’t hang it up until 11 p.m. on Wednesdays, and quite literally burns the midnight oil on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. A worthy effort, as their late-night vigilance results in short rib poutine, bacon-wrapped burgers, and roasted mushroom gnocchi being consumed far later than may be optimal for best-sleep practices.