@Dolemite true (so is Legal Sea Foods). However overall, restaurants near MIT tend to be somewhat disappointing IMO.
There are so many fabulous restaurants in greater Boston…and the T can take you to most…or Uber.
Legal Seafood and Bertuccis? Neither would be a go to place when in Boston. Esoecially Bertuccis which is located in just about every city area on the east coast.
I would head to Charles Street to my favorite Thai place…The King and I. Excellent and right near the Mass General T stop.
If visiting Notre Dame or Valpo, go to Industrial Revolution in Valparaiso. They have awesome burgers.
@MITer94 Funny you think there are no good restaurants near MIT. There are actually LOTS of really good places in the Kendall square area - too many to name! Perhaps these are not college hangouts, but they are certainly places that the working crowd goes to both for lunch and after work. Have you not been around there since '94 
?
Should add that at here are some amazing food trucks around MIT and Tech Square.
@thumper1 Yeah I was just naming restaurants on or right near MIT’s campus. Also I’m not from the East coast. Of course, if you want good Italian, I can think of quite a few places in the North End and E Boston.
@LBowie Well, I didn’t *quite * say that…there are definitely some good places in Kendall and Central squares (e.g. Area Four, Za, Four Burgers, lots of Indian restaurants). But I’ve also sampled quite a few restaurants and food trucks near MIT that were disappointing, or at the very least not that impressive. If you have some suggestions I’d be happy to hear!
Another vote for Vedge–if you are in Philadelphia.
In Kendall Sq Cambridge–Cafe ArtSciences.
Mamoun’s Middle Eastern restaurant in Princeton is good and affordable. Baby Blues BBQ, near Penn and Drexel, is good in Philly (I can recommend other restaurants in other parts of town there). Lots of good, affordable Indian restaurants just north of NYU (on East Side) in NYC.