2023: My Top 50 Favorite Restaurants

What were some of my Favorite Restaurants of the past year?

As 2024 approaches, it's time once again to reflect upon the past year, to remember and savor pleasant memories. Yesterday, I posted My Top Three Favorite Restaurants & My New Favorites of 2023. It's time now to cover my Top 50 Favorite Restaurants of 2023. This list includes those Massachusetts places where I'm sure to always have a delicious meal, whether a casual breakfast or a high-end French dinner. These are the places I seem to recommend the most to others, including some places where I dine on a regular basis.

Many of these places have been listed on prior Favorite Lists, some for multiple years, and are all worthy of recognition and recommendation. There are also some new Favorites, places I only recently encountered but which I know I will be returning frequently. Please note that this list doesn't include the restaurants which I previously recommended in yesterday's list. 

Please also note that this is not a list of the "Best" Boston-area restaurants, but my own personal favorites, however I suspect most people will agree that the restaurants on this list are worthy of your attention. And if you dine at any of these places based on my recommendation, please let them know.

There are thousands of restaurants in the Boston+ area and just because a place is not on my list doesn't mean I wouldn't recommend it. This is only a small list, and can't include every good restaurant. Plus, there are some worthy restaurants that I haven't yet dined at, or reviewed, and I hope to remedy that in 2024. For more Restaurant reviews, you can just search my blog posts for the past year. 

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Beverly 
A&B Burgers: Excellent burger spot, with a large tequila list too.

Butter UR Biscuit: Delicious biscuit sandwiches. Love the Cheesy Bird Biscuit. 

Soall Viet Kitchen: Excellent Vietnamese cuisine. Some of my favorite dishes include their plump Shrimp Summer Rolls, the crispy Sweet Potato & Shrimp Fritters, the tasty Steamed Pork Bao, and the alluring Chicken Clay Pot. 

Boston
Bistro du Midi: A fine French bistro.

Committee Ouzeri & Bar: Tasty Greek cuisine with a nice Greek wine list. 

Dumpling Cafe: In Chinatown, one of my favorite spots for Soup Dumplings. 

Greco (several locations in Boston): A fast casual Greek spot for Gyros and Loukoumades (Greek donut holes). 

Mooncusser Fish House/Cusser's Roast Beef: Two restaurants in one, with a high-end seafood restaurant and a casual roast beef sandwich spot. 

Myers & Chang: Still consistently excellent with creative Asian cuisine.
Select Oyster Bar: Top notch seafood restaurant. 

Brookline
Taberna de Haro: Spanish tapas with a huge Spanish wine list, and a compelling Sherry list. Almost every time I'm in the area, I stop by at least for a glass of Sherry.

Burlington
The Bancroft: One of my favorite steakhouses.

Feng Shui: Chinese and Japanese cuisine, with a buffet on the weekends.

Karma Asian Fusion Cuisine: High-end Asian spot with amazing Sushi.

Row 34: An excellent, high-end seafood restaurant. I even love their Tuna Melt. 

Sichuan Gourmet: Authentic Sichuan cuisine.

Việt Citron: Casual Vietnamese restaurant serving primarily delicious Bahn Mi and Pho. Their Pork Belly Bahn Mi is excellent. 

Cambridge
Puritan & Co.: Modern American cuisine for dinner and an excellent Brunch.
Sumiao Hunan Kitchen: Authentic Hunan cuisine and a place to explore Baijiu.
Tampopo: A tiny spot for tasty and inexpensive Japanese cuisine.

Wusong Road: Tiki bar and creative Asian cuisine. 

Pammy's: New American cuisine with an Italian accent. 

Charlestown

Peruvian Taste Restaurant: A casual spot, serving delicious and authentic Peruvian cuisine, including Chifa, a combination of Peruvian and Chinese cuisine. 

Chelsea

Tambo 22: A high-end Peruvian restaurant with excellent food and a killer bar program. Pisco Sours!

Danvers:

Nick & Andy's: One of my favorite Breakfast spots, which very reasonable prices. Love their fresh-baked muffins and hashbrowns, as well as their Chicken & Waffles.

Ipswich

Clam Box of Ipswich: My favorite clam shack on the North Shore, providing such delicious, fresh fried seafood. On Fridays, they often have Fried Lobster Tails, such a decadent treat. 

Malden

All Seasons Table: Excellent Asian cuisine, including sushi.

District Kitchen: Excellent spot for Chinese cuisine, from Soup Dumplings to Dan Dan Noodles. 

Medford
Bistro 5: Delicious Italian cuisine. Lots of special seasonal menus.

Melrose

Thai Chili Basil: Tasty takeout Thai spot. Love the Chiangmai Noodles. 

Needham:
Spiga: Superb Italian cuisine as well as a killer Bread Pudding dessert.

Newton

Farm Grill & Rotisserie: Casual Greek spot with delicious gyros, lamb dishes, and more.
Moldova Restaurant: A unique spot with authentic Moldovan cuisine and wines.

Peabody:

Pellana Prime Steakhouse: Another of my favorite steakhouses.

Salem

Bambolina & Kokeshi: Where else can you find delicious wood-fired pizza and ramen in the same place? Bambolina and Kokeshi are two restaurants, under the same ownership, which also share the same space. 

Saugus

Iron Town Diner: A tasty spot for breakfast and lunch. They have a delicious Monte Cristo Sandwich, and will even make you other sandwiches, like a cheeseburger or fried chicken, using French Toast as the bread.

Prince Pizzeria: A 60+ year old pizza restaurant, and probably the place where I've had lunch the most amount of times this past year. I've been dining there since I was a child, and I still love their pizza, meatballs, and other Italian dishes.

Somerville

Yakitori Totto: Excellent yakitori (grilled meats, seafood, and veggies) as well as other Japanese dishes. So much variety available, and prices are reasonable. 

Stoneham
Fusion Taste: Tasty Chinese and Japanese cuisine, and a place I regularly get take-out. 

Anthony's Italian Specialties: Their sandwiches are tasty and huge, filled with plenty of meat and/or veggies, and the quality of their meat and produce is excellent. One sandwich can feed two people.

The Emporio: Casual Italian cuisine spot.

Sturbridge:

B.T.'s Smokehouse: Tasty barbecue spot, and their fried chicken is one of my favorites. Plus, they are a BYOB spot so you can bring your own wine or beer. 

Wakefield

Maya Indian Bar & Grill: Delicious Indian cuisine. 

Watertown
Jana Grill: Intriguing Aremenian and Georgian cuisine. Love the Ajarian Khachapuri. 

Wayland

Coach Grill: Another of my favorite steakhouses.

Winchester

China Sky: Tasty Chinese and Japanese dishes, including sushi. Their Sesame Chicken is probably the most delicious example of this dish I've eaten. 

Ristorante Lucia: Old-school Italian spot, with superb pizza which doesn't receive anywhere near the amount of recognition that it deserves. 

Woburn
Gene's Chinese Flatbread Cafe: Tiny Chinese spot with delicious home-made noodles, dumpling soup, and lamb skewers. 

Flip The Bird: Fast-casual spot for delicious fried chicken sandwiches

Hahaha Chicken: Casual spot for tasty Korean Fried Chicken. 

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Support the Restaurant Industry: The restaurant industry was devastated by this pandemic, especially as the federal government didn't do enough to aid and assist the industry. Some restaurants have closed permanently and others may still be forced to do so in the future. In addition, food and labor costs have increased significantly since then, making restaurants more expensive. We need to support our favorite restaurants as much as we are capable, from buying gift cards to ordering take-out, from getting delivery to tipping well. If you have a positive dining experience, tell your family and friends. Spread the word on social media. Give them your support!

What were some of your Favorite Restaurants this year?