You can expect any kind of weather in New England , you could check the weather for Boston on line . It’s raw and cold and raining right now .
https://weather.com/weather/tenday/l/USMA0046:1:US
Here is a link for Boston for the next 10 days , I would bring one warm coat to be on the safe side .
I’d avoid Legal Seafood but if you are into seafood (or history), try the Union Oyster House It is right down the street from Fanuiel Hall, and Right across the street from the Holocaust Memorial.
Or you could go over to the North End for a ton of good restaurants. If you do decide to go to the North End, stop in to Mike’s Pastry or Maria’s Pastry shop for some great Cannolis.
If you decide to go to Cheers, just plan on taking your picture outside…it is tiny inside, and they’ll most likely just whisk you through to the upstairs restaurant.
Their first one.
Yeah, I agree avoid Legal Seafood , you don’t get a lot for your money !
Wow, thank you everyone! I have used your recommendations in the past for other trips I have taken, but just by finding old threads. I couldn’t really find any on Boston for some reason, so I decided to ask. I’m glad I did!
Most threads are in IMHO:
If you find yourself in Davis Square (Somerville) or the North End, check out Tenoch for delicious Mexican fast food. It nominally resembles a Chipotle in feel, but the food is an order of magnitude better. The tortas are my favorite: hearty sandwiches on puffy Mexican bread, basted in butter and grilled on both sides. Yum. I know you wouldn’t expect there to be excellent Mexican food in Boston, but this place is the real deal. My wife agrees with me, and she grew up in Austin, Texas.
Also in North End: Bova’s Bakery is tasty, and they’re open 24/7. Just another place that’s better than Mike’s. Don’t get me wrong, Mike’s is delicious, but there are many better options all over town, but especially in the North End. Seriously, Boston is carpeted with excellent Italian bakeries.
Also in Davis Square: you could go see Shit-faced Shakespeare, a hilarious event where a professional troupe performs classic Shakespeare with one of their members completely shit-faced. There’s even some audience participation. Very funny, but get tickets early if you’re interested; they’ve been selling out since they opened in Davis Square a year ago.
Not a resident, and it’s been a few years since I visited, that said…
Mike’s is very good. Maria’s is better. (I forget who on this board pointed me to Maria’s, but thank you again.) The espresso is better than you’d expect, and also quite good.
I’ve not been to Union. You can’t beat the history, if that’s your thing. The Legal branch near MIT was all right. I’d go to Neptune Oyster House if I wanted to spoil myself with outstanding oysters though. Decent wine list too. Arrive early; they don’t take reservations, but I understand they’re good about calling you when a table opens. You will be eating cheek to jowl, but that’s every restaurant in the North End, it seems.
My relations in the area really recommend the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum. I wasn’t able to make it. I did make the Constitution, and it is a must if you are a fan of either Revolutionary War or Naval history.
If you’d a car, and didn’t mind a short drive, I’d pick Clown Shoes Beer in Ipswich, over Sam Adams or Harpoon, and I’d go to Harpoon over Sam Adams. Should you make it out to Ipswich, I liked The Clam Box for fried seafood, but there’s probably a local’s treasured spot as good or better. Again, from the relations, but if you’re a beer nerd, and like Belgians, go to The Publick House in Brookline and have some odd lambics, guezes, and Trappists.
Have fun! It’s a great walking town. Tons of history.
MBTA notes:
From your hotel (The Royal Sonesta in Cambridge)
To Harvard Square: Take the 69 bus from Lechmere Station: schedule here
(the 69 bus also transits through Inman Square which is also possibly an interesting place to eat)
To Kendall/MIT: Cambridgeside Galleria has a shuttle bus (Mall hours only with a lunch break shoved in there somewhere) to/from the Kendall/MIT Red Line Station
(Personally, I find Kendall Square on the boring side. It is getting better, but mostly with restaurants. It also isn’t immediately clear where to go once you get there. It’s a bit spread out and ‘spotty’)
To Museum of Science: walk
To TD Garden: Take Green Line from Science Park (or Lechmere)
To Boston: Green Line as well
Yeah, those of us in Vermont (and, i suppose, New Hampshire) find ourselves sandwiched in between the worst drivers in the US and the worst drivers in Canada (Quebec). Nearly got clobbered yesterday by a Masshole ignoring a stop sign.
It’s also just a couple blocks from the Garden. If you’ve got a 15 minute break, pop over for a cannoli.
If you do go to Sam Adams (it’s at least a 20 minute subway ride), don’t eat at Doyles if you can help it (“OK” is being a bit generous, honestly). Feel free to have a beer there, but if you’re at Sam Adams and want to eat, go into Bella Luna, in the big brewery building across the parking lot from Sam Adams.
Oh, and for lunch near the Garden, head a block down Canal St, to Rustico (corner of Canal and Valenti). Great Italian sandwiches or pasta if you want to sit and wait.
And if you find your clothes aren’t sufficient for Boston weather (or just want to pick up some camping gear), go to Hilton’s Tent City on Friend Street.
I’d agree with Harpoon Brewery over Sam Adams if that’s your thing. Most of what I would have recommended has already been said, so I’ll just second the Museum of Fine Arts and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. I’ve done the Freedom Trail but it’s a lot of walking for some people. You can break the trail up into a couple pieces, doing the south side if you want to be near downtown and lunch spots for a day and doing the Bunker Hill side when to visit the U.S.S. Constitution on another day.
I’d also recommend the Longfellow House. George Washington used it for his local headquarters before Longfellow bought it. Be careful where you park when you’re near there. The signs aren’t the best but parking near there is generally prohibited except by locals with a permit.
There are a lot better taprooms than Harpoon and Sam Adams if your purpose is drinking beer. Check out Aeronaut, Night Shift, Mystic, Slumbrew, Jack’s Abby, or Trillium for some excellent selections.
I used to work in Kendall Square and regularly walked to the Cambridgeside Gallleria (right across from the Royal Sonesta). Google says it’s a 17 minute walk from the Sonesta to the Kendall Square T station, which is doable. The Green Line can be very confusing and the Red Line is generally faster, so I recommend taking the Red Line over the Green whenever possible.
Boston is built on a very small scale, so you may be surprised how quickly you can walk places.
The Freedom Trail is a must-do. As I recall you can pick up a free map at the Visitor’s Center at the Boston Common. It will take you through the North End so you can stop for cannoli.
The Duck Tour is fun, although it is very popular so either go early to get tickets or order online if you can.
It’s been 12 years since we left the Boston area, but a couple of the restaurants I remember are still there: The Elephant Walk (French Cambodian) and King and I (Thai).
Abigail’sin Kendall is a place we like to eat and you can walk there easily from the Sonesta. There’s a decent pizza place called Za across the street if you want something a little more casual.
There’s a newish BBQ place across from the Garden on Causeway street (Causeway BBQ, duh) that might be a good spot for lunch, if you’re into that. Best BBQ is the city right now is at Sweet Cheeks near Fenway Park.
If you’re into museums, the MFA is definitely the place to go for the full gamut from ancient world to contemporary. The Isabella Stewart Gardner museum is right nearby and worth a stop as well if you’re a museum junky, as has been mentioned already. Those places are much less kid-oriented than the aquarium or science museum.
The USS Constitution is in drydock right now, so you wouldn’t get to see her in full sail/full glory, but you can still go on.
Your hotel will likely be full of high school robotics teams that weekend. If you are interested you can cross over to BU and visit the Agganis Arena to watch the event (it’s free).
I just wanted to give a little update, as I just got back yesterday from this trip.
There was too much to thank everyone individually, but some of the things I went to or did included:
Sweet Cheeks
Museum of Fine Arts
The Freedom Trail (spent pretty much a full day doing this, I really enjoyed it)
Sam Adams Brewery Tour
Rustico
Union Oyster House
Tenoch (yummy!)
Shit-Faced Shakespeare (hilarious)
Zaftigs
Brattle Street Book Shop
Museum of Science
Harvard Museum of Natural History/Peabody Museum (awesome, I like Maya stuff anyway and there was a lot of that, plus there was a few of the glass flowers in a small display.)
Fenway Park Tour
Doughboy Donuts (well, I got that recommendation from somewhere, maybe not here)
Skywalk Observatory
New England Aquarium (definitely a good choice)
Museum of Science (not my favorite)
Museum of Bad Art/Somerville Theatre
Jogging along the River
And of course the figure skating competition at the TD Garden
Tasty Burger (especially good because I was starving at that point)
I didn’t get to do near everything I wanted to (for example, somehow I missed out on any of those North End bakeries!), but I did a lot and had a great time. I was able to figure out the T easily enough (with the help of Google Maps), and I was about equidistant from the Orange (Community College), Green (Lechmere), and Red (Kendall/MIT) lines, so I could get pretty much anywhere easily. As someone said, Boston is a very walkable city, and I don’t know if I was just because I was in a small part of it, but I never felt unsafe anywhere I was at any time. The weather was terrific at first, then it turned colder and rainy on Saturday, then is snowed on Sunday (!), and unfortunately my flight was so early on Monday that I had to take a cab instead of the T, but overall it was a wild success.
Thank you everyone for the suggestions!
Sounds like you had quite a trip! Thanks for the update!
Also, you got out of town just in time. We got 4-8 inches of snow on Monday.
Glad you had a fine trip. How was the skating?