Guides

87 New Boston Restaurants, Bars, Cafés, and Bakeries We Loved in 2022

It was a really good year for eating in Greater Boston. Here are our top picks among the year’s newcomers.

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A big black bowl is full of sliced bowl and red broth garnished with plenty of chili pepper flakes and chopped scallions.

Yunnan Kitchen’s boiled pork in chili oil. / Photo by Rachel Leah Blumenthal

As we prepare to ring in 2023, we’re looking back at everything we ate and drank in 2022—from ceviche in Huron Village to Yemeni roasted lamb in Kenmore, Nashville hot chicken in Inman Square to ji cheung fun in Quincy. We found joy in meals both fancy and casual, we celebrated happy moments over interesting cocktails, we worked through tough deadlines hunched over mugs brimming with caffeine, we shared sweet treats and baked goods with friends and family. All in all: an incredible year for eating and drinking. And much of it was at brand new restaurants, bars, cafés, bakeries—so many new places opened in 2022, battling the usual restaurant-opening challenges, but plenty of additional pandemic-related hurdles, too.

This guide showcases 50 of the 2022 Greater Boston newcomers that wowed us, plus 37 expansions, reopenings, and revamps that are also worth checking out. Visit each section below to learn about the area’s best new restaurants as well as bars, cafés, and bakeries.

Is your favorite new spot missing? Alas, our stomachs and wallets aren’t infinite, and we couldn’t visit every single venue that opened this year, but drop us a line so we can be sure to put more great spots on our radar for next year.

Two pieces of fish with the tails on are garnished with crushed nuts and sit on greens in a red curry-style broth.

Batifol’s cashew-crusted red perch is garnished with popped wild rice and served in a Thai-style red curry. / Photo by Rachel Leah Blumenthal

The Best New Full-Service Boston Restaurants, 2022

Yemeni cuisine in Kenmore Square, Yunnan delights from southwestern China in the South End, French classics in Cambridge: Get to know these 15 restaurants, plus 17 notable expansions and revamps. >>

Two white bowls sit on a pale green tray, one featuring thick noodle rolls with fish balls and a swoosh of sriracha, the other with chopped cucumbers.

Rubato’s ji cheung fun (steamed rice rolls) with curry fish balls and a spicy cucumber salad. / Photo by Rachel Leah Blumenthal

The Best New Fast-Casual Boston Restaurants, 2022

Fijian seafood in the Seaport, build-a-bowl Indian cuisine in Fenway, Cambodian sandwiches in the North End: Get to know these 12 restaurants, plus eight notable expansions and revamps. >>

A foamy off-white cocktail in a delicate glass is garnished with star anise and sits on a table with golden details.

The Wig Shop’s Alexander, the Grrr-eat! cocktail includes bourbon, white cacao, Frosted Flakes almond milk, and caramel. / Photo by Rachel Leah Blumenthal

The Best New Boston Bars, 2022

A multi-course cocktail experience in the North End, a dedicated sake bar in Brighton, a “speakeasy” with a hidden door in East Boston: Get to know these 13 new bars, plus eight notable expansions and revamps. >>

A latte in a paper cup is served on a table with an intricate checkers board built in.

Sweet tahini latte at Madhouse Café. / Photo by Rachel Leah Blumenthal

The Best New Boston Cafés and Bakeries, 2022

A Neapolitan café, a Haitian-American bakery, Lebanese treats at a motorcycle shop: Get to know these 10 new bakeries and cafés, plus four notable expansions and revamps. >>

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