A Guide to Dine Out Boston

One of the highlights of the city’s social calendar, Dine Out Boston (formerly known as Boston Restaurant Week) sees the doors of Boston’s best eateries flung open to welcome happy diners to sample prix fixe, multi-course tasting menus for lunch and dinner. This culinary event actually takes over the first three weeks of March for 2020’s winter edition, and it would be foolish to miss out on the fun and food. Each chef selects one price point for each meal - $15, $20, or $25 for lunch, and $28, $33, or $38 for dinner - and prepares delicious lunch and dinner menus at the chosen fixed price to showcase the restaurant's best fare. Some restaurants will even offer wine pairings or beer flights for an additional fee. From taverns and trattorias to chophouses and cafés, over 200 establishments take part in this event, where you’ll find a vast spectrum of flavors and new culinary discoveries. While events surrounding Dine Out Boston aren’t included with your Go Boston pass, there are some fantastic attractions within the city center that you should incorporate into your culinary discovery of the city. Here’s an idea of some of the awesome things to do in Boston during the foodie festival:

• New England Aquarium
• Paul Revere House
• USS Constitution
• Boston Bike Tours
• And more!

Boston’s North End and Waterfront neighborhoods, the city’s historic centers, are great areas to focus on during Dine Out Boston. North End is lovingly known as the city’s ‘Little Italy’ as it is peppered with fantastic Italian eateries that have been handed down through generations. Fiore is one of Boston’s best-loved casual restaurants which provides an eclectic hybrid of Roman sidewalk café with touches of cool American sports bar. The open-top terrace with bar area is a gorgeous spot for mild evenings, but at this time of year you’re more likely to cozy down within the wood-paneled restaurant and indulge in dishes such as bombolotti (giant pasta tubes) with lobster and shrimp in tomato cream sauce, or cavatelli (doughy, rice-grain-shaped lengths of pasta) with house-made sausagemeat and broccoli stems in white wine. Deliziosa!

You’ll surely want to work up that appetite beforehand, and how better to do so than to leisurely pedal about the city with a Boston Bike Rental? You’ll be geared up with a bike, helmet, handy map of the city and even a Kryptonite lock so you can park up and indulge at your chosen chophouse to refuel. Sightseeing with added sustenance, that’s the Boston way! What’s more, you’ll have your trusty mode of transport for the whole day, from 9AM to 6PM, or until 5PM on Sundays, so you can explore and eat your way the city with ease.

Elsewhere in Northend, you’ll find Strega, a chic and top-quality dining room that serves hearty dishes such as Littleneck clam linguine with scampi sauce, or a belt-unbuckling 10oz. filet steak seared in Rémy Martin cognac. And don’t be surprised if you recognize your neighboring diners to be famous faces of the screen, stage or sportsfield - this glitzy spot attracts them all. Restaurant Week provides the perfect opportunity to sample some of the city’s finest cooking at Strega for an irresistibly attractive price when the restaurant’s menu might not otherwise cater to every budget the rest of the year. [caption id="attachment_28066" align="alignnone" width="762"]

The Old State House, now a museum.[/caption] Fine dining like this calls for an afternoon of high culture as well. The Old State House Museum lies just down the road from Strega, and is well worth an explore to get an education on the events that led up to the American Revolution. This pretty building is, after all, where the Revolution truly began, and the country’s independence was declared to the people of Boston from the Old State House balcony in 1776. You can take a tour led by a knowledgeable guide in full colonial costume or explore the museum at your own pace.

If revolutionary tales have piqued your interest at the Old State House, then delve even deeper into history by visiting Paul Revere House. This National Historic Landmark, one of the oldest surviving structures in Boston, was the home of Paul Revere who is famed for riding through the night to warn the revolutionary army of the British troops on the way to Concord.

All that learning means you’ll be very deserving of a sugary sweet reward. Mike’s Pastry is the most famous bakery in town and Boston’s very own self-proclaimed ‘Home of the Cannoli’. These crispy cornets stuffed with ricotta are Mike’s most famous export, but you can also revel in an abundance of delights from macarons to biscotti and cucidati (fig cookies). Or, chow down on a mouth-watering ‘lobster tail’ - a cream puff dough baked inside of a Sfogliatella shell and filled with a blend of three homemade creams: Italian boiled cream, fresh ricotta cheese and whipped cream.

Sweet treats like this are best enjoyed with a view out onto the bay, so trundle down to the Waterfront and see the sea with a pastry. When you’re done taking in the views, why not hit the New England Aquarium, where you can admire diverse aquatic life across 14 amazing themed areas and get up close and personal with hands-on exhibits.

Unless of course, you’re gasping to get out on the water, in which case, hop aboard the boat that will take you on a USS Constitution cruise. This boat trip will take you right up beside ‘Old Ironsides’ as well as other fantastic highlights of the Boston harborfront such Old North Church, Charlestown’s Bunker Hill Monument and the glimmering towers of the city skyline. You might even be able to select your next Restaurant Week indulgence from the water....

Save on Attraction Admission During Your Visit

If you’re planning a trip to Boston and are hoping to see some of these world-class attractions, then be sure to pick up a Go Boston pass.Save up to 55% on combined admission prices vs. paying at the gate for top attractions. See all available attractions, passes, and prices: Learn more. The pass includes admission to dozens of popular activities and attractions.