Food Scene
This is Boston's best bakery. Nothing beats it. Buy the butter breton and a croissant and don't forget to wear your stretchy pants.
180 locals recommend
Flour Bakery
1595 Washington StThis is Boston's best bakery. Nothing beats it. Buy the butter breton and a croissant and don't forget to wear your stretchy pants.
Boston's finest soul food and live music establishment. Without parallel in the Boston scene, Darryl's is not frequented by tourists and offers an intimate experience. Make a reservation or you will not get a table. Start off with cocktails at the bar before moving onto a meal of deep fried catfish. The live singing and music literally occurs at your elbows, as every inch of space is used to its maximum capacity! Experience a side of Boston no tour guide will ever tell you exists.
35 locals recommend
Darryl's Corner Bar & Kitchen
604 Columbus AveBoston's finest soul food and live music establishment. Without parallel in the Boston scene, Darryl's is not frequented by tourists and offers an intimate experience. Make a reservation or you will not get a table. Start off with cocktails at the bar before moving onto a meal of deep fried catfish. The live singing and music literally occurs at your elbows, as every inch of space is used to its maximum capacity! Experience a side of Boston no tour guide will ever tell you exists.
Great breakfast fifteen minutes walk from our place. They take their time at Thornton's because the food is quality food. There is also always a line so get ready to wait especially on a Saturday. Well worth it, though. Get the chocolate milk. Fantastic outdoor seating right across the street from the Christian Science Center.
8 locals recommend
Thornton's
150 Huntington AveGreat breakfast fifteen minutes walk from our place. They take their time at Thornton's because the food is quality food. There is also always a line so get ready to wait especially on a Saturday. Well worth it, though. Get the chocolate milk. Fantastic outdoor seating right across the street from the Christian Science Center.
Get a feel for what real, blue collar Boston is and was @ Victoria's Diner. One of the few restaurants in Boston with a racially mixed clientele where no one cares what the color of your skin is. Have breakfast next to a trucker who just delivered a truckload of lettuce to Newmarket Square behind the diner or strike up a conversation with one of the salt-of-the-earth waitresses who will make you wait to place your order until you've placed your drink order. Get a foot-tall slice of chocolate cake and take it home in a styrofoam box! Open twenty four hours on the weekends.
11 locals recommend
Victoria's Diner
1024 Massachusetts AveGet a feel for what real, blue collar Boston is and was @ Victoria's Diner. One of the few restaurants in Boston with a racially mixed clientele where no one cares what the color of your skin is. Have breakfast next to a trucker who just delivered a truckload of lettuce to Newmarket Square behind the diner or strike up a conversation with one of the salt-of-the-earth waitresses who will make you wait to place your order until you've placed your drink order. Get a foot-tall slice of chocolate cake and take it home in a styrofoam box! Open twenty four hours on the weekends.
This is one of Boston's two best pizza places. Get the meatball pizza. Features Boston's best brunch - hands down, no questions asked.
31 locals recommend
Brewer's Fork
7 Moulton StThis is one of Boston's two best pizza places. Get the meatball pizza. Features Boston's best brunch - hands down, no questions asked.
Try their sticky, gelatinous ice cream/gelato. You will not regret it. Way better than J.P. Licks and more chic, too. Very South End to go here on a warm summer night.
9 locals recommend
FoMu
655 Tremont StTry their sticky, gelatinous ice cream/gelato. You will not regret it. Way better than J.P. Licks and more chic, too. Very South End to go here on a warm summer night.
Family run establishment with the head chef (grandmother) running the show from the kitchen, Bocelli's offers a broad range of incredibly reasonably priced dishes and offers ambiance directly out of the 1970s, which is the last time it was refurbished. Some of Boston's best Italian food - yes, better than the North End, which does not offer good Italian food. Sorry, but true and anyone who says otherwise is lying.
12 locals recommend
Bocelli's
374 Main StFamily run establishment with the head chef (grandmother) running the show from the kitchen, Bocelli's offers a broad range of incredibly reasonably priced dishes and offers ambiance directly out of the 1970s, which is the last time it was refurbished. Some of Boston's best Italian food - yes, better than the North End, which does not offer good Italian food. Sorry, but true and anyone who says otherwise is lying.
Visit the original Kane's and try some of their incredible donuts. You could visit the shop in Boston, but it's not the same. You get a real feel for the neighborhood and people by going to the original location. Get there early because they do close early.
Kane's Donuts-Lincoln Avenue
120 Lincoln AveVisit the original Kane's and try some of their incredible donuts. You could visit the shop in Boston, but it's not the same. You get a real feel for the neighborhood and people by going to the original location. Get there early because they do close early.
Drinks & Nightlife
They are a ten minute walk from the house and they have one of the most unique cocktail menus in the city. Not just wanky cocktails that someone decided to make up one day; all the bartenders sit down once a week to discuss new drinks they'd like to feature so you are constantly getting new drinks. They will also experiment with drinks for you so this is a total treat.
Lion's Tail
354 Harrison AveThey are a ten minute walk from the house and they have one of the most unique cocktail menus in the city. Not just wanky cocktails that someone decided to make up one day; all the bartenders sit down once a week to discuss new drinks they'd like to feature so you are constantly getting new drinks. They will also experiment with drinks for you so this is a total treat.
Boston's best live R&B singing. Beware: you will be the only white person here so make sure you are comfortable with that because Slade's is a fantastic, raucous experience that you will not soon forget. Vocalists sing classics (Marvin Gaye) to more modern pieces (MIssy Elliott) and do it all in a venue that betrays its history and significance to the community. Make sure to get some fried plaintains and strap yourself in for some dancing!
8 locals recommend
Slades Bar & Grill
958 Tremont StBoston's best live R&B singing. Beware: you will be the only white person here so make sure you are comfortable with that because Slade's is a fantastic, raucous experience that you will not soon forget. Vocalists sing classics (Marvin Gaye) to more modern pieces (MIssy Elliott) and do it all in a venue that betrays its history and significance to the community. Make sure to get some fried plaintains and strap yourself in for some dancing!
Entertainment & Activities
Although the aquarium can be a bit of a pill to get into due to the crowds, one of the best and most secret things to do is visit at night and see the seals in the glass tank behind the ticket counter. Go here with someone and don't tell them the seals are there, then watch the surprise on their face when the seals pop up out of nowhere and press their noses against the glass!
399 locals recommend
New England Aquarium
1 Central WharfAlthough the aquarium can be a bit of a pill to get into due to the crowds, one of the best and most secret things to do is visit at night and see the seals in the glass tank behind the ticket counter. Go here with someone and don't tell them the seals are there, then watch the surprise on their face when the seals pop up out of nowhere and press their noses against the glass!
Sightseeing
The streets of the South End are charming and without parallel in Boston. Spend an afternoon walking around the streets and investigating some of the more unique architecture and doorways before taking a rest in some of the hidden shops.
85 locals recommend
South End
The streets of the South End are charming and without parallel in Boston. Spend an afternoon walking around the streets and investigating some of the more unique architecture and doorways before taking a rest in some of the hidden shops.
Shopping
Boston's premier open-air market has a lot to offer. Start off with the food trucks, move on to the vegetable and meat market, before finding the arts market. Don't forget to check out the artist lofts, which you can walk around in. This is perhaps the best and most rewarding aspect of SOWA because not all tourists realize they can actually enter the artists' lofts. Remember to buy some art!
54 locals recommend
SoWa Open Market
500 Harrison AveBoston's premier open-air market has a lot to offer. Start off with the food trucks, move on to the vegetable and meat market, before finding the arts market. Don't forget to check out the artist lofts, which you can walk around in. This is perhaps the best and most rewarding aspect of SOWA because not all tourists realize they can actually enter the artists' lofts. Remember to buy some art!
Evolve is one of the South End's interior decor/architectural firms; however, they have a store that sells pieces they've come across during their course of work. Featuring exceptional decor pieces with a Parisian edge, make sure to drop in and get a reasonably priced piece to take home! I guarantee you that you will not be able to get it anywhere else. I've tried!
Evolve Residential
470 Shawmut AveEvolve is one of the South End's interior decor/architectural firms; however, they have a store that sells pieces they've come across during their course of work. Featuring exceptional decor pieces with a Parisian edge, make sure to drop in and get a reasonably priced piece to take home! I guarantee you that you will not be able to get it anywhere else. I've tried!
Essentials
This is Boston's best grocery store. Makes Whole Foods look like a whole joke. Significantly cheaper than Whole Foods, as well, with a much higher quality. Featuring its own bakery and florist, you absolutely cannot beat Russo's for pricing and quality. Imports fruit and veg from all over the world; unparalleled selection.
28 locals recommend
Russo's
560 Pleasant StThis is Boston's best grocery store. Makes Whole Foods look like a whole joke. Significantly cheaper than Whole Foods, as well, with a much higher quality. Featuring its own bakery and florist, you absolutely cannot beat Russo's for pricing and quality. Imports fruit and veg from all over the world; unparalleled selection.