Throw a meatball and you will hit a good Italian restaurant in Boston, making winnowing this list a particular challenge (our companion list of the area’s best pizza wasn’t any easier). But our tireless food writers and critics went into the tagliatelle trenches, emerging with a list of Greater Boston’s very best cozy trattorias and romantic date spots, as well as a few sauce stains.
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