Best Baked Beans in Beantown?

[NYA Joe]

I'm always hosting people from around the country and from overseas. When I do "Best of (Quintessentially) Boston" food, I have no place to go for baked beans. Any recommendations?
FYI, I saw the Food Network plug for Durgin Park, but I've never tried theirs.

[bostonbroad]

Marliave and Kingfish Hall (served with their Lobster Roll, but probably with other stuff as well) both have boston baked beans.

[lipoff]

Other than their Teriyaki steak, my favourite thing to eat at the Stockyard in Brighton is "The Boston Favorite", which is a 10 oz. steak, terrific baked beans and luscious brown bread. Their baked beans are excellent.

Blue Ribbon BBQ is one of my favourite places, but I absolutely can't stand their baked beans. I think they are among the very worst I've ever had, although obvious this is a matter of taste. My father, a baked bean aficionado, who has invented his own outstanding secret recipe for baked beans loves them, although they are totally different than his own variety.

[bluesjack]

another reason to miss Uncle Pete..I loved thier beans

[scorp508]

I nearly shed a tear every time I drive by the building. There's a sign on it now saying another taco/burrito place is coming. Like we need another one. :(

[phatchris]

Marliave also has great baked beans.

[MC Slim JB]

Another place you might expect to see this is at the Omni Parker House. Sure enough, Parker's, Parker's Bar, and The Last Hurrah all serve traditional Boston Baked Beans as a side with their sandwiches. I can't say if they're any good. I have had and enjoyed the beans served with most breakfast dishes at Persy's in Kingston. The Mashpee outlet is not nearly as good.

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

[scorp508]

Persy's can go either way. They're either good or look like they've been sitting in the crucible for 3 hours and have a skin over the top.

[macadamianut]

Yes Durgin Park are traditional but my favorite come from Blue Ribbon BBQ. They taste like they have been cooked with brisket juices. Very delicious.

[BarmyFotheringayPhipps]

Blue Ribbon's beans are great -- one of my favorite things on the menu, in fact -- but southern-style barbecue beans and Boston baked beans are totally different things.

[emilief]

Agreed- Durgin Park is #1 for baked beans. The recipe is also great and more or less foolproof.

[shaogo]

Durgin Park's are the archetypal Boston Baked Beans. I still have the bean pot that my mother bought there about 50 years ago, and still make their recipe.

Let me temper this by telling you that I've seen some Chowhounders post *awful* things about the Durgin Park experience. I don't share their experiences.

[BarmyFotheringayPhipps]

Despite the nickname, there really aren't that many places left that serve baked beans. (I once got into an extended debate with someone on another food board who kept insisting that Boston was filled with diners that served baked beans, fish cakes and brown bread for lunch. This person eventually admitted that he had been in Boston exactly once, for a couple days, about 30 years ago.) Durgin Park may be your best bet. I've had perfectly acceptable beans and franks at Cabot's in Newton, but I tend to doubt that they were homemade.

[Boston_Otter]

Besides Durgin Park, ARE there any diners serving the prototypical Boston lunch? I had that exact meal at Spanky's in Hyannis recently.

[Allstonian]

Not as far as we know. There are a few that offer some combination - beans with brown bread, maybe with franks, or fish cakes with beans but no brown bread. But we haven't been able to get a solid report of any diner actually IN Boston (including Brookline, Cambridge, or Somerville) that served that exact combination of fish cakes, beans, *and* brown bread.