[TO TRY] Restaurants

Eater: Highland Kitchen specializes in comfort food, a lively ambiance, and strong cocktails. Try the spicy goat stew and the housemade ginger beer (also spicy). [Eater 38 Member]

Eater: Now open for just over a year, Giulia has racked up a number of highly positive reviews for its house-made pasta and warm staff. The pappardelle with wild boar is a popular choice. [Eater 38 Member]

Eater: The second project from Tim and Bronywn Wiechmann. The Union Square restaurant features German and Central European food, and the biergarten is always packed in pleasant weather. [Eater 38 Member]

Eater: This romantic "Spanish Caribbean tapas" spot comes from a couple of architects, so the space is as beautiful as the menu. The owners got started throwing elaborate dinner parties. [Eater 38 Member]

Eater: This 69-seat restaurant opened in 2010 and has helped pave the way for a new era of Somerville dining. The critics love Bergamot's synthesis of relaxed attitude and serious skill. [Eater 38 Member]

Eater: Yes, there's amazing Italian food outside of the North End. Locals have always known that it's the place to go for huge ravioli and excellent homemade pasta. [Eater 38 Member]

Eater: Jody Adams' Harvard Square flagship has been drawing crowds since opening nearly a decade ago, focusing on regional Italian cuisine and locally sourced ingredients. [Eater 38 Member]

Eater: One of the city's few restaurants with a vegetarian tasting menu, let alone one that diners regularly rave about. [Eater 38 Member]

Eater: Bondir took what a lot of restaurants were already doing - the classed up, local, rootsy thing - managed to tighten the screws, add flourishes & still make it distinct & feel fresh. [Eater 38 Member]

Eater: It's amazing that shrimp and grits can taste this good so far north. [Eater 38 Member]

Eater: A vet of the dining scene for over 20 years, this restaurant's rep is staked partly on its infamous roasted chicken. Over the years it has changed exactly as much as it should. [Eater 38 Member]

Eater: Some dishes are Chinese, some Thai, some Vietnamese, and some a fantasy amalgam of various nationalities, but no one would dare call Myers+Chang Pan-Asian. [Eater 38 Member]

Eater: The flagship of an expanding mini-empire now in Cambridge, P-town and headed for the burger biz. [Eater 38 Member]

Eater: Helmed by David Punch of Ten Tables, Sycamore has been turning heads in Newton since opening a year ago thanks to its refined American cuisine and solid beverage program. [Eater 38 Member]