Diners' Choice: Best Overall restaurants in Boston

OpenTable

Updated October 05, 2024

Looking for the best overall restaurants in Boston? You’re in the right place. Each month, OpenTable analyzes nearly 2 million global diner reviews from the past four months. We sort the results by location and category to help you discover new favorite restaurants. It's a great partnership: you reserve, eat, and review. We listen...and deliver the results for all to benefit. Enjoy!

Piccolo Nido

5.0

5 (304)

$31 to $50

Italian

North End

About the restaurant

Piccolo Nido in Boston is an Italian restaurant with a family atmosphere, owned and operated by chef Pino Irano from Napoli. Piccolo Nido’s dinner menu includes a daily soup option, as well as classic antipasto and pasta dishes. Enjoy an espresso or cappuccino with dessert, and enjoy getting to know Pino when he steps out of the kitchen to greet the patrons.

Entrees at Piccolo Nido include favorites such as spaghetti and gnocchi, but also has options for lovers of true Italian flavors, such as veal and trout. The fresh catch of the day is also available for the freshest seafood around, and diners can also enjoy tiramisu or a dessert of the day.

Top review

Doug

Dined on Sep 27, 2024

Excellent choice, off the beaten path of crazy Hanover street. Restaurant is small, intimate, great ambiance. Our waiter was extremely talented, first rate service, knowledgeable of menu and specials. Everyone got what they wanted, everything was fresh. The chef came out mid meal to check on us and introduced the bus boy who stopped what he was doing to serenade the dinning room not once but twice. Ir was an exceptional bonus. I would recommend and definitely going back when in the North End.

BLEND

4.9

4.9 (78)

$30 and under

Gastro Pub

Dorchester

About the restaurant

Blend is a gastro pub that combines the aspects of great food, music, lights and entertainment all into one. Blend "blends" up that neighborhood gastro pub feel where everyone is welcome. Gay owned and Operated, come check us out!

DRAG BRUNCHES ARE 1ST AND 3RD SUNDAYS UNLESS OTHERWISE POSTED
instagram handle : blendboston

Please note when booking for a drag brunch to not choose outside. All drag brunches will be held inside.

Top review

Stephen

Dined 3 days ago

Harlow & Kori are the best. It’s always such a nice time at Blend. Thank you all!

Trifecta

4.9

4.9 (347)

$30 and under

Cocktail Bar

Back Bay

About the restaurant

This street-level lobby bar is a fun, lively spot offering creative cocktails, fine wines, light cuisine and weekend high tea. It's a dynamic new meeting place in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood.

Top review

Dined on Sep 1, 2024

Amazing creative meal. Extremely knowledgeable staff. Fun environment too.

Discover more

Experience

Afternoon Tea

Rossetti Restaurant of Lynn

4.9

4.9 (2539)

$30 and under

Italian

Lynn

About the restaurant

Rossetti Restaurant aims to serve well executed, traditional Italian cuisine, alongside the art of mixology and inspired craft cocktails. Our kitchen offers a variety of classic and new age dishes with nothing but the best ingredients. Our bar and resident mixologists offer fantastic service and cocktails, highlighted by details: hand-cut ice, house made bitters, barrel aged concoctions, and daily fresh squeezed juices. We aim to please all of our guests, and make sure we create a casually elegant, but most importantly, comfortable atmosphere. We hope to see you there!

Top review

Susan

Dined 4 days ago

First time we visited Rossetti’s and we were glad that we did. The food was excellent and our server John was knowledgeable, attentive, and made sure to check on us regularly. We had a great experience and would highly recommend Rossetti’s for a night out.

Discover more

Popular dish

Chicken "Margherita"

Popular dish

Fresh Lobster Ravioli

Cafe Amaro

4.9

4.9 (90)

$30 and under

Italian

North End

About the restaurant

At Cafe Amaro we specialize in making Italian brick-oven pizza in Boston's North End. Be seated outdoors, or in our intimate, relaxed indoor dining room, with tall open windows facing Hanover St. Start off with select cocktails, beer, or fine wine. Enjoy a few small plates with friends while choosing the perfect pizza for you! Finish your stay with an amaro, limoncello, or North Ends favorite, an Espresso Martini, made with home-made cold brew espresso. We're looking forward to having you!

Top review

Bob

Dined 4 days ago

High quality food in a tiny cramped cafe. The tiny is ok, but can’t even walk between tables. My biggest issue for not coming back is the kitchen staff banging pans so loud it was making my ears ring. This happened throughout the entire meal. Very damn annoying

Discover more

4.9

4.9 (1724)

$30 and under

American

South Boston

About the restaurant

A modern -American, neighborhood bistro restaurant in Southie (South Boston) by Chef-owner Asia Mei (as seen on Chopped, Beat Bobby Flay & Phantom Gourmet). With a globally-inspired, comfort food meets street food menu, Chef Asia puts her unique spin on both East & West Coast style cooking, striving to match the beautiful restaurant’s aesthetic, contributing to numerous glowing re-reviews, accolades & praise. Her "Best of Boston" Buttermilk Fried Chicken Wings, her award-winning Burgers & Vegetarian Burgers, Street Tacos & weekly changing specials are only some of the reasons she was awarded the 2023 Best of Boston Neighborhood Restaurant in South Boston.

Moonshine 152 is located at 152 Dorchester Avenue, on the corner of Dorchester Avenue & West 4th Street in South Boston. We are one block from the Broadway Red Line train station, with bus connections local bus connections. We are a short walk from the South End & Ink Block neighborhoods as well as The Seaport & Downtown Boston.

Top review

OpenTable Diner

Dined 3 days ago

Staff was perfectly attentive and expert. The chef owner was part of service team-excellent! Food was very interesting and super tasty! Ambiance great!

Discover more

Popular dish

Butterscotch Pudding

A photo of 'Shine Famous Bacon Wrapped Stuffing Bites of a restaurant

Popular dish

Jalapeno Crab Rangoons

Fioritaly Trattoria

4.9

4.9 (687)

$31 to $50

Italian

Medford

About the restaurant

The name “Fiore” originated from Chef Gabriele Ascione’s grandfather, who shaped his love for Ischian history and food. Ischia, a small island off of Naples, boasts a rich and vibrant local history that is recreated in the cuisine at Fioritaly. Each meal has been carefully selected and refined by Chef Gabriele Ascione, who inspires to showcase the essence of local Italian dishes from home.

Top review

Dan

Dined 4 days ago

Place was packed but we sat for our reservation on time which was great! Great atmosphere and good table placement to utilize the entire room yet not overcrowded. Food was great and cosmo hit the spot. Service was very good.

Discover more

4.9

4.9 (85)

$50 and over

Sushi

Cambridge

About the restaurant

Umami Omakase and Sake Bar
Best Sushi of 2021 & 2023 Awards
Top 50 restaurants in Boston
Cambridge MA
Seafood. Japanese food, Beer and Wine
Chef Tasting Menu:
Miso Soup
Sashimi Plates
Sushi Nigiri
Toro
Japanese Fish; Madai. Kinmedai. Shima-Aji. Kamasu. Akayagara. Hotate. Hokkaido Uni. Kanpachi. Salmon. Unagi. Tuna. Ikura. Tibiko.
Caviar
Japnaese A5 Wagyu Beef
Foie Gras
Truffle
Kitchen specials; Duck breast. Chawanmushi
Hand Roll / Chirashi bowl
Umami Dessert
Sake Tasting/ Pairings
Fine dinging
High end restaurant
Special day, Special dinner
Occasion celebration. Birthday. Anniversary. Graduation. Marriage dinner.
Influencer welcome
Catering. Group reservation. Family and kids. Work dinner. Company party.

Top review

John

Dined 7 days ago

INCREDIBLE food, truly an amazing experience and wonderful staff that love explaining what they do. The chefs have an extreme attention to detail and you can see them working on perfecting each dish as it comes out, always correcting and discussing amongst themselves. A wonderful experience.

Discover more

Experience

Experience 15 Courses (Tue. Wed. Thur. Sun.)

Vuolo's

4.9

4.9 (156)

$30 and under

Italian

Winthrop

About the restaurant

Named after our beloved grandfather, we are a small family-owned establishment built on a commitment to making every patron that walks through our doors feel they are at home. Our approach, in addition to supplying friendly and attentive service, is to take the traditional Italian cuisine that our family grew up eating and elevate it to something new and fresh.

Mangia!

Top review

OpenTable Diner

Dined 1 day ago

What an incredible evening! Our waitress was spot on with every recommendation. Family owned and operated and you can tell every single thing we ate was perfection!

Moon Bar

4.9

4.9 (83)

$30 and under

Cocktail Bar

Back Bay

About the restaurant

Welcome to Moon Bar. We offer globally inspired small plates by Chef Carl Dooley in a bar setting.

Top review

Wendyvip

Dined 6 days ago

Never disappoints. Great craft cocktails and delicious food - only topped by the fab staff.