The Resy Hit List: Where In Boston You’ll Want to Eat in March 2025
There’s no question we hear more often: Where should I go eat? And while we at Resy know it’s an honor to be the friend who everyone asks for restaurant advice, we also know it’s a complicated task. That’s where the Resy Hit List comes in.
Consider it your essential resource for dining in Boston: a monthly-updated guide to the restaurants that you won’t want to miss — tonight or any night.
Four Things In Boston Not to Miss This Month
- Tilde You Over: Coffee by day, natural wine by tonight: that’s the basic mission statement behind Tilde, a newly opened Cambridge establishment with a casual, walk-in business model and an emphasis on local products and distributors (speaking of newness, don’t forget to check out what’s New on Resy).
- Egg-cellent: With its espresso martinis and glamorous crowd, Contessa Boston is understandably considered a night spot. Nevertheless, the restaurant gets up early: starting at 6:30 a.m., a new breakfast menu at Contessa dispenses avocado bruschetta and Florentine Benedict to early risers.
- Dinner and a Movie: On March 11, La Morra is holding its annual screening of famous food movie “Big Night,” accompanied by — what else — a recreation of the Italian feast that Tony Shalhoub and Stanley Tucci put together in the film. Tickets here.
- Disco Isn’t Dead: At least not when The Koji Club is hosting the fourth installment of its Cherry Blossom Disco, a raucous sake celebration with tastes from four breweries, bites from the likes of Mr. Tuna and Pizza Project and a very simple dress code: must wear pink. Find more experiences on the Resy Events Page.
New to the Hit List (March 2025)
Bar Fellini, Boston Chops – South End, Chef’s Table, Matria.
1. Tonino Jamaica Plain
Since quietly opening in the fall of 2022, Tonino has built itself into that rarest of restaurant birds: the sort of establishment people come back to again and again, ever the more for being in sedate Jamaica Plain. Chalk it up to chef and owner Luke Fetbroth’s tight menu of trattoria greatest hits, from white pizzas to homemade rigatoni amatriciana, chitarra with clams and breadcrumbs, and small plates like mortadella with pecorino and pickles. It’s all complemented by an equally curated set of Italian wines available by the glass or bottle … and the surprising addition of a sake list. In other words, it delivers an awful lot of what people crave.
2. Zurito Beacon Hill
Nevermind that Jamie Bissonnette already had a threepeat, with Somaek, Temple Records, and Sushi @ Temple Records earlier this year. Turns out Bissonnette and his partners at BCB3 Hospitality had one more up their sleeve, in the Charles Street space that was Bin Enoteca 26. Basque-style pintxos are the mission here, with bites of garlic-buttered sea urchin toast or miniature jamón Ibérico croissants giving way to such small plates as squid ink risotto. All of which sets the stage for large-format finishers, including a 32-ounce ribeye with French fries and … kimchi. Why not? An expectedly Spanish-heavy wine list is rounded out by a roster of low-ABV cocktails that complement the restaurant’s snacky ethos.
3. Baleia South End
For years, the Coda Restaurant Group played in the Italian sandbox, whether wood-fired pies and housemade pastas at The Salty Pig or Venetian-style small plates via SRV, and most recently the restaurant-cum-café Gufo. But the group’s latest venture eschews the boot in favor of flavors from another peninsular nation, Portugal. Baleia bets big on Portuguese seafood with oysters spiced by piri piri, steamed baby clams in Vinho Verde, and an entire roasted fish with ham and anchovy xo. Landlubbers can be contented by a lamb shank served with spicy pickles or a sucking pig complete with crispy ears, and its quick popularity affirms that the shift in peninsulas was a smart bet.
4. Kaia South End
Every concept from Xenia Greek Hospitality has (as the name implies) been Greek — but that’s where the similarities end. Its most recent opening, Kaia, is a portal to the Aegean plopped down in the South End. Its light woods, tile floors, and tall windows recall a Greek island getaway, while the seafood-forward menu split between meze (think cod cheeks with smoked avgolemono or pan-seared rice rolls with squid) and whole fish provide a lighter — if still indulgent — approach to Hellenic cooking.
5. Sarma Winter Hill
There’s something to be said — actually, a lot to be said — about the sort of restaurant in an otherwise sleepy neighborhood that still books up weeks in advance, more than 10 years after opening. Sarma is that. Yes, the bevy of awards has helped, but that would shortchange the constant creativity of chef Cassie Piuma, whose Turkish meyhane concept still resonates a decade in. Piuma has maintained her Somerville spot as a laboratory for Mediterranean flavors, pumping out playful mezze like lentil nachos, brussels sprouts bravas and harissa barbecue duck, while still keeping diners on their toes for whenever the Turkish fried chicken — which can only be ordered direct from the tray — comes out of the kitchen.
6. Matria Downtown
Piedmont is a Northwestern region of Italy that sits just below the Alps. Why that’s relevant is that Piedmontese cuisine is the order of the day at Matria, a Northern Italian steakhouse nestled within the Intercontinental Boston. What’s not on the menu is red sauce (an eggplant Parmigiana drizzled with San Marzano is about as close as it gets). What is: beef tartare with capers and shaved truffles, housemade pastas including a veal and beef short rib agnolotti with English peas, and a whole “Bistecca” portion of the menu that tops off with a 44-ounce tomahawk steak for two. Yes, you’re going to need a bag.
7. Mimi’s Chūka Diner South End
Mimi’s, which serves the sort of fare you’d find at a Chinese-style “Chūka” diner in Japan, began as a pop-up before finding — and then losing — its onetime digs at Central Square’s now closed Artifact Cider. Well, now Mimi’s is back with a counter-service space of its own in Somerville with lemon pepper wings, dashi-brined karaage and mapo tofu aplenty.
Walk-ins only. Find more info here.
8. Headroom Hi-Fi Lounge Fort Point
Located on the second floor of Trillium Brewing Company – Fort Point location, Headroom is further evidence that the listening bar trend is here to stay. Within its retro-themed environs, you’ll discover stacks of vinyl, DJ sets, and a menu split between shareable plates including apple cider barbecue pork croquettes or oyster mushroom risotto, and a cocktail list that makes liberal use of Trillium’s own distilled spirits.
9. BELL86 Brookline
Coolige Corner newcomer BELL86 — self-described as “the first Korean tapas restaurant in New England” — makes good on that promise with shareable portions of braised short ribs, fried pork belly over scallion salad, and potato-battered shrimp. All served in an intimately sized dining room with the sort of reserved lighting best described as “date night.”
10. Oleana Cambridge
Yes, Sarma remains one of the most-coveted reservations in the city. But that shouldn’t overshadow its older sibling restaurant, which Ana Sortun first opened in 2001. The culinary focus is similarly centered on Turkey but in more traditional form, with dishes like squash-stuffed manouri dumplings, Vermont quail kebabs, and a za’atar-spiced lemon chicken with cheese pancakes taking center stage. And though not quite Turkish in origin, the house iteration of Baked Alaska has deservedly entered the Boston dessert canon.
11. Chef’s Table South End
What was once Stir is back as Chef’s Table. It’s the same, itty-bitty space on Waltham Street, and once again an incubator for cooking — and enjoying — everything from housemade pasta dinners to a full-on four-course feast. In addition to these personalized experiences, it’s also open weekend afternoons to sell specialty foods and ingredients, and also serves a weekly dinner menu with a changing theme, like Mexican seafood or surf-and-turf.
Call 617-510-4007 for reservations.
12. Deuxave Back Bay
Perched at the intersection of Commonwealth and Massachusetts Avenue — with panoramic views of some of the most impressive architecture the city has to offer — Deuxave would be a hot reservation even if the fare were subpar. But this is a Chris Coombs restaurant, and its decadent take on modern French cooking cuts no corners. To wit: a nine-hour, slow-cooked French onion soup with bone marrow croutons, spiced Long Island duck breast — and if not quite French — a tagliatelle Bolognese that’s widely lauded as one of the city’s best.
13. Qué Mas Beverly
Qué Mas — roughly translated as “what else?” — is a fitting moniker for this modern pan-Latin spot in Beverly, which serves as a culinary tour of Central and South America. Stops include sweet corn arepas with burrata and sundried tomato pesto, swordfish al pastor with grits and pineapple salsa, and a braised lamb ossobuco served in grilled banana leaves. Fun fact: chef Alex Pineda is the son of legendary Boston-area chef Lydia Shire, and came up working at Scampo.
14. Contessa Boston Back Bay
In Boston, Contessa has quite nearly cornered the market on seeing-and-being-seen. But as glamorous as this rooftop jewel box of a restaurant — and many of its patrons — might be, you’re coming here for more than views, since Major Food Group (think New York’s Carbone) doesn’t miss a beat on memorable dishes. Specifically, spicy lobster capellini, eye-popping 40-ounce bisteccas, and some of the best-made Negronis on this side of the Atlantic.
15. Amar Back Bay
Perched high up in the Raffles Hotel, Amar is where chef George Mendes — you may have heard of him — hangs his hat in Boston. Not content to merely coast on 17th floor views and an elegant, sun-drenched dining room, he’s wisely provisioned the modern Portuguese restaurant with Hokkaido sea urchin toast, quail in smoked paprika with Burgundy truffles, and a serves-two Mozambique-style fisherman’s stew studded with diver scallops, shrimp, lobster, and more. Baked-to-order Portuguese sponge cake and cinnamon-spiced egg custard tarts reward those who somehow manage to save a little room for dessert.
16. LoLa 42 Seaport
No ferry is required to visit LoLa 42, the Seaport outpost of the beloved Nantucket institution LoLa 41. Like its ACK equivalent, the menu has a hyper-specific focus on cuisines that fall along the 42nd parallel. Fortunately, that makes for fare like beef bulgogi bao buns, spicy scallop sushi rolls, and cavatelli Bolognese. Always of interest is the Lola Burger, made with red onion compote and foie gras sauce and served on an English muffin.
17. Boston Chops – South End South End
With a new class of neo-steakhouses suddenly sprouting up from Downtown to Charlestown, it’s worth remembering the venue that kickstarted the trend way back in 2013 — and is still going strong. With its sexy, low-lit interior and classic but never stodgy dishes like roasted bone marrow with balsamic onion jam, lardon-topped iceberg wedge salads, and filet mignon with goat cheese potato croquettes, it’s a fresh reminder that steakhouses are worth seeking out, expense account or not.
18. The Wig Shop Downtown Crossing
Yes, Temple Street’s witnessed a major glow-up of late, aided by the triple-barreled openings of Somaek, Temple Records, and Sushi @ Temple Records. But it could be argued that its heightened status was truly incepted with the opening of The Wig Shop (itself an offshoot of JM Curley) which turned a former honest-to-goodness wig shop into a decidedly sexy cocktail lounge with deep velvet booths and lacy curtains. The aesthetic is boosted by a tight menu of irreverent, retro-inspired drinks like the Bi-Curious George with rums, banana cream, and nutmeg, or a Pony Star Martini served with a miniature High Life on the side.
19. Desnuda Cocina & Bar South End
Once it was Tremont 647. Then it was the short-lived Whaling in Oklahoma. Then it was… nothing, for a long time. But one of the South End’s most eligible corner spaces has been reborn as Desnuda, a new concept from the folks behind KAVA Neo-Taverna, Ilona, and Gigi. This latest venture’s a bi-level affair split between a swanky upstairs dining room specializing in Asian and Latin cuisine (think: baos and ceviche), and a seriously vibey downstairs listening bar equipped with a custom sound system, vinyl and cocktails.
20. Bar Fellini Downtown
Also ensconced with the Intercontinental Boston, Bar Fellini is a sort of sibling establishment to Matria, specializing in aperitivo cocktails (i.e., you’ll want to drop in here to pique your appetite before sitting down to bistecca at the latter). Around a horseshoe-shaped bar that looks right out of a… Fellini movie, you’ll partake in Aperol spritzes or original creations like the Juliet of Spirits (grappa, bergamot liqueur, fig syrup), and maybe even snack on short rib arancini or burrata toast if you start to feel a bit peckish.
