Best Restaurants in Massachusetts

Yankee Magazine chooses the best restaurants in Massachusetts for 2012. Did your favorites make the list?

  BEST RESTAURANTS IN MASSACHUSETTS | CANDLELIGHT DINING Old Inn On The Green, New Marlborough There’s no electricity in the dining rooms of this 200-year-old former stagecoach inn, but candlelight makes the setting all the more romantic for chef/owner Peter Platt’s American bistro cooking. In warm weather, diners may opt for gardenside dining on a patio. Entrées: from $29; fixed-price three-course menu: $35. 134 Hartsville/New Marlborough Road (Route 57), Village Green. 413-229-7924; oldinn.com BEST RESTAURANTS IN MASSACHUSETTS | LOBSTER WITH SUNSET Lobster Pool, Rockport This quintessential seafood-in-the-rough establishment not only offers great fish and shellfish, but also features a fabulous westward view over Folly Cove. That makes it perfect for cracking a crustacean just as the sun goes down. There’s no charge for bringing your own wine or beer. Seafood rolls: from $13; seafood plates: from $8.95. 329 Granite St. 978-546-7808; lobsterpoolrestaurant.com BEST RESTAURANTS IN MASSACHUSETTS | GRILLED-CHEESE SANDWICH Rubiner’s Cheesemongers, Great Barrington One of the East Coast’s great cheese shops, Rubiner’s stocks many good local cheeses and obscure imported taste treats. Given the range of cheeses to work with, it’s hard to predict which grilled-cheese sandwich will be featured. Sandwiches: from $7.50. 264 Main St. 413-528-0488; rubiners.com BEST RESTAURANTS IN MASSACHUSETTS | ART-SIDE DINING Gramercy Bistro, North Adams Work up an appetite strolling the galleries at MASS MoCA, then replenish your energy with chef Sandy Smith’s eclectic and thoughtful international menu (paella, lasagna, coq au vin), which uses predominantly Berkshires farm products. Entrées: from $18. 87 Marshall St. 413-663-5300; gramercybistro.com BEST RESTAURANTS IN MASSACHUSETTS | SMALL-TOWN PUB People’s Pint, Greenfield As the shire town for Western Massachusetts’ back-to-the-land movement, Greenfield has always hungered and thirsted for the quintessentially local. The People’s Pint delivers on both, with well-rounded ales crafted with an edge of hops, plus a menu tailored for all tastes and diets. (Try the peanut noodles or beef sirloin kebabs.) Entrées: from $8.25. 24 Federal St. 413-773-0333; thepeoplespint.com BEST RESTAURANTS IN MASSACHUSETTS | RESTAURANT WINE LIST Left Bank Restaurant, Tyngsboro The owners of the Stonehedge Inn & Spa have been buying great wines young and aging them for years, resulting in an unparalleled choice of fine vintages at surprisingly modest prices. The contemporary American menu offers something elegant and flavorful to match any bottle. Entrées: from $24. 160 Pawtucket Blvd. 978-649-4400; stonehedgeinnandspa.com BEST RESTAURANTS IN MASSACHUSETTS | EXOTIC BURGERS Brew City Grill & Brew House, Worcester The proprietors claim several trillion possible combinations, but who’s checking the math? With a choice of ground Angus, Piedmontese, or Kobe beef–not to mention super-lean buffalo meat–every burger is packed with intensely meaty flavor. The “Crunch-Time,” with potato chips and barbecue sauce inside a giant onion roll, is the most fun. Burgers: from $8. 104 Shrewsbury St. 508-752-3862; brew-city.com BEST RESTAURANTS IN MASSACHUSETTS |OLD-WORLD BAKERY Swiss Bakers, Reading Pop in for some of the region’s best coffee and a pastry in the morning, or fuel up at lunch with a tomato-mozzarella-pesto sandwich on golden-crusted pretzel bread. Pastries: from $1.25; sandwiches: from $3.75. Reading Train Depot, 32 Lincoln St. 781-942-1199; swissbakers.com BEST RESTAURANTS IN MASSACHUSETTS | AMERICAN TAVERN FARE Scarlet Oak Tavern, Hingham This historic roadhouse features casual chow (chicken pot pie and hanger steaks) at its atmospheric bar and contemporary American bistro fare in the upstairs dining rooms. Succulent Angus steaks are a house specialty, and most of the seasonal produce hails from a nearby farm. Entrées: from $17. 1217 Main St. 781-749-8200; scarletoaktavern.com BEST RESTAURANTS IN MASSACHUSETTS | PIE Centerville Pie Company, Centerville Your family can feast on sea-clam or chicken pot pie before swapping plates for a slice of blueberry, cherry, apple, peach, pumpkin, or lemon meringue pie. Fruit pies: from $8; savory pies: from $9. 1671 Falmouth Road (Route 28). 774-470-1406; centervillepies.com BEST RESTAURANTS IN MASSACHUSETTS | BAKERY BISTRO Pb Boulangerie Bistro, Wellfleet You’ll have to line up for croissants or pain au chocolat at breakfast or for croque monsieur or a tuna confit sandwich at lunch. But make a reservation for dinner and you can be seated on the open porch or in an inside dining room to enjoy seared local swordfish with herb sauce. Pastries: from $2.50; sandwiches: from $8.50; entrées: from $21. 15 Lecount Hollow Road. 508-349-1600; pbboulangeriebistro.com BEST RESTAURANTS IN MASSACHUSETTS | INTIMATE CAPE DINING Ten Tables, Provincetown On rainy evenings, the dining room contains the promised 10 tables, but on most nights this little bistro expands onto a splendidly broad patio, while offering small-plate dining and creative cocktails upstairs in the bar. The seafood comes from neighboring Wellfleet, the vegetables from Cape farms. Entrées: from $21. 133 Bradford St. 508-487-0106; tentables.net/provincetown.html BEST RESTAURANTS IN MASSACHUSETTS | ISLAND ALES Offshore Ale, Oak Bluffs The brick-oven pizzas are big and imaginative (roasted duck with pancetta and leeks, for example), and the seafood, ribs, and burgers all go nicely with Offshore’s Nutbrown Ale. Entrées: from $10. 30 Kennebec Ave. 508-693-2626; offshoreale.com BEST RESTAURANTS IN MASSACHUSETTS | ISLAND ITALIAN Ventuno, Nantucket If Nantucket were an Italian island, the food might taste something like what Ventuno serves every night. Cape Cod clams become spaghetti alla vongele with the addition of enough garlic. Wild halibut meets locally grown green spring veggies to become merluzzo alla vignarola. Pasta: from $9; entrées: from $29. 21 Federal St. 508-228-4242; ventunorestaurant.com BEST RESTAURANTS IN MASSACHUSETTS | EARLY-BIRD TREATS Kane’s Donuts, Saugus Insomniac doughnut junkies can get their fix at Kane’s from 3:30 a.m. every day. Established in 1955, this internationally acclaimed small-town bakery makes plain, chocolate coconut, honeydip, and a myriad of other doughnuts so large you’d need a bowl of coffee to dunk them. Doughnuts: $1.50 each. 120 Lincoln Ave. 781-233-8499; kanesdonuts.com BEST RESTAURANTS IN MASSACHUSETTS | DOCKSIDE DINING The Back Eddy, Westport Dishes like wood-grilled striped bass and crisply fried bluefish with Portuguese chourico sausage are only enhanced by the water setting. Some diners show up hours early for drinks outdoors on the dockside deck before heading indoors to eat when the sun goes down. Entrées: from $19. 1 Bridge Road. 508-636-6500; thebackeddy.com BEST RESTAURANTS IN MASSACHUSETTS | LOCAVORE DINING Oro, Scituate Owners Jill and Robin King are tight with the local fishermen and farmers, and it shows on their French-inspired menu. Even the classic roasted chicken might be accompanied by a salad of local potatoes and Brussels sprouts with mint pesto. Entrées: from $18. 162 Front St. 781-378-2465; restaurantoro.com

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