Boston Restaurant Tips by Cabana_Boy

Restaurant Name: The Daily Catch

The Daily Catch is a very small place, a dive really. The restaurant only seats about 18 people and is staffed by three people: a cook, a hostess/waitress and a bus boy... The hostess/waitress is an older woman who is always entertaining by simply acting normal (she is one of the reasons this is my favorite Boston restaurant).

As is par for the course with many Italian restaurants in Boston's North End, The Daily Catch is family owned (and uses family held recipes) which greatly adds to its character...

Favorite Dish: The Lobster fra Diavolo...the cook takes a whole live lobster cutting it length way with a single chop of a larger meat cleaver, then drops it into a large pan with linguine and gravy. The dish also contains bits of squid and shrimp AND is spiced up with red pepper.

Quite honestly, I think this is my favorite dish of all time...sure as hell beats that chewy dried-out Caribou at the Wildcat Cafe in Yellowknife. If you’re not hungry enough for the Lobster fra Diavolo, but in the mood for something really different try the black pasta served Aglio Olio style (with squid ink).

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Theme: Italian
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$31-40  » Currency Converter
Phone: 617·523·8567
Address: 323 Hanover Street, Boston, MA 02113
Directions: This place is on the main street in Boston's famed North End (Italian section of Boston). The Daily Catch actual has three locations, but the best is in the North End
Website: http://www.dailycatch.com

Restaurant Name: Ristorante Villa Francesca

Ristorante Villa Francesca is another one of my favorite places to eat in the North End. There are three separate dining areas in the restaurant and during the summer months the large bay windows in the front of the restaurant will be open to the street.

Favorite Dish: I always get one of nightly specials and usually something with seafood (mussels, clams or lobster) and a little extra spice thrown in for good measure. The Lobster Gondola is really good as well.

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Theme: Italian
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Phone: 617.367.2948
Address: 150 Richmond Street, Boston, MA.
Directions: Just off Hanover Street in the North End, downtown Boston...
Website: http://ristorantevillafrancesca.com/

Restaurant Name: Cantina Italiana...

Another good place in the North End, Cantina Italiana is a laid back sort of place that has a family feel to it... The dining area is mostly filled with booths,so, it's not as "open" as many of the other restaurants in the North End...but let's face it, you're here to eat, not stare at people...

Favorite Dish: I usually get the Risotto Con Frutti Di Mare...

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Theme: Italian
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Phone: 617.723.4577
Address: 346 Hanover Street, Boston, MA. 02113
Directions: The North End, downtown Boston

Restaurant Name: De Lucas Market

De Luca's is great little grocery store wedged into a small space along Charles Street in Beacon Hill. In the back of the store, the deli will make sandwiches to order. They have a wide arrangement of meats and breads.

Favorite Dish: I like to go here to get some Italian meats stuffed into a loaf of French bread and then head into the Boston Common to sit and eat the concoction.

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Theme: Grocery Store/Market
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Phone: 617.523.4343
Address: 11 Charles St., Boston, MA.
Directions: De Luca's is basically at the corner of Beacon and Charles Streets near the Boston Common

Restaurant Name: Pho Pasteur

Pho Pasteur has several locations around the greater Boston area, but this particular one is my favorite. I really think the broth in their Pho tastes better here (I have been to their Chinatown and Cambridge locations

Favorite Dish: PHO hoac MI....especially on a cold day or whenever I am hungover or feeling a little under the weather...

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Theme: Other
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Phone: 617-783-2340
Address: 137 Brighton Avenue, Allston, MA. 02134
Directions: Near the intersection of Brighton Avenue and Harvard Avenue...
Website: www.phopasteur.com
Other Contact: www.weseatyou.com

Restaurant Name: Turner's Seafoof Grll...

If you are just outside of Boston along I-93 near Stoneham or Melrose, head to Turner's Seafood Grill in downtown Melrose. This is a great little place for raw oysters and other freash seafood, it's actually the best seafood that I have had in the Boston area.

The place has a small bar area, two small dining rooms and the raw bar. I like seatiing in the raw bar to watch the dudes cutting open the oysters or cooking in their steam kettles, it's the most lively area in the restaurant. One word of warning, don't try ot go there on a Monday, they're closed and I have forgotten that many times only to be disappointed...

Turner's also operates a full service retail seafood market if you want to prepare your own food at home...

Favorite Dish: A dozen oysters or Littlenecks to start off with and then I usually get the shrimp, scallop, tuna and swordfish over linguine, which is made in their steam kettles...all this is washed down with Harpoon IPA...

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Theme: Seafood
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Phone: (781) 662-0700
Address: 506 Main Street, Melrose, MA. 02176
Directions: Melrose is just a few miles North, Northwest of Boston.
Other Contact: fax: (781) 662-4037

Restaurant Name: The Lemon Tree...

If you happen to be on the outskirts of Boston, particularly near Burlington, head over to the Lemon Tree for dinner. This little Thai Restaurant has all your favorites, Wild Boar Basil, Duck Chu-Chee, Pad Thai and cute waitresses...

Favorite Dish: I am usually there with several friends and we typically get several dishes to share family style, which is great as you can sample a lot of different dishes. I have never had a bad dish here, but my personal favorite is the Wild Boar Basil.

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Theme: Other
Comparison: about average
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Phone: 781-273-2323
Address: 211 Middlesex Tpke, Burlington, MA. 01803
Directions: Take Route 128 (I-95) to the Middlesex Turnpke in Burlington, MA (Exit 32). The restaurant is one mile North of the Burlington Mall.