NYC couple check out BOSTON!!

[Rockette]

Yes, it's our turn to look geeky, get lost, and ask losts of questions..HA!
So..we'll be in Boston for short time next month.
Where can we find a brew pub with decent food?
A moderately priced seafood restaurant for dinner?
A local restaurant for lunch? Then there's breakfast?
We're into unpretentious, nothing too tasteful..
We'll be staying somewhere downtown..
Thankee!!!

[Limster]

Try Volle Nolle for lunch in the North End.

Breakfast at Charlie's Sandwiche Shoppe in the South End.

[coookie]

BREW PUB
bukowski's - inman sq or back bay - ~10 page beer list, serviceable food, $1.99 burger special before 8.30pm most nights.

SEAFOOD
east coast grill - inman sq - board favorite

[Dr. Jimbob]

Brew pub with decent food: I like the Parish Cafe at the corner of Boylston and Arlington in the Back Bay. Really good sandwiches and a nice variety of beers to choose from. Outdoor seating also when weather permits.

Seafood: for ultra-cheap I have a soft spot for No Name, on the fish pier, for guilty-pleasure deep fried loveliness. Then there's Daily Catch on Hanover Street in the North End, though you will need to be careful about the latter if you have a garlic allergy. :-) Lovely hole-in-the-wall ambience, but be warned it's cash only here.

Depending on where you are downtown, there are some decent alternatives for breakfast -- there's dim sum in Chinatown (Hei La Moon appears to be the consensus fave de jour), and I'm a big fan of Panificio on Charles Street in Beacon Hill (though on weekends, any decent brunch place has ridiculously long lines). If you can get a lift in a car, I'd suggest the Deluxe Town Diner in Watertown.

Also plenty of alternatives for lunch but that is probably driven more by where you're staying. The aforementioned Panificio and Parish Cafe aren't half bad, there are plenty of other fine alternatives depending on your location.

Hope that helps.

[9lives]

It's popular to bash No Name on this board...I think unfairly.

I had a cup of chowder and delicious fried clam roll..and Ms 9 had broiled sole..all very fresh and we took a container of chowder for another meal.

Try for a window seat.

It doesn't hurt that they're next to Sea to You..:)

[MB f ka MB]

Sorry, but I think Parish Cafe is HORRID. Fine for college kids and that's it, IMHO. Food is always sub par and I find the place to be kind of dirty. Every couple of years I end up giving it another try and every single time I think, 'now why did I do that to myself..again?!'

[9lives]

Parish is another 1 that I break from general board consensus. I can't stand the place either..:)....but everyone else seems to enjoy it.

[Alcachofa]

I think Parrish Cafe is good FOR SANDWICHES ONLY. And then, order what you think you'll like; the sandwich descriptions are fairly detailed. Still, there are probably a few duds on the menu.

But, in any case...... It's not a brewpub!!! In fact, it billed itself as a winebar when it opened. (Bukowski's is not a brewpub either, although it does have a gazillion brews.)

Cambridge Brewing Company has the best beer out of the brewpubs in the Boston area. Slightly better food than Boston Beer Works (the only other brewpub I've been to here), but I would eat elsewhere.

[Dax]

I agree with pretty much everything you said. Some of the sandwiches are pretty good at Parrish but I wouldn't consider it a destination place. It always seems to crowded for the food there serve too.

I also agree on CBC, which has better-than-average pub food and great beer. Beerworks food is fine if you like fried stuff basically. I'd skip both and grab some burgers and beers out in Brookline at the Publick House. It's not a brew pub, but they serve a shocking amount of draft and bottled beer.

Link: http://www.thepublickhousebrookline.com/

[Alan]

I have to disagree on CBC, so far there hasn't been a dissenting opinion! For the record, I think their beer is tremendous. Their food, on the other hand, is barely fit for human consumption. It wasn't always that way, but has been slipping into awfulness for a few years.

Last time I was there, I complained to our waitress about this, and asked about the change in the kitchen. She told us there had been no change in about a decade, so I don't know what is up. I would actually go out of my way to avoid the food there at this point.

I wish I had a brewpub recommendation for you, but do not. There are several decent restaurants with good taps and selection, including Parrish (where Dr. Jimbob and I imbibe regularly) and Christophers in Cambridge.

[autopi]

i've only been once, so maybe take this with a grain of salt but...i really have to disagree with some of the recent enthusiasm for the daily catch in the north end. it looks like the sort of place that would be a find, but when i was there we were served a piece of swordfish which smelled and tasted quite foul. additionally, one of the specials was well cooked but poorly conceived, with strong tomato/red sauce type seasonings completely overwhelming the rest of the dish, including the seafood in it.

the pasta we had was good, and the next table over ordered the most expensive special in the place, which looked very good.

finally, the prices are really exorbitant if you go there for lunch--they only have one menu, and it's the same whenever you go. i don't plan on going back anytime soon.

[Xavi]

Okay, not sure what days you will be in Boston but some downtown places are only open M-F for breakfast. If you are here during the week, I highly recommend Herrara's Mexican Grill near the Boston Commons. They have some traditional options like eggs and toast but where they shine are the mexican breakfast items, huevos rancheros and the rancho burrito are two of my favorites. Also, down by the aquarium, Sel De La Terre has a boulangerie which is open at 7:30 M-F and 9:00 on weekends and has a great lunch menu as well. With a quick trip on the Silverline you have access to some of the great restaurants of Washington Street including Flour (a great bakery and breakfast place in town).

Brew pubs are severely lacking in Boston. Boston Beer Works beer is good and if you are near North Station there is one on Canal Street. It is nice pub food but the beer is what you come for. If it is beer that you are looking for I would also check out the Sam Adam's Brewery Tour in Jamaica Plain. You often have the opportunity to try beers on tap that aren't available through stores and their tour includes a free tasting. I have heard rumors that Jake's BBQ (one of the best BBQ places in Boston) has moved to the same Germania Center as the brewery but I have not been able to confirm it. If it has I would highly recommend it for lunch.

For fish I would add Neptune and Naked Fish to the list. These might be out of your price range and I would stick to the original No Name recommendation as well for affordability. Hope this helps.

Have fun on your trip.

- Xavi

[Joanie]

There's also the original Beerworks by Fenway Park. John Harvard's in Harvard Sq. gets mixed reviews, another option if you're in that part of town. Maybe a beer at John Harvard and a burger around the corner at Bartley's.

Almost all the Naked Fishes have closed. The one by Fanueil Hall no logner exists. Try the happy hour at Summer Shack by the Prudential Center (approx. 4:30-6:30 and 10-midnite). Or go to Washington St. in the South End to Morse Seafood for barebones fried and grilled seafood.

The Paramount on Charles St. serves breakfast all day and have good lunches. Eastern Standard in Kenmore Sq. serves breakfast and just outside Kenmore is the Busy Bee, a lunch counter kind of place for a basic greasy spoon breakfast. Maybe lunch at the Intrigue Cafe in the Harbor Hotel if it's nice. A little pricey but it's on the water.