It’s Here: Our New List of the Top 50 Restaurants in Boston
All-new for 2018, your thoroughly researched and boldly ranked guide to the greatest places to eat and drink around the city.
Photo by Christopher Churchill
A lot can change in four years. As we began the process of assembling our list of the Top 50 Restaurants in Boston, the first time we’ve culled a lineup like this since 2014, it quickly became apparent how rapidly the restaurant landscape has transformed in a short amount of time.
It makes sense. In many ways, Boston is a city in motion right now. The skyline is sprouting tall new silhouettes. Establishment politicos are ceding ground to a new generation. And in the food world, local chefs are finding new ways to feed a Hub hungry for evolution. In this list we honor exciting culinary innovators alongside the established legends that keep up in fast-moving times.
No ranked restaurant list will please every taste. It requires comparing apple to oranges to bananas to—um, steak. But we set a few ground rules: We focused on full-service restaurants open at least one year, and evaluated each spot based on the goal it set for itself. The rest is inherently subjective, but after exhaustive tasting, deliberating, and some passionate debating, we’ve arrived at a roster that recognizes icons and upstarts, cozy neighborhood favorites and elegant fine dining rooms. That said, sharpen your knives, dig in to the discussion, and consider this list—a living document that will be periodically updated—a starting point for ongoing evaluations of the city’s top spots.
Our Top 50 is a snapshot of a particularly exciting time in Boston dining. We can’t wait to see where we go—and how we grow—from here.
Check out the full list—plus some reflections on how Boston’s food scene can become even better—right here.
