We will be in Boston early October as DH is running the marathon. We have never been. Looking for some restaurant recommendations. Fun, trendy, see and be seen bar/restaurant. Plus others that are really good. We are staying in Back Bay Area.
I did my pre-Boston carb load dinner at the Legal Seafoods in Copley Place! Great food and view. 
And it is a Boston legendary restaurant, and it is close to the finish line. Can’t go wrong with that!
I can’t recommend a specific bar, but I guarantee the entire city will be one giant hopping bar after the race! Congrats to your husband on his Boston qualifying time! Will be rooting for him! We have 2 female CCers running, too.
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For a good cup of coffee, avocado toast, nice sweet treats - we love Tatte. They have several locations around Boston - not your fancy, trendy dinner (but trendy coffee shop). It is a great place for morning breakfast or an afternoon treat.
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Ostra for seafood and Mistral for French; world class and not super stuffy.
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And Mike’s Pastry in the North End for the best cannoli in the world.
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Mike’s and Modern get all the tourists buying cannoli as they are on Hanover St. Go one block over to Salem street to Bova’s. That’s where locals buy cannoli. Run by a nice family for ever.
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The old Ritz just reopened as The Newbury hotel. The Street Bar there is redone and definitely “a thing” - not so much for being seen, but for seeing. It’s fun to sit at a window table and sip cocktails as the world goes by. Also, the Carbone guys from NY just opened Contessa, the rooftop restaurant there. Haven’t been yet but it’s a new hot spot, and their places in NY are reliably good.
The omakase at O Ya is world class (this coming from a NYer foodie with a passion for sushi who relocated to the Boston area). Note it’s sort of a hole in the wall vibe so don’t go for the atmosphere 
Toro great for tapas.
Re: Mistral, I agree it’s good, though unfortunately like nearly all of the nominally French restaurants in and around Boston there’s a definite southern med/italian aspect to it as well. Take that as you will. For my part it continues to boggle my mind the degree to which the greater Boston area is incapable of getting French bistro or French restaurant right.
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Another vote for Tatte for breakfast, treats, coffee. The Grotto for dinner - Italian. Dig Inn is fast and really good if you need something like that. Have a great time, Boston is so fun.
The same people also own Sorellina, and we treat ourselves there a few times each year. One of my wife’s patients loved it so much that they named their daughter Sorellina.
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Great suggestions, thanks.
On our last trip, we noticed a difference in the quality at Mike’s (where I had been going for decades). A conversation in the hotel lobby alerted me to the fact that they aren’t making most of their own baked goods anymore and they are being delivered from somewhere else. I can’t wait to try Bova’s when we are there in September! Thanks for the suggestion!!
I have only been to Boston a couple times – most recently about five years ago – but these two places stuck out:
- Eastern Standard (if they still have it, try the rigatoni! And oysters, of course…)
- Galleria Umberto (thick sicilian pizza slices, as well as those rice/meat balls)
Both had very good food and offered excellent value. At Galleria Umberto, I think I got two slices of pizza and one of those rice/meat balls, and a soda, and it was like $9.
Sadly, both of those old favorites have permanently closed.
For North End Italian, Lucca and Mamma Maria are excellent.
There are lots of great steakhouses but mostly chains so might not be your first choice for Boston. If you do want steak, Del Friscos at Seaport is great.
The whole Seaport area is trendy and fun - Ocean Prime is great or Strega.
If you like Asian fusion, Empire is popular.
For brunch, Stephanie’s on Newbury in Back Bay - great people watching spot.
In the North End, we loved Bricco for dinner; each morning, we got coffee & pastries at Bova
I don’t remember the name of the hotel we stayed at, it was right on the waterfront; they have a very nice bar ’ be and be seen!’.
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http://zinnekenswaffles.com/ In Boston (food truck) and in Cambridge (brick and mortar store) by Harvard Square. The best Belgian waffles to be had outside of Belgium.
H and I would dine out in the city quit a bit before COVID. We have just started going out to dinner again. One place we have been to recently—Woods Hill Table Pier Four. You can sit/eat in these cool geodesic dome bubbles outside. They call them igloos and they will go back up in the fall. This is a farm-to-table concept place; the owner has an organic farm in NH that provides food for her restaurants (she has two restaurants in Concord—Boston suburb). The food is quite good.
I would second the recommendations above for O Ya(great sushi and Sake) and Legal Seafood (consistently excellent seafood).
Yvonne’s in Downtown Crossing is a trendy restaurant bar/eatery.
Legal Harborside is the one to go to. Beautiful place.
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The Union Oyster House. Just because.
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