Boston Nesties
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
First time to Boston!
Hi ladies,
We are headed to Boston this summer for a work trip, but also want to work in some fun. We will be in Boston for a week in June.
I figured that you all would be the best resource. Are there any restaurants, experiences that are a must?
Thank you!!!!
Shelby
Re: First time to Boston!
June is such a great time to visit Boston! (Much better than say January when we are getting snow, snow and more snow... oh and btw tomorrow it's going to be -5degrees...)
There are some great restaurants in Boston!
Here are some of my favorite by neighborhood:
Back Bay
Sel de le Terre: Great bar, Monday night $2.00 sliders and great bar apps., an amazing burger, wonderful main entrees in the main dinning room.
Geoffrey's Cafe: Yummy brunch,
Bistro du Midi: Great lunch
Via Matta: Very nice Italian food.
Grill 23 or Abe Louie's: Basic steak houses, but good. (Grill 23 has great desserts!)
Ice Cream: JP Licks on Newbury Street.
Expensive, fancy pants place: L'Espalier, I went here for my 35 birthday and it was amazing. (Going there next weekend for brunch.)
South End:
Stella: Great neighborhood restaurant. Modern Italian food. Good bar.
B&G Oyster: One of Barbara Lynch's restaurants. Great selection of oysters. A bit pricey, but if your looking for a great seafood place, this might be a fun option.
Butcher Shop: If you need a fancy wine bar, this is fabulous!
Petit Robert Bistro: If you like French food at a good price point, this place rocks! (Save room for the profiterole!)
Giacomo's South End: Many people come to Boston and feel the need to go into the North End for Italian food. Giacomo's is a North End restaurant in the South End. We have gone here many times, and never been disappointed. They only take cash. (Make reservations ahead of time!)
Torro: Fun tapas restaurant. A little pricey, but really good! Try the corn on the cob, trust me!!!
Franklin Cafe: I hate giving this suggestion because it's one of my favorite places to eat and it's always busy. It's a great neighborhood restaurant. (Friends accused me of buying my condo because it's right across the street from the FC.)
Gallows: A relatively new gastropub. LOVE IT
Breakfast: Mikes Diner Huge portions and not very expensive
Flour bakery!!! OMG The sticky-sticky buns, the chocolate chip cookies, the sandwiches for lunch... this is soooooo yummy. (BTW there is another Flour in the seaport area.)
Fancy pants: Hammersley's Bistro... WOW,
Other places:
Troquet: Theater District. Wonderful fine dining. One of the best we have enjoyed in Boston.
Sportello: Another B.L. restaurant. Fun casual atmosphere. Good pastas.
Fancy Pants: No9 Park B.L. signature restaurant. Never been there but I have heard amazing things.
Inexpensive lunch places: Anna's Taqueria, Flour Bakery, Chacarero.
Fun things to do:
Faneuil Hall, North End (check out Maria's Pastry... you will see a ton of Mikes Pastry boxes... those are the tourist... Maria's is the real thing!) ICA, MFA, Isabelle Stewart Gardner museum, Duck Tour, Newbury Street (fun shopping!) South End fun local neighborhood with a lot of great shops and galleries.
If you have any specific questions, let us know!
Ginger gave you a great list, but I'll include my usual Boston suggestions:
Here is my standard list of suggested things to do in Boston:
Duck Tour - http://www.bostonducktours.com. Fun tour that provides a good overview of the city and its history via an amphibious vehicle. Book tix in advance via the web site
Freedom Trail - This walking tour will take you through most of the historic sites of Boston. You can do a guided tour or I've heard there's a downloadable iPod tour so you can do a self-guided thing.
Public Gardens/Boston Common ? Not such a great visit in the winter, but otherwise nice. There's a Make Way for Ducklings bronze statue here that the kiddies might like if you have them.
Beacon Hill/Charles St. ? Quintessential old New England neighborhood with great architecture and quaint little boutiques to shop in. Just a few minutes walk from the Common.
Newbury Street (shopping) ? Just across the street from the Commons. Great for people watching and grabbing a bite to eat too.
Sam Adams or Harpoon Brewery tours
Faneuil Hall ? Historic area now full of shopping and restaurants.
North End ? our Little Italy. Mike's Pastry's cannolis are famous but be prepared for a huge crowd. Modern is another local bakery favorite
Fenway Park
Museum of Science - great exhibits and a domed IMAX theater that's amazing and shows lots of great documentary-style films.
JFK Museum
Children?s Museum ? Really fun for the kids
Art museums ? We have top-notch art museums: Museum of Fine Art, Isebella Stewart Gardner Museum, Institute of Contemporary Art
Whale Watch Tour ? You can leave from the Aquarium downtown or, if you have a car or are willing to take the commuter rail, go up to the one in Gloucester and check out the neighboring Rockport area (very quaint seaside town).
Harvard ? Campus is pretty and Harvard Square is fun to walk around
A little farther out:
Salem Witch Museum ? a history of the infamous Salem witch trials
House of Seven Gables ? also located in Salem
Walden Pond ? site where Thoreau penned Walden. You can see the site of his cabin as well as a recreation of the building.
As for restaurants...so many options. Some of my splurge-y favorites are No. 9 Park (Boston), Salts (Cambridge), and Blue Ginger (Wellesley). I don't like Top of the Hub as I've had horrible service there on more than one occasion and refuse to go back. Wasn't too impressed with Fugakyu either. Stella in the South End is great for brunch--large portions and reasonable prices (also you can walk over to the SOWA Open Market from there). In Chinatown, East Ocean City is great for dinner and Hong Kong Eatery is wonderful for Chinese comfort food (their wonton noodle soup is awesome). Also check out the bakeries in Chinatown; I recommend Ho Yuen or Hing Shing, though the best egg tarts are at Crown Royal. For chowder, go to Legal Seafoods but the rest of the food there is nothing special.
Do not drive in Boston. The roads were laid out by a cow in the 16th century. Use the local subway-bus line called the T. www.mbta.com It has a trip mapper functions that is great and your can buy a one-week pass too.
If you go to Harvard Square, check out Burdick's Chocolaterie. It is a must see. Another great place for dessert is Finale (not far from Harvard's Square).
Boston is surrounded by ten other cities mostly on the T. Great restaurants in Cambridge include Elephant Walk (cambodian), Divas (Indian), Gran Gusto (Italian), Jose's (Mexican), Haveli (Indian), Amelia's (Italian) and Le's (Vietnamese).