Food & Drink

Written By Ariel Mitnick

Food

Medium and High end

  • Henrietta’s Table - incredibly tasty, high end restaurant in Cambridge. Great for special occasions. 

  • Elephant Walk

  • Myers + Chang (dim sum)

  • Grotto - romantic subterranean Italian restaurant downtown. Great for a special occasions.

  • Petit Robert - there used to be 2 locations, and now there’s just one. I’ve only been to the one that closed, but it was great. Delicious French restaurant serving a chocolate dessert shaped like the Eiffel Tower :)

  • Island Creek Oyster Bar - delicious, super high quality seafood with an emphasis on Oysters

  • Deuxave - Fancy date spot. Not the most veggie friendly, but I managed!

  • Go to an Italian restaurant in the North End. I don’t have enough under my belt to have a favorite, but do some research and I’m sure it’ll turn out great. On Fridays, a lot of wine shops in the neighborhood do free tastings, so it’s nice to do one of those before dinner and a cannoli at Mike’s (see below)! 

  • Toro - amaaaaazing tapas. Go, go, go! Great for a date


Casual

  • Darwin’s - amazing sandwiches (I love their egg salad one)

  • Flour Bakery - fast casual but truly delicious! 

  • Tatte - fabulous bakery and cafe

  • Lucy Cafe - very small Ethiopian restaurant near New England Conservatory / Symphony Hall. Absolutely delicious and very affordable.

  • Addis Red Sea (Ethiopian)

  • India Quality - really great Indian food in Kenmore Square

  • Maharaja - great Indian food in Cambridge

  • Grendel’s Den - subterranean bar/restaurant in Cambridge. Happy hour special is ½ price off any dish with a >$3 drink -- you can get pretty good fondue that feeds 2 for $12.50! Great beer selection.

  • Pinnochio’s Pizza (known by Harvard students as Nochs) - thick rectangular style pizza in Harvard Square - a very popular spot for students, and I’m not really sure if the pizza is great when it’s not 2am.

  • Life Alive Cafe in Central Square, Cambridge is a great veggie/vegan place. Even non-veggie people seem to like it.

  • Myung Dong - Korean food in Allston. There’s a bunch of clustered Korean restaurants in the area, but my Korean friends like this one the best. If you like Karaoke, this is the neighborhood for it :)

  • When Pigs Fly - a delicious bread shop in Brookline. Not a meal. Just bread.

  • My weirdest rec: Go to Wichit on Newbury street and get the “spicy tuna maki” sandwich. 

  • Parish Cafe - they recreate the top sandwich from a bunch of different establishments, and they’re all delicious! Plus other food (salads, etc.). This is more of a sit down restaurant.

  • The only good place to get a good bagel with nova and cream cheese is in Brookline. 

  • Sushi is not Boston’s best cuisine, but I like Thelonius Monkfish, Cafe Sushi, and FuGaKyu.

Drink

  • Drink - yep, there’s a bar called Drink! I have actually never managed to go, but everyone LOVES it. There are often long lines and it’s near the airport, which is not convenient to virtually anywhere. But basically for $13 the bartender gets to know your tastes and improvises a cocktail for you, and it’s supposed to be delicious!

  • Lolita - a tequila bar on Newbury St with truly inventive, delicious, and not-just-super-sugary-triple-sec margaritas. Go with a bunch of friends and get some pitchers. Cannot recommend highly enough, but it does get crowded. If you order food, you’ll also get free cotton candy!

  • Eastern Standard - restaurant and bar in Kenmore Square. I think their cocktails are more special than their food, but both are good!


Coffee

  • Pavement - solid coffee spot with good sandwiches and higher likelihood of seating

  • The Thinking Cup - great coffee, pastries, sandwiches

  • Blue Bottle isn’t specific to Boston, but there’s one in Harvard Square, and Blue Bottle is great.

Dessert

  • L.A. Burdick - THE BEST HOT CHOCOLATE IN THE WORLD. And I really do try a lot of hot chocolate. It’s thick with amazing flavor … you MUST go. Get the milk chocolate one. Don’t get a large; I don’t know anyone who has been able to finish a large. And I am a chocoholic.

  • Mike’s Pastry - famous (and very tasty) cannoli shop in the North End. New location in Harvard Square. VERY LONG LINES at the North End location, always.

  • Modern Pastry - where you will end up after you give up on the line at Mike’s. Also tasty.

  • Cardullo’s - Harvard Square shop for high end chocolate and cheese. They also have sandwiches which I have never tried. Very enjoyable to browse and inevitably buy something.

Ariel Mitnick
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