The Resy Hit List: Where In Boston You’ll Want to Eat Right Now
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
- Dreams of Sushi: Every Sunday, between the hours of 2 and 6 p.m., Sushi by Bosso Ramen Tavern is putting on a lil’ something called … All You Can Eat. Yes, participants will have a full 90 minutes to partake in all the nigiri they want, for $49 a head. Tickets here for the next installment on Jan. 5.
- Dry Out: Cutting back on the sauce for January? No worries: Tonno has you covered, as the Wakefield and Gloucester locations of the business are holding five-course dinners paired to Seedlip mocktails on Jan. 9 and Jan. 14, respectively. And of course Resy’s Events page has lots more to keep you busy.
- Vine and Dine: Ok, not doing Dry January? In that case, direct your attention to Prezza’s Great Wines of Italy wine dinner on Jan. 21. It’s a six-course affair—covering seared sea scallops in lobster butter, tagliatelle with white truffles, confit duck in veal stock and much more—paired to the same number of renowned Italian wines. Tickets here.
- Wild ‘n Out: Hunting wild game is a lot of work. Consuming it? Not so much. Take the shortcut at The Blue Ox, which on Jan. 29 will host a Wild Game Dinner consisting of six courses including stewed rabbit cacciatore, wild boar ragu, and grilled venison. Tickets here.
New to the Hit List (Jan. 2025)
Contessa Boston, Deuxave, Headroom Hi-Fi Lounge, Kaia, LoLa 42, Mimi’s Chūka Diner, Oleana, Shy Bird – South Boston, The Wig Shop.
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. La Padrona Boston
Jody Adams has added another jewel to her Italian restaurant crown with the opening of La Padrona inside the Raffles Hotel. In an opulent, bi-level space that features a bar on each floor, patrons will have their pick of regional specialties from across the boot, including spring vegetable fritto misto with lobster bottarga, lobster and uni risotto with chive blossoms, and a 36-ounce, dry-aged bistecca alla Fiorentina accompanied by bone marrow and grilled focaccia. Meanwhile, the cocktail program affords drinks like the excellently named Sophia Loren On the Beach made with rum, Batavia arrack, falernum, and vanilla, plus an entire martini-centric menu that includes an espresso martini infused with Parmesan.
7. Mimi’s Chūka Diner Somerville
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. Tres Gatos Jamaica Plain
Yes, date night ideas are hard to come by. But here’s a freebie: dinner at a tapas restaurant that is also a bookstore that is also a record store. This three-for-one deal just happens to be Tres Gatos, which is likely the only place in the Greater Boston Area where you can simultaneously nosh on seafood paella, pick up a Sabrina Carpenter LP, and buy a copy of “Dune.” You can also, importantly, tuck into plates like roasted cauliflower with red mole, patatas bravas with hazelnut-almond romesco, and both vegetarian and seafood paellas in multiple sizes.
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. Loyall Counting Room Downtown
The vibes are ye-olde at this new semi-speakeasy at the InterContinental Boston inspired by the city’s revolutionary past. How this manifests as a cocktail bar in 2024 is through a drink list heavy on Colonial-era spirits and ingredients, including rum, sherry, Cognac, and applejack (one potent example: the Gaspee Affair made with bourbon, rum, Cognac, banana, cacao, lemon oleo saccharum, walnut Demerara, and barrel-aged whiskey bitters). Oh, and meat pies. One mustn’t forget about the meat pies, Mrs. Lovett.
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. Spoke Wine Bar Davis Square
For over a decade, Spoke Wine Bar has been quietly doing its thing in Davis Square. That “thing” in question is being a lovely little jewel box of a restaurant with a thoughtful menu of seasonally driven small plates (which change often — but a few, like the sunchoke donuts with XO Gouda, never go away) and a beverage program split between globally sourced wines and cocktails that make generous use of amari and vermouths. Keep doing you, Spoke.
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. Wa Shin Boston
Newly minted Bay Village omakase outpost Wa Shin comes from chef Sky Zheng, who was trained under the Michelin-starred sushi chef Daisuke Nakazawa (who in turn was mentored by Jiro Ono, aka, the “Jiro Dreams of Sushi” guy). Zheng’s taken everything he’s learned and incorporated it into an 18-course experience driven by the availability of local, seasonal ingredients. Pro tip: the best seats in the house are along the custom-built hinoki wood counter, where a party of four or fewer can be seated and watch Zheng’s every move.
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. Shy Bird – South Boston South Boston
Bird is most certainly the word at Shy Bird South Boston, the sprawling second location of the chicken-centric restaurant whose choice Southie real estate includes a generous patio. As the name implies, it’s chicken (almost) all the way down, whether that namesake poultry is served in the form of half or whole rotisserie birds with French fries and sauces including chipotle barbecue and pecorino ranch, or its cleverly branded “SB Dunks” (read: chicken nuggets for adults). Adding to the fun is a cocktail menu marked by the likes of coconut fat-washed espresso martinis and banana margaritas.
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. Taco Azul Beacon Hill
Photo courtesy of Taco Azul
What’s so blue about Taco Azul? The Beacon Hill newcomer makes its own tortillas daily from blue corn (and then piles them with slow-roasted beef birria, beer-battered Alaskan cod or grilled skirt steak), and maintains a cocktail program heavy on blue agave: think of a house margarita available by the pitcher, or a smoky pineapple marg made from mezcal and pineapple juice. Also in the offering: guacamole, which remains green, but we’ll give Taco Azul a pass.
Photo courtesy of Taco Azul
