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Eater’s Guide to New England’s 38 Essential Restaurants Debuts With Plenty of Boston Picks

Row 34, O Ya, Sportello, and more

Roasted chicken and banana blossom salad at Uni
Roasted chicken and banana blossom salad at Uni
Bill Addison for Eater

Eater’s restaurant editor Bill Addison roams the country year-round, dining endlessly and collecting the best of the best onto lists such as The Best Restaurants in America and The Best New Restaurants in America. Earlier this spring, he debuted his first regional guide — The South’s 38 Essential Restaurants.

Today, his guide to New England’s 38 Essential Restaurants is live, featuring picks from Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. The Boston area makes a strong showing on the list, with Addison and local contributors praising restaurants such as Cambridge classic Craigie on Main (“the American bistro in its noblest form,” writes Addison), Sarma (“a party of a restaurant celebrating the diverse, radiantly spiced flavors of the Middle East”), and more. Sarma is also on Addison’s Best Restaurants in America list.

Contributors such as Boston Magazine critic Jolyon Helterman and Yankee Magazine senior food editor Amy Traverso chime in as well.

Beyond Boston, the collection features a couple other Massachusetts spots (Gypsy Apple Bistro in Shelburne Falls, The Prairie Whale in Great Barrington), and there are also numerous New England restaurants that may be familiar to Boston-area diners, including Al Forno, North, and Oberlin in Providence and Eventide Oyster Co. in Maine, which will be spawning a Boston sibling very soon.

Read New England's 38 Essential Restaurants >>>

Closeup on a burger featuring a thick patty, bacon, lettuce, and cheese, with thick fries on the edge of the frame
The burger at Craigie on Main
Bill Addison/Eater

Eventide Oyster Co.

86 Middle Street, , ME 04101 (207) 774-8538 Visit Website

Sarma

249 Pearl Street, , MA 02145 (617) 764-4464 Visit Website

North

122 Fountain St., Providence, RI 02903 (401) 421-1100 Visit Website

o ya

9 East Street, , MA 02111 (617) 654-9900 Visit Website

Craigie On Main

853 Main Street, , MA 02139 (617) 497-5511 Visit Website

Al Forno

577 South Water St., Providence, RI 02903 (401) 273-9760 Visit Website

Sportello

348 Congress Street, , MA 02210 (617) 737-1234 Visit Website

Oberlin

186 Union Street, , RI 02903 (401) 588-8755 Visit Website

Row 34

314 Main Street, , MA 02142 (617) 819-1120 Visit Website