fun, hip restaurants

[rachelh.415]

i have a cousin who is an undergrad at boston college. for christmas, i want to buy her a gift certificate to a cool boston restaurant. it shouldn't be dirt cheap, but can't be really expensive. it should feel like a special night out. mostly i want it to be a cool place to go, not too low-brow or too posh, too stuffy or too touristy. if you've ever been to sf (where i'm from), i'm thinking along the lines of delfina or nopa... i'll spend about $75-100 bucks, which i'm hoping will completely cover two people, drinks included, or maybe almost cover three. the kind of place that graduate students would go for a nice night out...
any suggestions would be appreciated. i'm going to check yelp out as well
cheers!

[Small Plates]

Highland Kitchen is the new hipster joint - in addition to having excellent value, food and bartending. The jukebox, while a tad loud, is a roots rock compendium - filled with Sandman's Treat Her Right and Morphine nuggets. Lots of Dylan, Neil Young, Burrito Brothers. If you like that stuff. Monday is Fried and Frozen nights with some really cool fried specials. And on top of all this, the menu is very affordable - a big night for my husband and me is rarely over $70 with tip (and that is about 3 drinks each). Service is excellent.

[Bob Dobalina]

Garden at the Cellar would be my pick. Great food, reasonable prices, lively crowd.
River Gods would be another choice, although it's not as "nice."
The other places are chowhound faves, but not really the "grad student" crowd in my opinion.

[sushibox]

Hungry Mother. Hands down.

[WilliamTheFoodie]

I second Gaslight or maybe Sel de la Terre at the new Mandarin Oriental-very nice but not overpriced.

[pollystyrene]

I'm not sure many people would go to Franklin or Silvertone for "a special night out." They're dark bars, kind of dingy at that, and I haven't been impressed with the food or cocktails at either.

I think Marliave, Grotto or Gaslight would be more suitable. They're neither fancy nor downscale, and each is special in its own way. If cocktails are important, skip Grotto since it's wine only (although they do make a terrific peach bellini).

[Carty]

Silvertone and Grotto/Marliave/Gaslight are answers to two very different questions. My experience has been that the food at Silvertone is quite good. It *is* a scene, but one that grad students trying to avoid 'stuffy' might enjoy.

I'd compare Silvertone favorably to Marliave downstairs, $75 for 2-3 is not going to cut it for Marliave upstairs.

I'd also throw in the Hungry Mother in East Cambridge.

[StriperGuy]

I'd go to Silvertone...

[Uptown Dave]

Toro on Washington St. might fill the bill. You can check out the website here: http://toro-restaurant.com

[Joanie]

Eastern Standard is way bigger than Delfina but fun w/ a price in the $10-25 range. Franklin Cafe in the South End (or the new South Boston location altho no word on how good it is yet). Green St. and Blue Room in Cambridge are fun.