Chicago Foodies In Town This Weekend Need Advice!

[sc60601]

Hi, my boyfriend and I are coming in for the Buffalo Tom show this weekend and staying in Brookline. Seeking recommendations on places that locals interested in beer, wine and honest food frequent. We'll be packing light so jeans must pass the muster for attire. Hoping to avoid tourist traps and eat/drink like locals while in town. Suggestions greatly appreciated and would be happy to reciprocate with Chicago recs. Thanks!

Sara

[autopi]

since you're coming from chicago, i would skip the thai, gastropub & italian recs. all of those are much better represented in chicago than in boston. (respectively, TAC quick, hopleaf & cafe spiaggia.)

i would check out clear flour for great breads & pastries, which are a bit harder to get in chicago (though less so, now that floriole is around); yoma for burmese & jojo taipei for taiwanese. the super 88 food court is fun too. wisteria does a great beef noodle soup.

[Joanie]

Clearflour isn't gonna do them any good for sitting down for a meal with a beer or wine. Nor will the food court. If the game's in the afternoon, you shouldn't have to worry about a 7PM dinner at most of the places mentioned.

[cambridgedoctpr]

for the best wine deals in town, though not the best food, troquet.

but really seafood should be the reason to eat in boston and so i recommend east ocean seafood and neptune.

[BobB]

Maybe not THE best food, but darn close. Possibly a bit upscale though for what the OP is seeking.

[C. Hamster]

It might also be one of the few places where they would let you wear jeans but you'd feel underdressed.

[C. Hamster]

The Red Sox are in town this weekend so I would recommend avoiding places at that end of Beacon (Eastern Standard, Audubon, Beacon Street Tavern) before game times, which are Friday at 7, Sat at 4 and Sun at 1:30. Or be prepared for crowds.

You might consider other neighborhoods and think about Meyers and Chang, Gaslight, Toro ...

Do it yourself bloody mary bar on Sunday at East Coast grill in Cambridge, if you're still in town and desirous of some hair of the dog that will burn your head off, if you so choose.

You could also head over to Eagles Deli in Cleveland Circle and take their burger challenge.

[Bob Dobalina]

Would also add Beacon Street Tavern and Washington Square Tavern, at either end of Beacon Street in Brookline - same owners I believe - good drinks, good food, local hangouts - nothing too crazy, lively scene...

In Brookline Village, cannot go wrong with Orinoco (Venezuelan) or Pomodoro (Italian) - Pomodoro is cash only

FYI: Except for a few top 10 restaurants, jeans ok everywhere, esp. if like my jeans, they are the most expensive pants you own. ;)

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Beacon Street Tavern
1032 Beacon Street, Brookline, MA 02446

[drewames03]

For Beer: Publick House (Brookline), Deep Ellum (Allston) - DE has good cocktails too.
Drinks: Eastern Standard (Kenmore Square) - Food is solid.
Food/Bar: Audubon (Audubon Circle) - Great Bar w/very good food.
Food: Taberna de Haro (Brookline) - Spanish Tapas; great wine list.
Food: Lineage (Brookline), Dok Bua (Brookline)

Enjoy:)

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Eastern Standard
528 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215

Publick House
1648 Beacon St, Brookline, MA

Deep Ellum Bar
477 Cambridge St, Allston, MA 02134

[sc60601]

Excellent! Thanks!

[DivGuy]

Regal Beagle in Brookline is also quite good - I'd recommend it over Lineage for a good meal out.

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Regal Beagle
308 Harvard St, Brookline, MA 02446

[mats77]

Div, granted I have not been to either but aren't the two restaurants very different? Apples and oranges?

[DivGuy]

I haven't been to Lineage in a while, but my memory is that they do seasonal New American. That's Regal Beagle's thing too. Lineage is a bit fancier, and Regal Beagle has some Latin flavors mixed in, but I think of them as similar restaurants. I thought I got a similar, but superior meal at Regal Beagle at a lower cost.

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Regal Beagle
308 Harvard St, Brookline, MA 02446

[Joanie]

I'd def say apples and oranges. Lineage is fancier (and yes pricier), more seafood oriented. Bar area is fun but a little more uptight in general. Regal is more "gastropub". Audobon and Deep Ellum would probably be the most convenient to the Paradise for what you're looking for. I also like Beacon St. Tavern which is fairly closeby.

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Deep Ellum Bar
477 Cambridge St, Allston, MA 02134

[Nab]

If the Reagle Beagle is a gastropub, then we're in even bigger trouble than I originally thought. Sadly, I don't think we have a real one. Especially in comparison to Chicago.

note to OP - different Reagle Beagle than yours.

[BobB]

I've eaten at both Regal Beagle and Lineage multiple times and in fact have been to both within the past month. I'm not sure I'd recommend either one over the other - it is, as someone else pointed out, somewhat of an apples-to-oranges comparison, Lineage being a more upscale environment, and much more fish-oriented.

I will say that I can't recommend the burger at either of them - the one at the Beagle was OK but served with mediocre fries (limp & cold), while the one I had at Lineage was undercooked (I asked for medium rare and it had a totally rare, mushy center) but came with fantastic fries.

Getting a table at either of them between 7 and 9, especially Thursday thru Sunday, WILL require a reservation.