Over the past few days, we’ve been following a thread on Chowhound with no small amount of interest. Two New York hounds just moved to Boston’s Financial District and inquired about the city’s best neighborhood restaurants. Dozens of posters stepped in offering their favorites. Several restaurants were mentioned by multiple posters with Neptune Oyster, Toro, East Coast Grill & Raw Bar, O Cantinho, Antico Forno, Franklin Cafe and Metropolis Cafe seeming to be the most popular. That’s certainly a richly deserving list and enough to keep even the most dining-out-inclined foodie busy for a good while. We couldn’t help, however, but think about a few of our favorite neighborhood restaurants: places that are cozy and intimate, have great service, and are worth a trip, but still appealingly area-centric. Here are our suggestions for a few of Boston’s best.
•Not everyone is a fan of the communal seating at The Daily Catch, but we think it’s more than worth it for the perfect black pasta and the best red sauce we’ve ever had. In a North End increasingly filled with either subpar, overpriced dishes or intensely sleek rooms, the crowded conviviality of The Daily Catch is wonderfully refreshing.
•Ten Tables is, to our mind, nearly a platonic ideal of a neighborhood restaurant. The service is stellar, the atmosphere is lively without being loud, and the seasonal and local food is sensational.
•We are very proud of our Roslindalian provenance and Sophia’s Grotto is very much our favorite neighborhood spot in Rozzy. The outdoor courtyard is perfect at this time of year: a taste of a small town a mere fifteen minutes from Copley.
•No list of neighborhood restaurants in the Hub would be complete without at least one pub. We, and many of our friends, are awfully fond of Atwood’s Tavern. There’s little more relaxing than meeting up with some friends for hangar steak and one of the many beers on tap.
What do you think? What’s your favorite neighborhood place?
NY Chowhounds just moved to Boston - what are your neighborhood favorites? [Chowhound]
[Photo: Boston Experiential Environmental Education Program Directory]
