<p>I’ll be in town on biz for 2-3 days and would appreciate your favorite recommendations for eateries. Any type, but specifically looking for seafood & Italian and your favorite ethnic place. Will have car, but would prefer to take the T and walk a few blocks.</p>
<p>Taranta in the Italian district is wonderful. Everyone likes Legal Seafood. I think it is over-rated.</p>
<p>I love Legal Seafoods NE clam chowder. The rest of the menu is overpriced.
We had a great meal at Dolce Vita in the North End. Take the T there; there are many great restaurants. Hard to go wrong!</p>
<p>You can look up Boston.com’s dining site for more suggestions.</p>
<p>I love Giacomo’s for great italian food that’s reasonably priced (<a href="Google Maps).</p>
<p>But, be warned that they take cash only and no reservations.</p>
<p>Personally, I live for Legal’s lobster rolls. When we’re in Cambridge, I have them for lunch AND dinner. However, there may well be better lobster rolls in Boston; those are just the most convenient to MIT.</p>
<p>My son is an afficionado of Sunny’s Diner, also in Kendall Square, which he swears has the best breakfast on the planet.</p>
<p>There’s an old joke, just get in a cab in Boston and say, “Take me somewhere where I can get scrod.” (translation: filet of cod)</p>
<p>Legal Seafoods is where my H and I met and fell in love on the first date, so watch out!</p>
<p>I can believe it was overrated/overpriced, but I’ll never know. The crowd from the conference that invited us and seated us together saw us chatting so intently, as a blizzard came down outside, that they quietly picked up our tab and paid it. </p>
<p>Hours later, when we looked around, the entire party of 10 others had left and we were alone without the tab. Married 6 months later, just celebrated our 25th, so watch out. </p>
<p>We ordered groundfish.</p>
<p>Go to Finale in Cambridge for late night dessert! Yum!!! Oh, and I remember, Taranta is Italian-Brazillian…so it’s a little different and delicious. Ask to sit upstairs with the window view :)</p>
<p>I remember Legal Seafoods when it was a fish market in Inman Square in Cambridge with some cafeteria-style tables for those who wanted to eat their fish on the spot. Then the place burned down and Legal Seafoods went up-market.
We actually went to the Boston Chowderfest and got to sample different NE chowders (don’t even think about Manhattan chowder; around here it’s heresy). We decided that, of those on offer, the one from Ned Devine in Quincy Market was the best.
Jasper White’s is a good alternative to Legal Seafoods but it is very noisy (at least the one in Cambridge is). The Boston one is close to the Hynes Auditorium on the Green Line. The one in Cambridge is close to Alewife Station on the Red Line.</p>
<p>Does Red’s still exist? I think it was called Red’s</p>
<p>In terms of “ethnic”, we’ve really enjoyed eating Afghan cuisine at [The</a> Helmand](<a href=“http://www.helmandrestaurantcambridge.com/]The”>www.helmandrestaurantcambridge.com/) in Cambridge (Kendall Square). The food is great, the service can be mixed, but it’s reasonably priced and [url=<a href=“http://www.yelp.com/biz/D2pEDsQBUO5GIgyT8oKUxg]popular[/url”>www.yelp.com/biz/D2pEDsQBUO5GIgyT8oKUxg]popular[/url</a>], so you’d probably need a reservation.</p>
<p>Santarpio’s Pizza is the best pizza in the world. Seriously. It’s located in East Boston near the Logan airport.</p>
<p>Regina’s Pizza in the North End
Legal Seafood</p>
<p>Favorite ethnic places: Helmand, Tanjore in Harvard Square (Indian), S&S Deli in Inman Square (Jewish).</p>
<p>Hanna, for Indian food, I’d go to Tamarind Bay. If you have not visited the Square lately, it occupies the old space of Casa Mexico. We saw Margaret Marshall eating there once.
We recently ate at Rendez-Vous in Central Square (located in the old Burger King) and had a very good meal.
For ethnic restaurants in Boston, Lala Rokh in Beacon Hill is very good.
For seafood, however, I would not recommend Helmand, since Afghanistan, being landlocked does not do well by seafood (lamb dishes, however, are great). The East Coast Grill and Raw Bar in Inman Square is also a possibility, but it’s harder to get to by public transport and it can get rather noisy. Another more conveniently located alternative to Legal Seafoods is Skipjack in Copley Square. And there is always Union Oyster House, the oldest continuously operating restaurant in the country.</p>
<p>marite- i have to disagree. tanjore is thebest indian food ever.
another vote for legal sea foods. </p>
<p>for italian,maybe just explore the north end. take the t to haymarket.</p>
<p>India Quality by BU is probably the best Indian restaurant I’ve ever eaten at.
I’ve heard very good things about Abe and Louie’s.</p>
<p>marite, I was not recommending Helmand for seafood, but to satisfy the “ethnic restaurants” category the OP also asked about. 
Afghan cuisine is definitely not known for its seafood.</p>
<p>My favorite ethnic place is an Ethiopian restaurant in Central Square in Cambridge - Asamara. I always have ice cream with smoosh-ins at Herrels in Harvard Square.</p>
<p>Italian desserts - Mike’s Pastry Shop in the North End near Paul Revere’s house. Italian food - any of the little places in the NOrth End (the whole place smells like garlic when you’re walking around at dinner time… mmmmm).</p>
<p>Seafood - Legal Seafood. There are a bunch of them around town.</p>
<p>mootmom: I missed the ethnic restaurants bit, my bad! In that case, Helmand is definitely on the list. And for those with a political bent, it’s owned by PM Karzai’s sister.
There’s a new Ethiopian restaurant that opened in Porter Square, called Addis Red Sea (a branch of the one in Boston). We took S and his chums there, and we all had a bit of a struggle eating with our hands! But the food was good.</p>