The best restaurants for lunch around Boston
From ice-cold oysters to lunchtime pizzas, Boston offers midday options that go far beyond a quick bite between video calls.
At Bow Market, Somerville's trendy open-air food market, there's something for everyone: arepas from Carolicious Gourmet, veggie burgers from Saus, bánh mì from Việt Citron, and much more. At Brewer's Fork, pizza is the specialty, with varieties like spicy clams in tomato sauce or smoked pork with jalapeño-cumin cream. Their lunch menu, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m., features small plates, oysters, and more pizza.
Amba, the informal project of Puritan & Co. chef Will Gilson, is a sunny café in East Cambridge. It serves all-day breakfast, egg pitas and wraps, hummus bowls, pea and herb falafel, and a burger with cheese, lettuce, tomato jam, and harissa aioli. Smoot Standard, from the same team behind Naco Taco, is located between Central Square and Kendall Square, and its smoked turkey sandwich with arugula, cheddar, and apple cherry mustard is surprisingly good.
Yamato II, in Back Bay, offers all-you-can-eat sushi lunches for $25.50 ($27.50 on weekends). As with most restaurants of this type, you're charged for food you order but don't eat. Select Oyster Bar, also in Back Bay, serves spicy raw oysters, crispy octopus, and oysters by the dozen, with the same lunch and dinner menu from chef Michael Serpa.
Don't Tell Auntie is an Indian gastropub from the owners of Vaanga and Madras Dosa Co. It serves kati rolls filled with paneer, minced lamb, and other ingredients, with a generous portion of masala-spiced fries. Shy Bird, with locations in South Boston, Fenway, and Kendall Square, is famous for its whole or half rotisserie chickens and its Calabrian fried chicken Caesar wrap.
El Mondonguito, in Nubian Square, is a Puerto Rican restaurant serving crispy chicharrones, fried plantains, and rice with pigeon peas. For dessert, try tres leches cake or flan. At Nubian Markets, a community grocery store and café, you'll find lamb sandwiches with harissa, chicken bunny chow, and lamb couscous.
Bánh Mì Ba Le, in Dorchester, is a French-influenced Vietnamese bakery whose bánh mì is prepared with freshly made baguette daily, with barbecue beef or braised pork belly and pickled vegetables.
