Boston gained its first Michelin-starred restaurant this year, so it felt right to add a fine-dining category to the Best of the Best awards this time around. The dozen listed here range delightfully in cuisine (Mediterranean, Portuguese, Brahmin-influenced) and ambiance (down-to-earth, glamorous, joyous), but all deliver impeccable, creatively conceived food—and the makings of an epic evening. (Find many more restaurant recommendations, including Italian, seafood/sushi, and on Cape Cod, in this package.)
311 Omakase
John Tlumacki/Globe Staff
The recipient of Boston’s first (and only) Michelin Star, this intimate restaurant (10 seats) serves tasting menus of sushi and other Japanese-inspired fare. In the basement apartment of a brick rowhouse in the South End, chef Wei Fa Chen crafts jewel-like dishes with the freshest seafood and other meticulously sourced ingredients. A meal in the serene dining room is like visiting a speakeasy helmed by a Zen monk who is obsessed with food.
Address:
605 Tremont Street, South End
Asta
Drew Katz
Anyone who criticizes fine dining for taking itself too seriously should visit chef Alex Crabb’s tasting menu joint. It takes itself just seriously enough — which is to say it is a place of ideas and invention, constantly revising and reenvisioning, showcasing seasonal ingredients and technique, but with generous doses of whimsy and humor. Here’s a recent example: a dish of spring asparagus with pickled pine, pine cone syrup, and popcorn purée. Look elsewhere for straight-faced Caesar salads and normie roast chickens. Come here to be delighted. The best seats in the house are at the chef’s counter, with a view of the cooks at work.
Address:
47 Massachusetts Avenue, Back Bay
Baleia
Pat Greenhouse/Globe staff
Massachusetts has a significant population of Portuguese descent, and in recent years fine-dining chefs have started to platform the culture’s cuisine. At Baleia, from the Coda Restaurant Group (Gufo, the Salty Pig, SRV), executive chef Andrew Hebert takes dishes such as salt cod fritters and piri piri chicken as a jumping-off point for exploration. Octopus is presented as carpaccio, the dish a study in textures, topped with shreds of fried potato, black olives, and red pepper aioli; caldo verde becomes a verdant sauce for seared cod. For those interested in sampling widely, the Explorador tasting menu is an excellent deal at $70 per person.
Address:
264 East Berkeley Street, South End
Contessa
Vanessa Leroy/The New York Times
This modern Italian restaurant, perched high atop The Newbury Hotel, is chic and stylish in a 1960s Hollywood kind of way: lots of pale mauve and jewel tones; plenty of gold accents and glamor. Plus, there are those jaw-dropping Back Bay views (try for a window table). The food, crafted by the Manhattan-based Major Food Group, the powerhouse behind New York icons such as Carbone and The Grill, is as sophisticated as the setting: twirl your fork through a plate of spicy lobster capellini, a crown of crustacean in peppery tomato sauce, and think: I’ve made it.
Address:
3 Newbury Street, Back Bay
Kaia
Erin Clark/Globe Staff
The restaurant group Xenia Greek Hospitality began reshaping Boston’s notions about Greek cuisine with modern spots like Krasi and Bar Vlaha. Kaia furthers that, upscale and stylish, warm and down to earth, all at the same time. The menu pays equal tribute to the Aegean coast and to the chefs’ creativity, with beautifully composed crudo, zucchini chips with fish sauce caramel, a black-tie version of spanakopita, and simply grilled Mediterranean sea bass with orange blossom honey. The food is wonderful, but it’s the warmth of the people who work here that makes the experience memorable.
Address:
370 Harrison Avenue, South End
La Padrona
JohnTlumacki/Globe Staff
For fans of former Harvard Square haunt Rialto, this swank, boisterous restaurant at the Raffles Boston hotel marks chef Jody Adams’s welcome return to Italian food. For those who have never heard of Rialto, it is a welcome introduction to Adams’s interpretations of regional dishes, inspired by her travels. After all, anyone can appreciate cacio e pepe focaccia, creamy tagliatelle Emilia-Romagna, and risotto with lobster and uni. The luxe setting and excellent cocktail program send La Padrona over the top.
Address:
Raffles Boston, 38 Trinity Place, Back Bay
Mooncusser and Moon Bar
Brian Samuels
Everybody wins with this upstairs-downstairs setup. On the third floor, with a view of the city, Mooncusser’s tasting menus combine world flavors and seasonal New England ingredients in unexpected, delicious ways. At the street level, Moon Bar brings casual, a la carte excitement via curry fries, tandoori chicken thighs, and piri-piri hiramasa kama with pickled pineapple. The playful cocktails are made with ingredients from curry leaf to golden raisins. A meal at either is an occasion.
Address:
304 Stuart Street, Back Bay, and other locations
Ostra
Josh Reynolds for The Boston Globe
Every city worth its salt needs a few true occasion restaurants, and in Boston there ought to be one focused on seafood. Ostra, from the Columbus Hospitality Group (Mistral, Sorellina, Mooo….), is just that. With soaring ceilings, the room is elegant and lively. Polished hospitality and a splurge-y wine list ensure the occasion is extra-special. But it’s the seafood that shines above all, displayed on beds of ice like treasure and showcased in dishes such as sea bass tartare, ricotta gnocchetti with lobster, and salt-crusted branzino for two.
Address:
1 Charles Street South, Back Bay
Sarma
Jonathan Wiggs /Globe Staff
A Mediterranean-meets-Marrakesh revelation on the edges of Somerville’s last ungentrified corner: From an unassuming storefront, star chefs Ana Sortun and Cassie Piuma serve gem upon gem, from the arancini resting on carrot-orange labne to honey-kissed corn bread designed for sharing (but you won’t want to). Dinner reservations are justifiably hard to secure, but a vibrant walk-in bar scene — with joyous noise levels to match — brings this transformative mezze parlor back down to earth. So does a roving fried chicken cart.
Address:
249 Pearl Street, Somerville
Uni
Adam DeTour
Many sushi parlors are hushed and precious. Not Uni in The Eliot Hotel. This is a slinky yet scrumptious backdrop for all occasions, from a big date to a big deal, thanks to a tight list of pristine sushi paired with a broad izakaya menu of shared plates dressed up with surprises, like duck confit gyoza with cashew chili crisp. It’s dark inside, and it’s loud. That’s perfect: You’ll tumble back onto Comm. Ave. blinking and transported.
Address:
370A Commonwealth Avenue, Back Bay
Wa Shin
Frank Wang
Recognized by this year’s inaugural Michelin Guide for Boston, Wa Shin is a strong contender for a future star. (Chef Sky Zheng previously worked at Michelin-starred Sushi Nakazawa in New York.) In a peaceful room decorated with bonsai and ceramics, the Bay Village omakase restaurant serves tasting menus of carefully sourced, impeccably prepared seafood. The nigirizushi, with excellent rice and pure flavors, are a gastronomic highlight.
Address:
222 Stuart Street, Bay Village
Woods Hill Pier 4
Jonathan Wiggs /Globe Staff
Here is something to appreciate: a stylish, on-point restaurant serving consistently good food with a water view in the Seaport. Hello, unicorn! Woods Hill Pier 4 is a place to celebrate an occasion, bring savvy diners visiting from out-of-town, or enjoy a casual drink and a snack on a weekday after work. Anthony’s Pier 4 was in this spot for 50 years, and Woods Hill’s menu feels almost like it’s from a different planet, featuring ingredients from owner Kristin Canty’s New Hampshire farm and dishes such as crispy lamb ribs with Urfa pepper, trout a la plancha with buckwheat risotto, and salt-baked celery root from chef Charlie Foster. But there are lobster popovers at weekend brunch, and that incredible view remains the same.
Address:
300 Pier Four Boulevard, Seaport
Yvonne’s
Josh Jamison
Yvonne’s, in the glamorous former Locke-Ober space in the heart of Downtown Crossing, radiates celebratory decadence, from the baroque-inspired ceiling to the constellation of crystal chandeliers reflecting light off the burnished gold banquettes. Luckily, the food meets the moment, with well-executed nods to Brahmin tradition (haddock rarebit; Baked Alaska) and trendier shareables that roam the globe (seared halloumi; Iberico skirt steak). To drink, a proper espresso martini.
Address:
2 Winter Place, Downtown
Boston Globe Best of the Best winners for 2026 were selected by Globe newsroom staff and correspondents, and limited to Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, and Brookline, plus Cape Cod for one dining category. We want to hear from you: Did your favorites make the list?
Dining and Cooking