Boston is getting better each month in terms of the food served, but worse each month in terms of its prices. It's far more expensive to eat out here at comparable medium to upscale places, especially with respect to wine, than it is in NYC, Philadelphia, or San Francisco. That said, the best upscale restaurants in the city, in no special order, are: Hamersley's, which offers consistent and simple in the best sense French bistro-style food; #9 Park, where Barbara Lynch's kitchen has helped to raise the bar; and any of Michael Schlow's restaurants: Via Matta, Radius, and Great Bay, with Via Matta the best of the three. Ken Oringer continues to attract attention at Clio, but his new place, Toro, is, I think, far better due to the sheer fun of dining inforamlly on delicious Spanish food. Other chefs with places worth noting include: Jody Adams, Ana Sortun, Chris Schlesinger, and Jasper White. For mid-level dining, Harvest, Oleana, and East Coast Grill are all pretty wonderful. For places that are unique to the region, try Casablanca or CK's Shanghai--both attract loyal crowds. The cheeseburger at Casablanca is great. For simple and inexpensive food, you'll do well at: Galleria Umberto--truly the best Sicilian pizza in the country; Mr. Bartley's--great burgers; the Japanese noodle shops in Porter Square. Also worth noting is Brown Sugar for Thai food. There's not a single Japanese sushi restaurant worth going to in the city. Chinatown is good if not plain and cheap in terms of ingredients. The Italian restaurants in the North End are fun, but none are that good--Marco's is new and maybe the best of the bunch. For BBQ, you have East Coast Grill (Schlesinger), Redbones, and Blue Ribbon. The best Indian restaurant in the city is Tamarind Bay. Many pubs offer good beer and decent food--the best is Matt Murphy's in Brookline. The bottom line is that Boston is basically a college town with first-rate, cheap food with so-called ethnic flavors and a few, vastly overpriced places for mom and dad to treat the kid when they come to visit; certainly, there are the few places that are costly and worth it that are noted above, and certainly Boston is a fine place to eat out, but take what you eat with, well, a grain of salt.
