Best Southern Italian in the area?

[Swankalicious]

What's the best Southern Italian place in the Boston area?

[MC Slim JB]

I don't know about "best", but some of my personal favorites include:

Taranta, which covers a broad swatch of Southern Italy, including the big islands, does great seafood, and has a few dishes that feature some interesting Peruvian accents.

Vinny's at Night, more of a Sicilian-American kind of place, cheap and mostly delicious.

Daily Catch (North End location only), which specializes in Sicilian-style seafood, especially squid. It's no reservations and cash only.

La Campania and Da Vinci, two similar Campanian fine-dining places with good mostly-Italian wine lists.

Gran Gusto, which does the closest thing to real Neapolitan-style pizza I've found.

Other places that do mostly Neapolitan-inspired Italian-American cooking pretty well include Massimino's, Pagliuca's, and Rabia's.

I'm a fan of Carlo's Cucina Italiana in Allston, an Italian-American place I'd say has a more Southern focus.

[bachslunch]

Excellent list. Would add Maurizio's to this list.

[Bob Dobalina]

Indeed - great list.
Also add L'il Vinny's in Medford - the nephew of Vinny's at Night. Essentially the same menu and some would argue better than the original.