Best Dining in Massachusetts | 2015 Editors’ Choice Awards

Hungry? The Bay State offers plenty of restaurant options for hungry residents and visitors alike. Here are our picks for the best food & dining in Massachusetts for 2015. BEST FARM-TO-TABLE DINING PRAIRIE WHALE, Great Barrington Wunderkind restaurateur Mark Firth was thriving with farm-to-table restaurants in Brooklyn, but he decided to get much closer to the food sources and moved to the Berkshires. Now he raises Prairie Whale’s pigs, sheep, and laying hens in nearby Monterey and buys the restaurant produce locally. Start with fried green tomato and goat cheese, then savor roast chicken with baby turnips. Entrées: from $14. 178 Main St. 413–528–5050; facebook.com/PrairieWhale BEST SMALL PLATES BRAVA, Lenox Brava unites the best of Spanish and Italian small plates with exemplary selections of wine by the glass and beer on tap. Reservations aren’t accepted, but you can usually find a place at the bar to nibble on the likes of bruschetta with wild mushrooms, goat cheese, walnuts, and fig jam, or to tuck into a plate of lollipop lamb chops. Entrées: from $9. 27 Housatonic St. 413–637–9171; bravalenox.com BEST COLLEGE-TOWN DINING 30 BOLTWOOD, Amherst The principal dining room at the Lord Jeffery Inn serves straightforward—dare we say, simple —food in a convivial atmosphere with relaxed but attentive service. Roast pork loin might come with a side of smoked corn risotto; a Delmonico steak with steamed beans and braised collard greens. The ricotta tart with cornmeal crust and seasonal fruit is always a dessert favorite. Entrées: from $22. 30 Boltwood Ave. 413–835–2011; 30boltwood.com BEST POLISH FOOD SMIAROWSKI FARM STAND & CREAMERY, Sunderland From the first asparagus to the last Blue Hubbard squash, Smiarowski Farm Stand offers all the bounty of the Connecticut Valley. Instead of burgers and hot dogs, the take-out food window serves homemade specialties like cabbage rolls and sandwiches of grilled kielbasa slathered with horseradish and served on dark rye bread. Try them all on the Polish Power Plate ($12). Pastries and sandwiches: from $4. 320 River Road.413–665–3830 BEST BLUEBERRY DOUGHNUTS ADAMS DONUTS, Greenfield Adams opens at 5:00 a.m. (6:00 a.m. on Sundays), and many of the doughnut varieties are sold out well in advance of the noon closing. The moist, slightly crumbly blueberry doughnut represents the perfect balance of cake and glaze. No wonder Adams has served Greenfield for more than 50 years. Doughnuts: from $1. 348 Federal St. 413–774–4214; adamsdonuts.com BEST CUPCAKES SWEET PASTRY SHOP & DESSERT BAR, Worcester Sweet leads a double life as a daytime cake shop and an evening bar with lots of cocktails and both sweet and savory small plates. A cupcake sampler will introduce you to buttery treats with dense frosting. In the evening, you can even get a cupcake with your cosmo. Cupcakes: from $3.25. 72 Shrewsbury St. 508–373–2248; sweetworcester.com BEST LOCAL CATCH SHORT & MAIN, Gloucester The entrée menu isn’t written on the chalkboard until the f ishermen land their catch, but you can count on dayboat seafood from Gloucester’s fleet. The stunning raw bar is stocked from clam flats and oyster beds on both Cape Ann and Cape Cod. Entrées: from $14. 36 Main St.978–281–0044; shortandmain.com BEST RETRO DINING 17 STATE STREET CAFÉ, Newburyport The embossed tin ceiling, tile floors, and booths of a former soda shop and newsstand strike just the right note for this old-fashioned restaurant, which serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Pancakes rule breakfast, while 17 burger variations are served from noon on. Dinner gets marginally fancier, with seared tuna, barbecued ribs, and fried chicken. Entrées: from $14. 17 State St.978–358–8664; 17statestreetcafe.com BEST NEAPOLITAN PIZZA PIZZERIA POSTO, Somerville The first establishment in New England to pass the stringent requirements of Italy’s Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana, Posto bakes hand-kneaded pies in a domed, wood-fired oven for about 90 seconds—just as the Naples pizzerias do. Purists stick to the Margherita, but the daring among us opt for a pie topped with fennel-roasted pork and oozy fontina. Pizzas: from $11. 187 Elm St. 617– 625–0600; postoboston.com BEST AIRPORT FOOD NANCY’S AIRFIELD CAFÉ, Stow Chef Nancy MacPherson’s cooking represents her globetrotting ways, from Middle Eastern hummus to classic American burgers. Many diners are recreational pilots who keep their planes at this small airstrip, visible through the restaurant’s big windows, but the general public is welcome, too. Saturday and Sunday brunches are popular with families. Brunch: from $12. Dinner entrées (Fridays and Saturdays): from $21. 302 Boxboro Road. 978–897–3934; nancysairfieldcafe.com BEST BEER LIST THE NEW WORLD TAVERN, Plymouth It’s a beer drinker’s nirvana, offering more than 30 craft brews on tap and another 120 in the bottle. But it’s worth stopping by for the dining as well. Besides the usual pub grub, chef Johnny Sheehan makes inventive beer-friendly dishes like green papaya with crisp pork belly and ramen soup with duck confit. Entrées: from $10. 56 Main St. 508–927–4250; thenewworldtavern.com BEST GASTROPUB QUICKS HOLE TAVERN, Woods Hole This tavern next to the ferry landing gives Woods Hole a much-needed injection of year-round casual contemporary cooking with small plates like house-pickled vegetables, quahog fritters, and fried oysters, as well as fancier offerings such as black-pepper fettuccine with grilled radicchio. Big windows let diners watch the ferries come and go. Entrées: from $18. 29 Railroad Ave. 508–495–0048; quicksholewickedfresh.com BEST SEAFOOD IN THE ROUGH MAC’S ON THE PIER, Wellfleet No matter how long the lines are at the order counter, there’s always a picnic table free on the adjacent sand when your number is called. This is the spot to indulge in steamers, lobster, fried fish, onion rings, or even a fish taco. The sunset is free, and you can crown the evening with ice cream soft-serve or scooped. BYOB. Sandwiches: from $5. Seafood plates: from $14. Wellfleet Harbor, 265 Commercial St. 508–349–9611; macsseafood.com BEST HARBOR DECK DINING TIN PAN ALLEY, Provincetown Just across from Town Hall, this New American bistro takes its name from the antique tin ceiling and the repertoire played at the piano nbar nightly from 9:00 p.m. The long, narrow dining room, which passes the open kitchen, leads all the way back to an exquisite deck for al fresco dining on dayboat scallops or steak-of-the-day while overlooking the harbor. Entrées: from $17. 269 Commercial St. 508–487–1648; tinpanalleyptown.com BEST CRAFT COCKTAILS BEETLEBUNG, Oak Bluffs The quirky home-goods and clothing boutique group has spawned a delightful café—coffee bar by day, snazzy cocktail bar and small-plates hangout after dark. Chill with a tall blackberry lemonade with Rittenhouse rye, while slurping littlenecks steamed in red, yellow, and green Thai curries. Plates: from $8. Cocktails: from $14. 53 Circuit Ave. 508–696–0053; beetlebung.com BEST GLOBAL DINING THE PROPRIETOR’S BAR & TABLE, Nantucket Those Quaker whalers who made the first Nantucket fortunes picked up a taste for the exotic as they chased their quarry around the globe. Honoring that tradition, this contemporary American restaurant borrows techniques and spices from Asia and Europe to make the most of New England meat and fish. A crispy chicken roll, for instance, might be served with kimchee mayo and sweet chili sauce, while fried oysters get some heat from Tabasco remoulade. Entrées: from $34. 9 India St. 508–228–7477; proprietorsnantucket.com