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

Goodbye Mary Chung — and hello Darling. Taking up residence in what had been the aforementioned restaurant’s space for four decades, the cocktail lounge pays tribute to its predecessor with a menu of Chinese-inspired cocktails and dim sum. Helmed by longtime local bartender Brian Callahan, the bar delivers with original creations like the Hope I Packed a Parachute, a clarified milk punch prepared with ceremonial-grade matcha, crème de cacao, and taro foam. Meanwhile, chef Mark O’Leary — formerly of Shōjō and O Ya — delivers dim sum from traditional to playful (the “Filet o Fish Bao” places salt cod inside a homemade bao bun with American cheese, pickled mustard, and tartare sauce). We’d like to think that Ms. Chung would approve.

The “you can’t get good tacos in Boston” crowd would be well served by taking a trip to this slice of Tex-Mex heaven smack in the middle of Allston. Here, pillowy housemade corn tortillas are made into any of the nine available taco options, ranging from Baja fried fish to chorizo fundido to the house specialty Dallas spicy beef. Non-tortilla-based offerings, meanwhile, come in the form of grilled street corn with garlic lime aioli or a torta Milanesa made by stuffing a fried pork cutlet with refried beans, grilled pineapple, and Oaxacan cheese between two slices of bread. The drink menu isn’t anything to sneeze at either, with a half-dozen margarita varietals on call plus originals like the mezcal-based, tiki-inspired Oaxacan Dread.  

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.

Jadu — meaning “magic,” in Hindi — is a coffee shop by day, dispensing flat whites, espresso tonics, and masala chai teas alongside labneh parfaits and Indian instant noodles for light sustenance. But by evening time, Friday through Saturday, the airy little shop transitions to a wine bar (it did, after all, start as a wine pop-up in 2023) with a list of nearly two dozen vintages available by the bottle or glass, plus a strong showing of sherry, vermouth, and amari. Complementing the above is a snacky menu of small plates like miso tahini mushroom toast, tuna crudo, and mortadella sandwiches, with raspberry-stuffed chocolate ganache cake for a sweet conclusion. 

A police station is typically the last place you’d wish to spend your evening — unless that happens to be D16, a hidden bar secreted away in the basement of a former Back Bay police precinct (the top floor just happens to be the longtime gastropub Dillon’s, its sister establishment). With a snacky, cocktail party-inspired menu of duck fat fries, baby beef Wellingtons, and bite-sized lobster rolls, you’ll be eating far better than the space’s former occupants while also helping yourself to a Kid’s Got Moxie (bourbon, Campari, amaro) or Right to Remain Silent (reposado Tequila, yuzu, blood orange).

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.

Not that it isn’t a delight in every season, but (gradually) falling temperatures put one in the mood for a juicy steak seared just-so. Serving such fare is roughly the entire purpose of Boston Chops, whose South End location is situated in a historic, former bank building that happens to make a marvelous setting for tucking into wagyu bavette steak frites or a 14-ounce prime rib crowned by roasted bone marrow or truffle butter. We say “roughly,” as non-steak offerings like a beurre rouge pork Milanese or fan-favorite pappardelle Bolognese are hardly an afterthought.

Woods Hill Pier 4 now has a younger sibling in the form of The Block at Woods Hill, which is located in the same building (and importantly, enjoys the same floor-to-ceiling harbor views). The ethos remains farm-to-table, but the fare’s a bit snackier and more dressed down, i.e., piles of charcuterie sourced from the restaurant’s New Hampshire farm, crispy browned cauliflower florets with spicy Buffalo dip, and fried lobster and ‘nduja pirogies accompanied by fresh cream and Old Bay seasoning. Here, sharing is encouraged for dishes small and large: in that latter category, diners may choose from a 12-oz bone-in short rib steak with bone marrow chimichurri or a local tuna rib eye with crab and béarnaise to seal the deal.

Not to be a bummer, but summer is finite. And among the best possible places to while away its fleeting days is on the patio of Saltie Girl, preferably with a warm-buttered lobster roll or a plate of fried Ipswich clams at arm’s reach. Also, a reminder that Saltie Girl was into tinned fish way before it was a trend. To this day, you’ll find dozens of varieties on its menu, ranging from Danish cockles in brine to smoked Spanish mussels to Alaskan rockfish with sumac and dill. 

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.

The farm-to-table Union Square standby’s whole M.O. is making the most of seasonal ingredients from local farmers and producers. As you might have heard, it’s summer, and that means a fresh menu with the likes of spicy king oyster mushroom salad, Wellfleet clams in green crab curry with housemade focaccia, and a bavette steak with a brown butter parsnip puree and kale salsa verde.  

There’s a delightfully choose-your-own adventure aspect to Zuma’s Boston outpost ensconced in the Four Seasons at One Dalton Street, where multiple avenues for pursuing dinner present no bad options. To wit: you might dabble in the sushi bar with a torched salmon belly roll with fresh truffles or the chef’s omakase; alternatively, you could go the wagyu route with a 10–ounce Australian skirt steak served with shiso chimichurri; or angle for one of its signature dishes like a barley miso-marinated baby chicken roasted on cedar wood or the miso-marinated black cod served in a hoba leaf. Like we said, no bad options.

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.

We’d happily sit down at Kava Neo-Taverna for delightfully spiced lamb meatballs or addictive fried zucchini chips any time of the year. But in prime patio season, the little Greek restaurant becomes something else: a veritable scene spilling out onto Union Park and Shawmut Street, giving diners some of the most charming street views in Boston while they sip on xinomavro and make short work of grilled octopus or baked shrimp with feta in a spicy tomato sauce.

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.

Occupying one of the South End’s more charming — yet quiet — corners, Shawmut Inn trades on its comely environs with a well-positioned patio, but more importantly, delivers when it comes to local seafood and housemade pastas. The small, thoughtful menu promises the likes of torched tuna crudo or black garlic-glazed tempura shrimp to start, and pastas like porcini angel hair with yuzu white miso butter or sweet pepper mafaldine in a lobster fra diavolo sauce. Entrees — if you should make it that far — take the form of brick chicken with mustard cream sauce or an eponymous burger with truffle barbecue sauce and shaved shallots.