Do Boston restaurants feature baked beans?

[mixdenny]

Here in NE Ohio it is mostly barbeque places that have baked beans. If you go to a nice steak house in Boston do they each have their own celebrated baked beans?

[kenobi_65]

I pulled up a list of “best steakhouses in Boston.” Looking at the menus of places that don’t appear to be chains, and appear to have been around for a while:

• The Stockyard: no
• Boston Chops: no
• Grill 23: no
• Abe & Louie’s: no
• Mason’s Steakhouse: no

Doesn’t mean there aren’t restaurants in Boston that have baked beans, but it’s not apparently a thing at “nice steak houses” in the city.

This 2020 article from the entertainment site Time Out says:

And when it comes to Boston baked beans, one can spend a year in the city and never come across the dish.

First-time visitors are often surprised to learn that few locals ever refer to Boston as ‘Beantown,’ and even fewer restaurants serve up anything resembling Boston baked beans. It’s true that beans slow-baked in molasses were a local favorite throughout much of the 19th century and early part of the 20th century — the ‘Beantown’ nickname dates back to the early 1900s — but recent generations have omitted sweet baked beans from the dining table.

A handful of tourist-focused restaurants serve sweet baked beans, but visit any of the best restaurants in Boston and it’s more likely you’ll encounter artisanal, heirloom beans rather than anything resembling Boston baked beans.

In other words: if a restaurant still serves them, it appears to be because tourists come in looking for Boston baked beans, because the locals don’t really eat them much anymore.

[ShadowFacts]

@kenobi_65

In other words: if a restaurant still serves them, it appears to be because tourists come in looking for Boston baked beans, because the locals don’t really eat them much anymore.

As a local, I can confirm that this is true in my experience.

[Elmer_J.Fudd]

The number one ingredient in Boston baked beans is molasses. Bostonians stopped being a fan of that item in 1919.

[pulykamell]

I was gonna say … isn’t that where that famous molasses spill happened? Funny enough, I don’t generally think of beans when I think of Boston. The first thing I think of is clam chowder (and Legal Seafood.) Then maybe lobster rolls, though I think of Maine a bit more for that. Then I draw a blank and maybe remember, oh yeah, Boston beans are a thing.

[Dewey_Finn]

Um, lobster rolls were invented in Connecticut and the best ones still come from there.

Next we can discuss the best places for pizza. (Surprise; it’s also Connecticut.)

[pulykamell]

I did say “maybe.” I am aware of Connecticut, but I do end up thinking of Maine first. When it comes to pizza, New Haven certainly is one of my first thoughts.

[Maserschmidt]

Durgin-Park, the incredibly seedy tourist favorite in Faneuil Hall (though I guess not enough of a tourist favorite to stay afloat, it died in 2019), had both clam chowder and baked beans. I’m honestly unsure if I ever saw baked beans anywhere else.

[puzzlegal]

@Dewey_Finn

Um, lobster rolls were invented in Connecticut and the best ones still come from there.

I’m sorry, but the best lobster rolls are served in Maine.

The last time i noticed baked beans served in Boston, it was at Durgin Park, which closed in 2019, and stopped being worth going to after it was sold to a chain in 2007.

[Maserschmidt]

@puzzlegal

I’m sorry, but the best lobster rolls are served in Maine.

Absolute fact.

[rocking_chair]

The only time I had baked beans in New England was home made not in a restaurant.

[Maserschmidt]

Oh, you know where else? I worked next to the Bull and Finch Pub on Beacon Hill, and they had baked beans. Then they renamed the pub Cheers (because that pub was the inspiration for the TV show), and at some point baked beans were off the menu, boys.

[Ignatz]

newenglandhistoricalsociety.com › a-brief-mostlyA Brief, Mostly Nonmusical History of Baked Beans

Ex-Beantowner

[Maserschmidt]

One update: I started looking at the nearby diners here in the Boston suburbs, and about half have baked beans. The tradition lives!

[Atamasama]

@Dewey_Finn

Next we can discuss the best places for pizza. (Surprise; it’s also Connecticut.)

Ooh, wait, I think I know this one. It’s in Mystic, right?

[Dewey_Finn]

About an hour west, actually.

[puzzlegal]

@Maserschmidt

One update: I started looking at the nearby diners here in the Boston suburbs, and about half have baked beans. The tradition lives!

I vacation at a family camp in New Hampshire every summer, and Saturday lunch is “beanies & weenies”, baked beans with chunks of hotdog.

Okay, some years it’s Boston baked beans and other years it’s Heinz, from a can. (But they are sweet, and similar to Boston baked beans.) And the hotdogs are sometimes kielbasa, or Italian sweet sausage. But usually it’s chunks of hot dog.

And Boston baked beans are clearly related to the brand served in an English breakfast, although the Boston version is sweeter and a bit drier.

[puzzlegal]

@Maserschmidt

@puzzlegal

I’m sorry, but the best lobster rolls are served in Maine.

Absolute fact.

If a Canadian comes by and claims that there’s even better lobster rolls north of Maine, in New Brunswick or Nova Scotia, I’d be inclined to believe them. But Maine tourist towns have both excellent fresh lobster and lots of money, which combination yields excellent lobster rolls.

[Atamasama]

@Dewey_Finn

About an hour west, actually.

I love how pizza is different in various parts of the country. My latest favorite is Detroit-style. But I was a big fan of San Francisco Bay-style pizza for a long time after finding a place in Seattle that was serving it (Mario’s, dang that place was good, it has been gone for years). You think, pizza is pizza, but no. There are regional styles that are very obviously and significantly different from each other, sometimes in ways you don’t expect.

Now I’d love to try a good Connecticut style pizza someday. I am going to try to remember that.

[Jaycat.again]

No. But you can get schrod in Boston. And not just in the pluperfect subjunctive.