<p>Shaking things up this year and going to Boston to visit DD. Restaurant recommendations ( not big on buffets, nor are we bound by tradition) for holiday dinner?Other fun things to do that weekend? Staying at Hotel Marlowe in Cambridge and will have car. </p>
<p>Years ago (2004) we went to Harvest (in Harvard Square) for Thanksgiving and had an amazing dinner there. They had all the classics and had done them to perfection.</p>
<p>We love the Hotel Marlowe - great place you will enjoy it! I would say to do the classic tourist stuff - science museum, museum of fine arts, aquarium, walk in the north end, etc. All by train (the green line stop is around the block from the Marlowe.) Being Thanksgiving weekend you can do Black Friday shopping at the adjacent mall.</p>
<p>Check the Chowhound Boston board for the type of food you may be looking for.</p>
<p>An interesting alternative would be to drive to Plymouth Plantation and have an authentic dinner with the Pilgrims! About an hours ride from Boston.
<a href=“Plimoth Patuxet Museums | Thanksgiving Dining”>Plimoth Patuxet Museums | Thanksgiving Dining;
<p>I haven’t done it but a friend of mine has and loved it.</p>
<p>The Wayside Inn in Sudbury, MA <a href=“http://www.wayside.org”>http://www.wayside.org</a></p>
<p>Note: Reservations are filled the first day that they are offered (10/22 a couple of years ago). </p>
<p><a href=“Over the river and through the wood to the Wayside Inn - The Boston Globe”>Over the river and through the wood to the Wayside Inn - The Boston Globe;
<p>I live in Sudbury and I vote for the Harvest!</p>
<p>Another locale one hour west of Boston is Thanksgiving dinner at Old Sturbridge Village.</p>
<p>I stay at the Marlowe too. I love all the dinner suggestions. I recall an old inn in Lincoln, but forget name. Innman Square–the Oceana (not traditional, but good).</p>
<p>@bookworm do you mean Oleana in Inman Square?</p>
<p>And I don’t think there is an old Inn in Lincoln - you may be thinking of the Colonial Inn in Concord.</p>
<p>To the OP - you are receiving two kinds of suggestions here - Harvest and Oleana are very good contemporary restaurants - Old Sturbridge Village, Wayside Inn and Colonial Inn are more traditional type suggestions, where you would be having dinner at places which have been in business for decades. (Although actually the Harvest has also been in business for decades - but it serves more of the nouvelle cuisine type fare.)</p>
<p>yes, Fendrock, on both counts. They are both so different, as you wrote. Oleana has become our new favorite (6 years), and the Colonial Inn is totally unlike anything we have here at home, architecture-wise.</p>
<p>If you want to go traditional–go with Wayside or OSV. I think the food at those two is better than the Colonial Inn. </p>
<p>Oleana is one of my favorite Boston area restaurants–the food is excellent, but you probably won’t be having turkey and dressing. The owner of Oleana is a partner in a new Middle Eastern restaurant called Sarma (Winter Hill). It’s great too and a fun place to go with a crowd because there are lots of small plates to share. Can’t go wrong with Harvest either. Another excellent Cambridge restaurant is Rialto at the Charles Hotel–it’s an Italian menu.</p>
<p>If you want to stay in Concord, try Bondir Concord or 80 Thoreau for much higher quality food than CI. If you want to go to Wayside or OSV–get your reservations now. Those are really popular and are booked far in advance. </p>
<p>Lucky you!!</p>