The 10 Restaurants That Defined Boston Dining in 2025

Located in Central Square in what had for well over a decade been the iconic Craigie on Main, Fallow Kin debuted in 2025 with big shoes to fill. Fortunately, it opened with a farm-to-table dream team to back it up: Conor Dennehy and Danielle Ayer of Talulla, and chef Marcos Sanchez, who’d previously worked in the kitchens of Tasting Counter and Gray’s Hall. With a locally sourced, vegetable-centric menu that puts sustainability first and seeks to eliminate as much waste as possible — there’s even a “zero waste” bar menu served early and late in the evening that turns scraps into smoked fish terrine or a wagyu beef burger — it’s a testament to the local enthusiasm to not only eat well, but better.

The Mazi food group has been on a tear of late, having followed its highly popular Mediterranean restaurants Kava and Ilona with the throwback Italian restaurant Gigi in 2023 and the sultry South American-slash-Asian cocktails and tapas spot Desnuda in 2024. So, when Louis Corner opened in the former Butcher Shop space in 2025, it was something of a surprise that the group that had explored so many cuisines was suddenly trying its hand at “American Gastropub.” Shrimp and grits, crispy chicken sliders, a perfectly executed smash burger — nothing coming out of the Louis Corner kitchen is revolutionary, and that’s the point. In a neighborhood dotted with restaurants — but not enough with that weeknight, “neighborhood restaurant” feel — Louis Corner has arrived as a much-needed tonic.  

More Americans than ever are cutting back on alcohol — which is not a negative in itself — but does mean that the cocktail world seems to be on trickier footing than ever. Desnuda, wisely, gives guests more than one reason to visit. There’s the chance to try one of its innovative cocktails — or mocktails — inspired by Asian and South American flavors, like the Purple Enigma made with blackberry-infused bourbon, red wine, chicha morada, and yuzu liqueur. There’s the culinary program, which translates the same inspiration into dishes like Nikkei tuna tostadas or lomo saltado. And then there’s its listening room, a subterranean space with a carefully curated soundtrack that provides a third reason to swing by, whether imbibing or not.

It appears Americans are also spending more time alone than ever. And while Table itself can’t be the answer, the model that it champions in Boston — a communal dining experience organized around a six-course Italian feast — might be a start. Every one of the 32 guests it accommodates at each seating is invited to take part in the same menu, which may include butternut squash risotto, grilled octopus with roasted shallots, and gloriously oversized four-cheese tortellini. And on Sundays, Table throws it back red-sauce style with a more gently priced prix fixe that touts chicken Milanese, beef-pork-and-veal meatballs, and hand-rolled gnocchi in a San Marzano marinara sauce with pesto crema. 

There is an increasingly international feeling to Boston these days, particularly in what’s arguably its most international neighborhood: the Seaport. So, it’s fitting that the glossy district would host Mai, a “contemporary izakaya” that blends Japanese and French flavors in the form of dishes like wagyu beef tartare with honey miso butter or torched bluefin tuna with mushroom risotto, plus an extensive selection of hand rolls in the form of miso butter cod or duck foie gras. Yes, there is a certain quality of the restaurant that seems calculated to play to social media — including the use of Labubus in the interior décor — but as the continued demand for tables at the walk-ins-only establishment demonstrates, chasing trends may not be a negative when coupled with substance and quality.

No reservations. Find more info here.

At a time when it seems as if newly opened restaurants are ever-larger — in part because of retail’s continued retreat from the commercial scene — Lenox Sophia’s 16 seats feel like a vote to slow down, pay attention, and even speak with the chef. At Lenox Sophia that would mean Shi Mei, a decades-long resident of Boston who cut his teeth in the kitchens of the French Laundry and Bouchon, and then worked locally at Asta and Mida. Mei’s vision manifests as a prix-fixe menu neatly divided into “omnivore” and “vegetarian,” but united by a focus on seasonality and locally sourced ingredients. One aspect of Lenox Sophia we’d love to see influence the restaurant scene at large is its rare status as a BYOB establishment, inviting patrons to bring their own beer or wine — an excellent workaround in a city with notoriously expensive liquor licenses.

As restaurants across the country continue to refine their business models to fit the present moment, they could do worse than take a page from Saigon Babylon owners Vinh Le and Duong Huynh. The duo had already made their mark with the coffee-shop-by-day, wine-bar-by-night Cicada in Central Square, and The Eaves, a cozy noodle bar in Somerville’s Bow Market. Situated atop Cambridge’s 907 Main Hotel, Saigon Babylon similarly operates on a hybrid model, functioning as a restaurant, bar, and a rooftop “coffee garden” all at once. Its different tethers are united by a playful exploration of modern Vietnamese cuisine that manifests in dishes like lemongrass beef carpaccio or oxtail with red wine and fresh garlic over rice noodles, and cocktails like the Ben Thanh Market made with lemongrass vodka, coconut water, and hibiscus.