The Resy Hit List: Where In Boston You’ll Want to Eat in May 2025

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.

For years, the Coda Restaurant Group has played in the Italian sandbox, whether with wood-fired pies and housemade pastas at The Salty Pig, 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. Its quick popularity affirms that the shift in peninsulas was a smart bet.

Folio — the open-to-the-public cafe that quite literally bookends the Boston Athenaeum, an esteemed members’ library — has refreshed itself for spring. And it’s a refreshment worth paying proper attention to, as it includes pressed maitake consommé, duck rillette gougère (read: very fancy sliders) with blue cheese and kumquat agrodolce, and mushroom and Madeira chicken pies. Meanwhile, the cocktail menu refreshes in another way, with specialties like Alice’s Wonderland with milk-washed gin, hibiscus, caramelized banana, pineapple, and guava.

Piedmontese cuisine — hailing from the Northwestern region of Italy that sits just below the Alps — is the order of the day at Matria, an Italian steakhouse nestled within the Intercontinental Boston. What’s not on the menu is red sauce (an eggplant Parmigiana drizzled with San Marzanos 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 for two. Yes, you’re going to need a bag.

Italian the old-school way is the organizing principle behind Josephine in Somerville’s Cambria Hotel. It comes to us from chef Michael Scelfo (of Alden & Harlow, Waypoint, and Longfellow Bar fame), whose homage to traditional Italian American cooking goes something like this: dry-aged meatballs, skillet eggplant parmesan, rigatoni with vodka sauce and housemade sausage, deep dish pies with spicy ‘roni cups — you get the picture.

International travel — via bar stool — is the theme at Birds of Paradise, which comes from the acclaimed team behind Baldwin Bar and Blossom Bar. Each drink is presented as a one-way ticket from one far-flung destination to another, with the resulting concoction incorporating elements of both locales. For instance, the Rio to Tokyo contains both cachaça and a wasabi-coconut cordial, or the Dublin to Caracas with Irish whisky, banana, and tonka bean. The globe-hopping theme similarly extends to the food menu, packed with snacks like pork gyoza and poke bowls.

Grendel’s Den — the subterranean watering hole that’s been beloved by Harvard undergrads and grads alike since 1871 — has gained a little sister in the form of The Sea Hag. The airy establishment makes its bones on oysters and modern, seafood-forward interpretations of traditional pub fare, including skillet-braised Mediterranean haddock, tempura fish tacos, and Mozambique-style shrimp in a garlicky saffron sauce. It also boasts what might be the Square’s most enticing special: a pint of Guinness and an oyster for just shy of $10.

By virtue of its attachment to the same-named New Hampshire farm, Woods Hill Pier 4’s menu is organized around seasonality and a nose-to-tail ethos. What that’s meant in plated form lately is dishes including sunflower risotto with pickled sweet potato, smoked pork and foie gras bratwurst with spaetzle, and a formidable range of housemade pastas like cresto di gallo with red wine-braised duck. Throw in panoramic Boston Harbor views from their glass-walled dining room, and you’re truly getting the best of land and sea.

Lydia Shire — who you might recall as the first female winner of a James Beard Award, the chef and co-owner of Scampo, or a myriad of other highlights from her 50-year career — has just added another notch to her belt as culinary director of Bar Enza at the Charles Hotel in Harvard Square. With a menu already stacked with the likes of lamb merguez gnocchi and 14-ounce bisteccas with potato croquettes, it’s an auspicious start for the Italian restaurant group’s latest act.

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 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.

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 (of 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.

Newtonville may be a long way from Naples, but chef Mario LaPosta is helping to bridge that gap with his eponymous restaurant specializing in naturally leavened, wood-fired pies and high-end takes on Southern Italian street food. Imagine: delicately fried calamari and housemade ricotta accompanied by hot honey, followed by pizza crowned with fresh figs and lardo or grilled ramps, ‘nduja, and mozzarella. Add in an enviable selection of wines sourced from the Boot’s lower half, and you’ve got yourself a stamp-free passport to Italy.

No ferry is required to visit LoLa 42, the Seaport outpost of the beloved Nantucket institution Lola 41 Nantucket. Like its equivalent, the menu has a hyper-specific focus on cuisines that fall along the 42^nd parallel. Fortunately, that makes for fare like beef bulgogi bao, 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.

With a new class of neo-steakhouses suddenly sprouting up from Downtown to Charlestown, it’s worth remembering the venue that helped kickstart the trend way back in 2013 — and is still going strong (along with its sister Boston Chops Downtown). With its moody, 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.

After soft-opening for take-out last fall, Mimi’s Chuka Diner — to recap, that’s Chinese cuisine as cooked in Japan — is firing on all cylinders (and accepting reservations) at its space inside Aeronaut Brewing Co. Expect crunchy kombu-brined chicken karaage, fried pork gyoza, and extra-garlicky garlic noodles, plus more surprising fare like a wagyu burger with yaki-barbecue sauce and Kewpie mayo.

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 is 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.