1 day in beantown

[soflachef]

Where should a visiting chef eat lunch and dinner? And, how about a great coffee bar in between as well?

[soflachef]

Can we get back to the original question please? I truly appreciate all the historical "Beantown" information, but all I want from the kind and generous residents of Boston is a few interesting places to eat. On our last trip to NYC, my wife and I visited 16 restaurants in 48 hours. In other words: "hit me", I'm open.

[Allstonian]

Fair enough, but you really haven't given us anything to work with. Where you're from, what kind of food you like, where you're staying, how you're planning to get around, what kind of sightseeing you're planning - we need some details before we can come up with suggestions.

[C. Hamster]

Did you check out O-chef's links?

[nickls]

You could just look at EATTV's thread on 30 ethnic restaurants in 30 days and go to any that appeal. Shouldn't be any pretentious places on that list. http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/787402

If you're the kind of person who likes to hit 8 restaurants in a day, I think these types of places would work pretty well for you.

Oh, yeah, I hear Speed's Hot Dogs are pretty good too.

[Niblet]

In addition to great recs above, you may want to consider Coppa. If your one day is a weekday or for lunch it'll be easier to get in, Fri or Sat night not so much.

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Coppa
253 Shawmut Ave, Boston, MA 02118

[CapeCodGuy]

Go to O Ya for great sushi.

And Kelly's Roast Beef for a great sammie.

Hopefully, THIS post won't get deleted by Mods who seem to enjoy censoring my opinions in this thread for some reason.

You'd have hit two opposite ends of the spectrum.

[justbeingpolite]

I lost a post, too, but they did email me and explain the part that would make sense after eliminating some less than cheerful stuff.
Anyway, some boston choices maybe comparable to some of your NYC choices (also deleted:
East Coast Grill (both cue and seafood, looks like its up your alley)
Eastern Standard Kitchen (like Balthazar, though you didn't mention going there)and/or Island Creek Oyster Bar
Erbaluce
Trattoria Toscana
..but it's true, it would help if you gave us some whens and wheres.
Neptune Oyster

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Trattoria Toscana
130 Jersey St, Boston, MA 02215

Neptune Oyster
63 Salem St Ste 1, Boston, MA 02113

East Coast Grill and Raw Bar
1271 Cambridge St, Cambridge, MA 02139

Eastern Standard
528 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215

Erbaluce
69 Church Street, Boston, MA 02116

Island Creek Oyster Bar
500 Commonwealth Ave, Boston, MA 02215

[opinionatedchef]

are some links that may be of interest- that address the bigger boston picture, in case they might be helpful%3

Guide to Boston by Areas and Restaurants%3

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/781155

lso, some extra Boston food profile info for you%3

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/781156

shopping for Boston food souvenirs%3

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/781171

Btw, I have no problem with you calling it Beantown;

i like beans :-

)

E3

[opinionatedchef]

btw,soflachef, here's the origin of our beantown name!:

http://www.celebrateboston.com/cultur...

Do tell us where you end up eating and how you liked it!hope you have a great day here.

[threedogs]

I never knew that! Also, it makes it all the more interesting, when you consider the Boston Molasses Disaster that happened in 1919: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_M... Wiki doesn't mention the use of molasses in the manufacturing of baked beans as being significant (munitions manufacturing, though??). Most likely back then everyone made their own, of course.

[Allstonian]

Yes, the contents of the giant molasses tank that exploded, causing the disaster, were specifically intended for use in the manufacture of alcohol, not cooking molasses at all - and industrial-use alcohol at that. DARK TIDE by Stephen Puleo is a fascinating history of the event, drawn from extensive primary sources. I can't urge folks strongly enough to read it if interested in Boston history - it was one of the best books I read last year.

[opinionatedchef]

thanks, you 2. fascinating.

[C. Hamster]

I have that book right beside me here at work. Almost done. I agree that it's a really fascinating book.

[Luther]

For coffee, you should go to Toscanini's, so you can have ice cream as well.

[teezeetoo]

lunch, neptune oyster - dinner erbaluce or bondir - in between, go to the north end for coffee and pastry (Polcari).

[Bellachefa]

please don't call it beantown

Tiawan Cafe - Chinatown
Craigie - Cambridge

[emannths]

Can you give some guidance on price ranges, cuisine prefs, and location?

[soflachef]

anything that's not too high end and pretentious and also was hoping to do a little sight seeing in between meals