Where to Find Boston’s Most Scrumptious Secret Menu Items
These restaurant items aren't on the traditional menu, but if you know (to ask for them), you know.
IYKYK: The off-menu fried-lobster roll from Saltie Girl is a tasty treat. / Photo by Jared Kuzia / Styling by Madison Trapkin
The secret: A fried-lobster roll
Where: Saltie Girl
Hot or cold, mayo or hot butter, Maine or Connecticut—those are the choices to which we have become accustomed when it comes to ordering lobster rolls. But Saltie Girl is throwing you a curveball, and you can’t even see it coming, because it isn’t on the menu. The fried-lobster roll is a delicious concoction of tail, knuckle, and claw, fried and seasoned with Korean chili flakes, then served on a buttered toasted bun and dressed with sweet-corn butter and beurre blanc. We couldn’t confirm whether you have to ask nicely, but we highly recommend it—she’s a Saltie Girl.
Back Bay, saltiegirl.com.
The secret: A burrito bigger than your head
Where: Anna’s Taqueria
Five pounds and about 30 inches long: The legendary “Cubio” is an off-menu item for burrito fans who are either Olympic eaters or willing to go splitsies on a dish. It’s a burrito of epic proportions that is expertly rolled into three tortillas and packs in triple the fillings, toppings, and flavors. Calorie count not included.
Multiple locations, annas.com.
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The “secret”: An IG-famous milkshake
Where: Grana
In the “How can you call this a secret when you keep posting it on Instagram?” department, the Langham’s Grana serves up a “secret” milkshake special every month, often with a flair for the season and a slight whiff of completely over the effing top. To wit: Around Halloween, a black-raspberry-based shake included a chocolate marshmallow doughnut, sour gummy worms, a tombstone-shaped shortbread cookie, and crushed Oreo “dirt.”
Downtown, langhamhotels.com/boston.
The secret: A surprise taco
Where: Cósmica
This restaurant’s Top Secret Taco Society is the Skull and Bones of South End Mexican restaurants. Like Grana’s milkshake, its surprise weekly taco is available only to those who follow Cósmica on IG (or know somebody who does).
South End, cosmicaboston.com.
The secret: An entire hidden menu
Where: Stubbys
The under-the-radar menu at Stubbys, which recently opened a Seaport outpost, offers the kinds of items that can only be invented by drunk twentysomethings decades shy of their first pulmonary stress test. The “Full Send,” for instance, is a grilled cheese with shaved steak, chicken tenders, and barbecue sauce; its cousin is the “Barrett Special,” another grilled cheese sandwich featuring steak, bacon, and Stubbys sauce. These both pair well with the “Deluxe” fries loaded with chili, melted cheese, and caramelized onions. Other than what you’re reading here, there’s no documentation of this menu; it’s all word of mouth. So pass it on!
Seaport, stubbysboston.com.
What are we missing? Email us.
First published in the print edition of the December 2023/January 2024 issue with the headline “Secret Menu Items,” as part of the “Hidden Boston” cover package.
Previously:
- The Most Beautiful Restaurants in Greater Boston
- 22 Best Restaurant Bathrooms in Greater Boston
- The Top 50 Restaurants in Boston
