There are 170+ participating spots in Restaurant Week (aka Dine Out Boston), which kicked off on Sunday, March 1st. Navigating through the full list can feel a bit intimidating, so here’s a round-up of women-owned (or co-owned) and POC-owned (people of color) participating restaurants for your woke perusing pleasure.
Eager for more Restaurant Week guides and can’t-miss dishes? Find them here.
Editor’s note: Every effort has been made to create a comprehensive list. If you know of a participating spot that should be listed, email us and let us know.
80 Thoreau
Come to Concord for chef-owner Carolyn Johnson’s culinary expertise on New American & fine dining cuisine. Ingredients are locally sourced at 80 Thoreau, thanks to strong partnerships with nearby farmers, and you there’s always something new to try when you visit. Take a peek at what seasonal favorites they’re serving up. See 80 Thoreau’s Restaurant Week menu here.
Blue Dragon
Owned by James Beard award-winning chef Ming Tsai, Blue Dragon offers an East-meets-West twist on tapas-style dishes. Tsai graduated from Yale with a degree in mechanical engineering, but it was his summers spent at Le Cordon Bleu cooking school (plus his graduate degree from Cornell) that paved his way to opening his restaurants Blue Ginger and Blue Dragon. Stop by the Fort Point spot for a bite, then head home to watch the sixteenth season of Tsai’s cooking show, Simply Ming. See Blue Dragon’s Restaurant Week menu here.
Estragon
For more than 10 years, Estragon Tapas Bar has been serving traditional Spanish fare inspired by Chef Julio de Haro‘s childhood kitchen and old family recipes. He’s worked with Australian co-owner Lara Egger to create the extensive menu — stop by during Restaurant Week for tons of tapas, cocktails and Spanish wines. See Estragon’s Restaurant Week menu here.
Evoo
If you’ve got a hankering for farm-to-table fare right in Kendall Square, head to Evoo. Chef-owner Peter McCarthy may be the brains (and probably the brawn, too come to think of it) behind the menu at Evoo but his business partner (and wife) Colleen McCarthy oversees all the other aspects of the business. It’s a winning combination — Evoo has been around for 20+ years. See Evoo’s Restaurant Week menu here
Koy
For old-world Korean cuisine paired with international flavors, head to Koy, the eclectic restaurant and bar located in Government Center. Co-owned by Catarina Chang and her father and Chef de Cuisine Danny Chang since 2014, the Korean-fusion fare and drinks might be just what you need during Restaurant Week this year. See Koy’s Restaurant Week menu here.
La Morra
Co-owner Jen Ziskin was inducted into the restaurant world at only 15 years old and has never stopped learning new aspects of the business. Along with her husband and co-owner Josh Ziskin, the duo serve up homemade pasta and Tuscan-style entrees along with Italian wines. See La Morra’s Restaurant Week menu here.
Ma Maison
In 2015, Stanislava “Sam” Sosnitsky partnered with French celebrity chef Jacky Robert to reopen Beacon Hill’s Pierrot Bistro as Ma Maison. Serving classic French cuisine with a few unexpected interpretations, the restaurant is meant to feel like you’re being welcomed into the homes of co-owners Robert and Sosnitsky. See Ma Maison’s Restaurant Week menu here.
Menton
The third concept from James Beard award-winning chef-owner Barbara Lynch, Menton is a modern take on fine dining. Located in Fort Point, the restaurant showcases Lynch’s French-Italian hybrid cuisine. In additional to numerous other accolades from magazines like Bon Appetit, Esquire and Boston Magazine, Menton was nominated by the James Beard Foundation for “Best New Restaurant” in 2010. See Menton’s Restaurant Week menu here.
MIDA
Douglass Williams, chef-owner of MIDA, wants every patron to feel elated when enjoying his classic Italian eats. Williams has used his global experience working under chefs in Paris, Thailand, New York and more to create this community-focused neighborhood restaurant. To make you feel even more welcome, Williams wants you to give him a hug and a handshake every time you eat at MIDA. See MIDA’s Restaurant Week menu here.
Mooncusser Fish House
With Mooncusser Fish House, it’s the 80 Thoreau team’s first foray into the city — Back Bay to be specific. Here, you’ll find top-of-the-line seafood creatively presented under the helm of chef-owner Carolyn Johnson. Everything is fresh, delicious and oh-so-Instagrammable. Melon gazpacho and ceviche, anyone? See Mooncusser Fish House’s Restaurant Week menu here.
No. 9 Park
Located in Beacon Hill, No. 9 Park is the first restaurant from South Boston native and James Beard award-winning chef Barbara Lynch. After its opening, No. 9 Park was named one of the “Top 25 New Restaurants in America” by Bon Appétit and “Best New Restaurant” by Food & Wine. Now onto her seventh concept, Lynch has made her mark in the Boston restaurant world with numerous awards and accolades with each one of them. See No. 9 Park’s Restaurant Week menu here.
Oak + Rowan
Owned by Nancy Batista-Caswell, owner of the Caswell Restaurant Group, Oak + Rowan celebrates all things land and sea with an emphasis on the farmers, artisans, foragers and winemakers behind the ingredients. Stop in during Restaurant Week to experience Batista-Caswell’s vision of a childhood tree house come to life. See Oak + Rowan’s Restaurant Week menu here.
PABU
PABU, owned by Chef Michael Mina and Chef Ken Tominaga is the place to go for Japanese bites in Boston. Mina, who has opened thirty different operations across the country and abroad, partnered with Tominaga, one of the leading chefs in Japanese cuisine, on PABU’s locations in Boston and San Francisco. A collaboration by these two award-winning chefs can’t be missed. See PABU’s Restaurant Week menu here.
Publico Street Bistro + Garden
Owned by the Trio Restaurant Group, including Teodora Bakardzhieva, her husband Jairo Dominguez, and Theo Bougas, Publico Street Bistro + Garden invites diners to immerse themselves in something new. During Restaurant Week, munch on global fare inspired by flavors from Europe and South and North America with ingredients from local farms and purveyors. See Publico Street Bistro + Garden’s Restaurant Week menu here.
Real Italian Gusto
Italy natives Francesco Ronzio and her husband Matteo Ronzio opened Real Italian Gusto to bring authentic Italian food and dining customs to Boston. Stop in to try traditional Italian dishes and pizza made by a fifth-generation pizza chef from Naples. Once you walk through the door, you’ll feel like you’ve traveled to Italia. See Real Italian Gusto’s Restaurant Week menu here.
Scampo
Scampo (Italian for “escape”), located inside the former Charles Street Jail in the Liberty Hotel, was nominated during its opening year as one of Esquire magazine’s “Best New Restaurants” in America. The Italian eatery is the sixth culinary destination from James Beard award-winning chef-owner Lydia Shire, who cut her teeth in the culinary scene at prestigious restaurants around Boston. See Scampo’s Restaurant Week menu here.
Sportello
Launched on 2008 as one of the two Fort Point concepts from James-Beard Award-Winner Barbara Lynch, Sportello is a modern take on the classic diner, serving trattoria-inspired Italian eats for lunch and dinner. Now, Lynch has seven different restaurants and concepts across Boston, and was named as one of Time Magazine’s world’s 100 most influential people in 2017. See Sportello’s Restaurant Week menu here.
Sumiao Hunan Kitchen
Sumiao Chen, owner of Sumiao Hunan Kitchen, named the restaurant after where she’s from: the Hunan Province in China. With the spicy and elevated cuisine from Hunan, Chen is changing the perceptions of cheap Chinese fare in America. See Sumiao Hunan Kitchen’s Restaurant Week menu here.
Talulla
For a family-owned restaurant with an intimate setting (only 12 tables) and delicious food and wine, head to Tallula in Cambridge. Owned by husband and wife duo Danielle Ayer and Conor Dennehy and opened with funds the raised on Kickstarter, the restaurant is dedicated to hospitality and good food. See Talulla’s Restaurant Week menu here.
The Butcher Shop
The Butcher Shop, a wine bar and full-service restaurant in the South End, is just one of the seven concepts owned by award-winning chef Barbara Lynch, who has been named “Best Chef Northeast” by the James Beard Foundation in 2003, “Outstanding Restauranteur” in 2014, and inducted into the foundation’s “Who’s Who of Food and Beverage in America” in 2013. The Butcher Shop is her third restaurant, highlighting meat and produce from local farms and offering a seasonal menu for dinner and weekend brunch. See The Butcher Shop’s Restaurant Week menu here.
