Welcome to Boston
Below is a list of restaurants, stores and other necessities to help you experience the best of Boston. This list is a combined effort of over 30 years of exploring, dining out, and getting through the every-days in town. We hope you find it USEFUL and fun!
MOVING COMPANIES:
• OlympiaMoving.com - specialize in Boston’s unique challenges
• GentleGiant.com - great for most jobs
• RaimondsMovers.com - specialize in high-end antiques and collector’s pieces
• DeathWishPiano.com - Piano Movers
• MySmallHaul.com - for moving a few items
RECOMMENDED HOTELS:
• Downtown Crossing: The Godfrey godfreyhotelboston.com
• Downtown: Kimpton Nine Zero ninezero.com
• Financial District: The Ames curiocollection3.hilton.com
• Beacon Hill: XV Beacon xvbeacon.com
• Theater District: The W Boston wboston.com
• Back Bay: Mandarin Oriental mandarinoriental.com/boston
• Kenmore Square: Hotel Commonwealth hotelcommonwealth.com
• South End: Clarendon Square clarendonsquare.com
• Seaport: The Envoy theenvoyhotel.com
GROCERY STORES
WHOLE FOODS
15 Westland Ave (smaller location)
348 Harrison Ave (larger location)
181 Cambridge St (Beacon Hill / West End)
FOODIES
1421 Washington (South End) & 230 W Broadway (South Boston)
Trader Joe's - 899 Boylston StStar Market - 53 Huntington AveRoche Bros - 8 Summer St (Downtown)
SPECIALTY FOOD STORES
Eataly - Prudential Center, Boylston EntranceSavenor’s Market (Meats) - 160 Charles
Deluca's Market - 239 Newbury & 11 Charles
Bacco’s Fine Foods - 31 St James
Formaggio (Cheese) - 268 Shawmut
WINSTON FLOWERS
131 Newbury • (800) 457-4901
WINE & LIQUOR
Brix - 1284 Washington
Urban Grape - 303 ColumbusWine Emporium - 474 Columbus & 607 Tremont
Bacco’s Wine & Cheese - 31 St James
Gordon’s Wine & Liquor - 39 Temple Place
Social Wines - 52 West Broadway
Southie Liquors - 399 West Broadway
(617) 464-3200 • free delivery for 02127 (Southie)
HARDWARE
Back Bay Hardware - 221 Newbury
Period Hardware - Charles St (Beacon Hill)Warren Electric - 470 Tremont St (South End)
Keys: Mass Ave Lock & Key - 125 St Botolph
OPEN MARKETS
COPLEY SQUARE FARMER'S MARKET
May thru NovemberTuesdays and Fridays 11am - 6pm
SOWA OPEN MARKET - INK BLOCK, HARRISON AVE
May thru October
every Sunday 10am - 4pm
SOWA FIRST FRIDAYS - 450 HARRISON AVE
Local Artists Open Galleries
first Friday of every month 5pm - 9pm
SMALL HOUSE WARES / GIFTS
Hudson - 12 Union Park
Michelle Wiley - 8 Union Park
Lekker - 1313 Washington (So End)
TAILORS
All Fit Tailoring - 138 Newbury
Hinds Lines & Designs - 49 Wareham Ste 2
STYLISTS / CUSTOM MEN’S & WOMEN’S
Trunk Club Boston - 500 Boylston St - Appt only
Have Daisy or John make an introduction for you.
DRY CLEANERS
French Cleaners - 538 Tremont
Columbus Dry Cleaners - 465 Columbus
UPS STORE
292 Newbury (Back Bay)
263 Huntington (Symphony)
398 Columbus (South End)
198 Tremont (Theater Dist)
139 Charles (Beacon Hill)
71 Commercial (Waterfront)
FEDEX
187 Dartmouth: 24 hours
39 Dalton
700 Albany775 Summer Street: ship center
PET SERVICES
Dog walking: WannaGoOut? (617) 721-7252
Dog Hotel: The Urban Hound (617) 755-5775
COFFEE & BAKERIES
Nespresso - 7 NewburyThinking Cup - 85 NewburyBarrington Coffee - 303 Newbury
Cafe Madeleine - 517 ColumbusAppleton Cafe - 123 Appleton
The South End Buttery - 314 Shawmut
Blackbird Donuts - 492 Tremont
Iggy’s Bread - 130 Fawcett St (Cambridge)
Clear Flour Bakery - 178 Thorndike (Brookline)
CAFFÈ NERO
564 Tremont (South End)
560 Washington & 10 Summer (Downtown)
368 Congress (Seaport)
360 Longwood Ave (Brookline)
733 Centre Street (Jamaica Plain)
FLOUR BAKERY
1595 Washington (South End)
131 Clarendon (Back Bay East)
30 Dalton (Back Bay West)
12 Farnsworth (Fort Point)
PRESSED Juice Bar - 643 Tremont & 120 Charles
FITNESS & HEALTH
EQUINOX
131 Dartmouth
4 Avery St (pool)
BOSTON SPORTS CLUBS
(multiple locations throughout region)
Back Bay Yoga - 364 BoylstonHealthworks for Women - 441 Stuart StSoulCycle - 500 BoylstonTurnstyle - 310 Harrison + 43 Fairfield
Exhale Spa - 28 Arlington St
NAILS
Mini-Luxe
296 Newbury
534 Tremont (South End)
81 Seaport Blvd
HAIR
Davis Hair Salon (South Boston) - Michael Marsilli
Tweed Barbers (South End) - Josh
Dry Bar - 234 Clarendon & 8 Kingston
DENTIST
Dental Partners of Boston
800 Boylston 2nd Floor • 617-259-1122
RECOMMENDED RESTAURANTS
BACK BAY EAST & COPLEY SQUARE
Doretta's - trendy Greek $$Douzo - trendy sushi $$Ostra - special occasion seafood $$$$Mistral - fine dining French $$$Sorellina - fine dining Italian $$$Saltie Girl - casual and beautiful seafood tapas $$Grill 23 - fine dining steakhouse $$$$
The Oak Room at Fairmont Copley - great for swanky cocktails $$$
BACK BAY WEST & KENMORE SQUARE
Deuxave - hip and award-winning French $$$Uni - Japanese fusion from Ken Oringer $$$Island Creek - hip seafood $$$Pho Basil - casual but excellent Thai $Sonsie - great for lunch/people watching $$
Capital Grille - fine dining steakhouse $$$
SOUTH END
Boston Chops - trendy steakhouse $$$Stella - trendy Italian $$Kava - hip authentic Greek (neighborhood gem) $$Toro - Spanish tapas from Ken Oringer $$Coppa - Italian tapas from Chef On ringer $$SRV - modern Italian $$Aquitaine - French bistro $$B&G - hip seafood $$
Elephant walk - Cambodian/French fusion $$Oishi - special occasion sushi $$$ (additional locations in Chestnut Hill and Sudbury)
DOWNTOWN
Yvonne's - swanky modern American $$$Ruka Restobar - Japanese/Peruvian fusion $$$
Boston Chops - trendy steakhouse $$$No. 9 Park - fine dining Italian/French $$$$Mooo - fine dining steakhouse $$$$O ya - world-class sushi $$$$ (Leather District)
SEAPORT & SOUTH BOSTON
Row 34 - hip seafood $$$Menton - world-class fine dining French $$$$Committee - trendy Greek $$$Sportello - modern Italian great for lunch $$Loco - casual Mexican and seafood $$Moonshine 152 - modern Asian fusion $$
FinPoint - raw bar $$
NORTH END
Neptune Oyster - Best of Boston raw bar $$Pomodoro - intimate classic Italian $$il Panino - trendy Italian $$
Vinoteca Di Monica - trendy Italian $$$
Mamma Maria - North End staple Italian $$$Billy Tse's - Chinese (good for takeout) $$
FURTHER OUT (AND WORTH THE TRIP)
Giulia - modern Italian $$ (Porter Sq, Cambridge)Yume Wo Katare - best Ramen in Mass $ (Porter)
Sarma - top-rated Middle Eastern $$ (Somerville)
dbar - Deuxave owners $$ (Dorchester)
Steel & Rye - modern American $$ (Milton)
Bernard’s - upscale Chinese $$ (Chestnut Hill)
Cafe Mangal - Turkish $$$ (Wellesley)
Rino's Place - casual Italian;despite appearances, it's fantastic; expect a line $ (East Boston)
MARKET RESTAURANT - GLOUCESTER
Seasonal seafood tasting menu with water views
Check ahead for hours and closings. Reservations strongly encouraged:
TheMarketRestaurant.com
GREAT DIVE BARS
Delux Cafe - 100 Chandler
Corner Tavern - 421 Marlborough
JM Curley - 21 Temple
*** We have a separate restaurant page for Jamaica Plain, Cambridge & Somerville; just ask!
INTERIOR DESIGN
Marty Dykas of Studio Dykas
38 Newbury Street • studiodykas.com
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT + ROOFTOP DESIGN
Jacalyn Gould Landscape Architect
jacalyngould.com
houzz.com/pro/jggould/jacalyn-gould-landscape-architect
IMPORTANT WEBSITES
• trash days:
www.cityofboston.gov/publicworks/wastereduction/collection.asp
• street cleaning:
www.cityofboston.gov/publicworks/sweeping
• pay parking tickets:
www.boston.gov/departments/parking-clerk/how-pay-parking-ticket
• apply for resident parking:
www.boston.gov/departments/parking-clerk/how-get-resident-parking-permit Need either a copy of front page of lease or bill with Boston address on it
***IF YOUR CAR IS TOWED CALL: (617) 635-4677
have license plate number ready
***IF YOUR CAR IS BOOTED CALL: (617) 236-1200
They will remove boot for you at no extra cost
PHONE APPS FOR SERVICES
• Public transport routes: transit app
• Grocery delivery via Whole Foods: Instacart• Dry cleaning and laundry: Nim nim• Pay parking meter: ParkBoston• Pay parking ticket: Paytix• Trash days: Boston trash schedule
FAVORITE BEACHES
Singing Beach: Manchester (1hr+)
Good Harbor: Gloucester (1hr+)
Crane Beach: Ipswich (1hr+) beware flies until Aug
Sandy Point Reservation: Ipswich (1.5hrs) flies
Horseneck: Westport, MA (1.5hrs) warm water
Mayflower*: Dennis (1.75hrs) aim for low tide
Cahoon Hollow: Wellfleet (2hrs) restaurant & bar
Newcomb Hollow*: Wellfleet (2hrs) quieter
Head of the Meadow*: Truro (2hrs) no crowds
Race Point: Provincetown (2.5hrs) US top-rated
*may require resident sticker June thru August
Ask about our Cape Cod Recommendations Page
BOSTON COLLOQUIALISMS:
Comm Ave = Commonwealth AvenueMass Ave = Massachusetts AvenueDot Ave = Dorchester AvenueSouthie = South Boston, not to be confused with the South End, an entirely different neighborhood
SoWa = South of Washington, southeastern portion of South End neighborhood.Eastie = East BostonJP = Jamaica Plain
P-town = Provincetown Cape Cod, not Providence
The T = Boston's subwayThe Pike = I-90
The Expressway = I-93In Back Bay, north/south streets are alphabetical: Arlington, Berkeley, Clarendon, etc.