Best of Boston & Cambridge | 2019 Editors’ Choice Awards

Planning a Boston vacation, day trip, or getaway? From dining and lodging to attractions that are well worth the drive, here are nearly 20 picks from our editors for the best of Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts.

BEST OF BOSTON & CAMBRIDGE 2019 | DINING

BRUNCH Lincoln Tavern & Restaurant, Boston

No restaurant works harder to earn your brunch fidelity than Lincoln. Not only do they have separate weekday and weekend brunch menus, but there’s also a special “brunch test kitchen” on Fridays where they preview the next batch of addictive additions. The famous Fruity Pebbles pancakes got their start there, as did the short rib poutine and a boozy Cinnamon Toast Crunch milkshake. The vibe is laid-back and neighborly — just what you want on an easy Sunday morn. 617-765-8636

FOOD HALL Bow Market, Somerville

The one thing Boston’s restaurant scene lacks most is affordable space for chefs who have limited capital to test new concepts. The Bow Market in Union Square is a fresh solution: a mix of tiny indie restaurants and shops in a converted former storage facility, all arrayed around a central courtyard to encourage browsing and one heckuva food crawl. Start your evening at natural-wine bar Rebel Rebel or Remnant Brewing, nosh on Jaju pierogi or Buenas empanadas or South Shore–style bar pizza from Hot Box. For dessert: Maca macarons and Gâté Comme des Filles chocolates.

FRIED CLAMS Neptune Oyster, Boston

The difference between great fried clams and merely good ones comes down to three things: the clams, the breading, and the fry. Neptune gets its sweet Ipswich clams from Massachusetts’s famed Great Marsh, considered the Grand Cru tidal flat for bivalves. They’re tossed in a simple seasoned flour crust and fried until crisp and golden in fresh Canola oil (you’d be surprised what a difference it makes when someone’s willing to empty out the Frialator on the regular). House-made tartar sauce is the clincher. 617-742-3474

ICE CREAM Gracie’s, Somerville

Boston has so many great ice cream shops, from Toscanini’s to Christina’s to Forge to Morano Gelato. But we tip our cap to Gracie’s for its ultracreamy texture and, most important, its sui generis flavor combinations. Perennial favorites like chocolate, salty whiskey, and mint chip are always on offer, but the wild-card flavors are the kicker: fluffernutterbutter, black sesame and honey, rummy gingersnap, and—wait for it—pickle. 617-764-5294

SPECIAL-OCCASION SPLURGE Uni, Boston

You’ll find plenty of small plates at Uni—from pork belly steamed buns to a mushroom katsu roll—that cost $10 or less. But the omakase, or chef’s choice menu, is an occasion unto itself: 11 courses for $135, or 15 for $195. Chef-partner Tony Messina is working at the top of his game, with a palette of flavors that pulls together foie gras, tuna, pear, chili, and black walnut in a single inspired sashimi plate. There are playful moments, too, such as a “steak bomb” steamed bun filled with rib-eye, miso onions, and peppers. When chefs are this good, just let them take the wheel. 617-536-7200

BEST OF BOSTON & CAMBRIDGE 2019 | LODGING

BOUTIQUE HOTEL The Kendall Hotel, Cambridge

At this stately brick hotel housed in a former fire station, you don’t have to choose between Cambridge and Boston: Walk a mile east via the impressively restored Longfellow Bridge, and you’ll be oohing and aahing at Beacon Hill brownstones, or stroll less than two miles west to rub elbow patches with academics in Harvard Yard. But this Kendall Square inn on the National Register of Historic Places also gives you some solid reasons to stay put: namely, the nightly wine reception in the rooftop lounge and the homey vibe (must be all the folk art). 866-566-1300

ECO-FRIENDLY LODGING Lenox Hotel, Boston

Recycling bins and HEPA air purifiers in every guest room, low-flow toilets and soap dispensers in every bathroom, filtered water-and-ice stations plus LED hallway lighting on every floor … it’s no surprise Travel + Leisure named the family-owned Lenox as the “Ultimate Green Hotel.” And this sustainable ethos extends beyond the front door: to the roof, where beehives and a garden supply the on-site City Table and City Bar with honey and herbs, and to eco-friendly transportation options (book a ride in the courtesy hybrid SUV or grab a loaner helmet and directions to the nearest bike-share kiosk). 617-536-5300

NEW HOTEL The Row Hotel at Assembly Row, Somerville

Five-year-old Assembly Row, which transformed barren fields on the banks of the Mystic River into a shopping and lifestyle enclave, just keeps getting better. Alongside the chain and indie restaurants, high-end fitness studios, and the first new MBTA stop in more than 25 years, the newest kid on the block is the 158-room Row Hotel, part of Marriott’s boutique-leaning Autograph Collection. The luxe amenities (pillow-top mattresses, C.O. Bigelow bath products) make for a nifty contrast to callbacks throughout the hotel to this area’s former life as a Ford Motor plant (note the reclaimed auto parts in Feliciano Béjar’s Magiscope lobby sculptures). 617-628-1300

PET-FRIENDLY LODGING Kimpton Onyx, Boston

Breadless double cheeseburger or chicken breast with kibble? Those are just two of the entrées on the “Pampered Pooches” room service menu, ostensibly curated by an Australian Labradoodle named Rocco, aka Kimpton Onyx’s director of pet relations. There are also Boston-inspired, fleece-topped dog beds in the rooms and locally made treats, but the best part? There’s no extra charge—or weight limit—for furry friends. (“If your pet fits through the door, we’ll welcome them in.”) 617-557-9955

UPDATED HOTEL The Ritz-Carlton, Boston

This lion of the Boston hospitality scene recently underwent a $13 million top-to-bottom renovation that modernized its 193 guest rooms (adding more outlets, USB ports, and Telkonet EcoSmart System thermostats), as well as freshened up the 3,500-square-foot ballroom and the already exclusive top-floor Club Lounge. While the pros behind the project—New York architecture firm Rockwell Group—are internationally known, they took care to infuse the Ritz-Carlton Boston with local flavor: See suites that pay homage to hometown literary heavyweights Edgar Allan Poe and Ralph Waldo Emerson, as well as historic materials throughout. 617-574-7100

BEST OF BOSTON & CAMBRIDGE 2019 | ATTRACTIONS

ART-HOUSE MOVIE THEATER The Brattle Theatre, Cambridge

The tagline says it all: “Boston’s unofficial film school since 1953.” Indeed, this Harvard Square stalwart is ground zero for esoteric and indie cinema and a specialist in repertory programming, i.e., films from a particular director, genre, or subject shown over the course of a week or on the same day throughout the month. Recent series have included “New Noir: Chinese Crime Films” and “Ingmar Bergman 100”—the latter featuring rarities by the revered Swedish filmmaker that originally premiered at the Brattle(!). 617-876-6837

BOOKSTORE Brookline Booksmith, Brookline

As the story goes, Brookline Booksmith—née Paperback Booksmith—was one of the first stores to display books by category and organize them alphabetically by author. And the beloved 58-year-old independent continues to be on the cutting edge with starry author appearances (Abbi Jacobson, Jeff Tweedy, Barbara Kingsolver), eclectic book clubs (such as the Transnational Literature Series, focusing on “books concerned with migration, displacement, and exile, with particular emphasis on works in translation”), and a killer used-book selection. 617-566-6660

BREWERY EXPERIENCE Lamplighter Brewing Co., Cambridge

With a stacked events calendar, vintage games aplenty, and an endless parade of buzzy food vendors—Manoa Poke, Saus Poutine—this über-hip brewery in the old Metric Systems auto repair shop between Central and Inman squares is always the place to be. It helps that Lamplighter’s beer is among the best being crafted in Greater Boston right now: funky New England IPAs, barrel-aged sours, and other brews, all with rock ’n’ roll names such as New Slang, Stardust, and Lawyers, Guns, and Honey. 617-945-0450

HISTORICAL EXPERIENCE Fenway Park Tour, Boston

Even if you’ve been to Fenway dozens of times, you’ve never seen it quite like this. To start, you don’t have to contend with 37,000-plus fans as you follow a guide behind the scenes at one of America’s oldest ballparks. Listen to tales of late Sox greats while seated in the grandstand, then get a whole new perspective settled on the Green Monster stools or peering down on the asymmetrical field from the press box. And what good’s a Fenway tour if you don’t come away with bragging rights? For one, the Sox beat the New York Highlanders (now the Yankees) in the first game played at Fenway in 1912—the Curse of the Bambino aside, we’ve been besting the Bronx Bombers since day one. 617-226-6666

PADDLING ADVENTURE Paddle Boston’s Boston Skyline & Sunset Kayak Tours, Boston

Seen from the water, the glittering Boston skyline is a special sight indeed—and one we never tire of. Launch your rented double kayak from Paddle Boston’s T-accessible Kendall Square dock, and cross the Charles River to glide past the gold-capped State House and the Citgo sign (long may it glow) in this guided two-hour tour. You’ll probably return to land with the Standells’ “Dirty Water” stuck in your head—that’s an old-fashioned notion, of course, as the river recently earned an impressive A- for bacterial water quality from the Environmental Protection Agency. 617-965-5110

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