The Resy Hit List: Where In Boston You’ll Want to Eat Right Now

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.

There’s truly no wrong way to use the Smoot Standard, a new Cambridge third space that functions as an all-day café and restaurant by day and turns over for dinner service and cocktails by night. So, depending on the timing of your visit, you may find yourself at the counter for a pulled pork breakfast burrito and a cortado in the a.m., a fried green tomato sandwich around noon, or a chicken Milanese and a rum-based espresso martini after the sun goes down.

Beacon Hill, as central as Boston gets, has long lacked a serious cocktail bar of its own. That’s changed with the welcome arrival of 89 Charles, a sultry subterranean lounge with an Art Deco touch serving drinks like the Soda Jerk with smoked pineapple, Green Chartreuse, and silver dust, or an as-advertised Filthy Martini with marinated olive brine and MSG saline. Thankfully, a menu of snacky smaller plates ranging from foie gras bratwurst to a spicy ‘nduja flatbread are on hand to help soak it all up.

JP gem Tonino has a scant 28 seats — which makes the neighborhood-style Italian restaurant feel all that more homey. The menu is as tight as the dining room, focused on pizzas by the slice or whole, plus small plates like warm cabbage Caesar or countneck clams with guanciale, and climaxing with a selection of housemade pastas ranging from bucatini in anchovy chile butter to cavatelli with Italian sausage and broccoli rabe.

Kendall’s gained a brand-new food hall in the form of Eastern Edge, a strip-shaped space that gives each of its nine vendors and bar a more intimate feel. Expect Negronis and vegetarian cicchetti at Bacaro, ultra-crunchy Buffalo chicken wings from Soul Food purveyor Everybody Gotta Eat, and beef birria tacos on housemade tortillas at Lone Star Taco Stand, just to give a small sampling of the wares.

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Fallow Kin had big culinary boots to fill as the successor to the Central Square space that once hosted Craigie on Main. It helps that the new restaurant is helmed by an all-star roster of local talent, including Talulla owners Conor Dennehy and Danielle Ayer and veteran chef Marcos Sanchez. The focus here is squarely on the local and seasonal, which manifests in a menu that puts veggies front and center, like twice-cooked sunchokes with broccoli pickles and smoky cabbage in a seaweed broth with crispy chicken skin, but doesn’t forgo meat, seafood, and pastas.  

The nondescriptly named Café Sushi, ensconced in a strip mall between Central and Harvard Squares, is a textbook case of don’t-judge-a-book-by-its-cover. Because hidden in plain sight remains one of the city’s best sushi programs, now four decades old, served in a simple but artfully appointed dining room with spare wood furniture and hanging paper lanterns. You’ll be well-served with a spicy scallop hand roll over sushi selections including Japanese mackerel with poblano miso and 12-spice pineapple, or a creative house roll like the ceviche with shrimp, salmon, avocado, and pickled jicama. 

There aren’t many places where you can sit down for dinner and expect hamachi sashimi, rigatoni Bolognese, or a 14-ounce rib eye in peppercorn brandy sauce to follow. But the newly opened Back Bay location of this Canadian chain is one of them. Add all of the above to a sprawling, high-ceiling dining room with a wrap-around bar, slightly trippy flowing wood décor, and modern art, and we’ll admit that the Canadians are on to something.

Oleana is now 25 years old — and still a competitive spot for a reservation. You can chalk that up to chef Ana Sortun’s well-spiced menu of Middle Eastern mezze, which manifests in now-classic dishes like spinach falafel with beet tzatziki and pickles, fried mussels with hot peppers and Turkish almond tartar sauce, and the “Sultan’s Delight” composed of tamarind beef in a smoky eggplant puree. And while not strictly Middle Eastern in inspiration, there’s no missing the renowned baked Alaska with coconut ice cream and passion fruit caramel.

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.  

Lanner Noodles, originally of Cambridge, has touched down in the Seaport with a second location serving … noodles. But that word barely does justice to the variety of piping-hot bowls flying out of the kitchen, often made with hand-pulled noodles and served in aromatic broths made from braised beef, lamb shank, and more. And contrary to the name, non-noodle offerings are available too, including barbecue lamb skewers seasoned with a house spice mix and a spicy chicken and potato stew.

Amid a time of TikTok trends and “viral” dishes, little Asta in the Back Bay has quietly continued to do the same thing since first opening its doors in 2013: serve daily changing, eight–course tasting menus that make the most of local ingredients and can be ordered vegetarian, pescatarian, vegan, or “omnivore.” Whatever your direction (and depending on your own restrictions), there’s always the option to plump for extras like caviar with French macarons and white cream fraiche, or foie gras ganache with cocoa nib granola. Pro tip: On the first Saturday of each month, from noon to 2 p.m., they serve fried chicken on a biscuit. Can’t forget about that.

Cambridge’s Umami Omakase has touched down in Boston proper with a sister restaurant, Umami Crudo. While the former — as the name would imply — is omakase only, Umami Crudo delivers an a la carte experience utilizing the same top-shelf seafood, resulting in dishes like oyster sashimi with a grapefruit granita, toro caviar rolls, and lobster somen.

La Padrona can now bask in its status as one of Michelin’s Boston recs, but its value to the local scene was evident since its 2024 opening. The swanky, bi-level spot within the Raffles Hotel has allowed Jody Adams to fully play in the sandbox of regional Italian cooking, represented by dishes as diverse as lobster and uni risotto, charred eggplant Milanese, and a scene-stealing 40-ounce bistecca alla Fiorentina served with bone marrow and grilled focaccia. Rounding out the experience is a cocktail menu with dedicated sections to Negroni and martini variants, plus a wine list sourced liberally from Italy, France, and California.

Oaxacan fare is the thing at freshly opened Mestizo in Kendall Square, where the airy, agave-filled space is the perfect venue for dipping into the state’s authentic flavors. Namely: housemade corn tetelas stuffed with chorizo, Oaxacan cheese and avocado mousse, chicken tamals swimming in mole negro sauce, and a 14-ounce grilled rib eye with crispy yucca. Also of note: Sundays after 4 p.m. sees an all-you-can-eat taco offering, where $27 buys theoretically unlimited tortillas topped with pork carnitas, barbacoa beef, grilled swordfish, and more.