:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70736894/tk_boul_8.14.jpeg)
As the 127th Boston Marathon day sprints toward the starting line on Monday, April 17, it’s time to start thinking about where to fuel up before, during, and after the race — for runners and fans alike. While Boston’s stand-out red sauce joints dish pasta every day, this yearly celebration of all things carbs brings out the best in lots of businesses across town, which eagerly offer carb-laden specials, fun events, live music, and more on the weekend of the big race.
Unlimited Bolognese at Tuscan Kitchen in Seaport
All Marathon-weekend long, this reliable Italian restaurant in Seaport will serve unlimited Bolognese with housemade pasta and parm for no charge to runners with a race bib.
When: Marathon weekend
Where: Tuscan Kitchen, 64 Seaport Boulevard, Seaport
Dine on short rib rigatoni at Oak
Conveniently located at the Fairmont Copley Plaza, near the finish line, Oak’s handsome bar makes for a sophisticated racetime meal. Ahead of the race, dine on short rib rigatoni with salty pecorino, an extra layer of carbs from pangrattato, and chives ($32). To toast the evening, the restaurant pours runner-friendly Sam Adams 26.2 brew, a light ale with a lower alcohol content and dash of salt, from the tap.
When: Available Thursday, April 13 through Monday, April 17
Where: Inside the Fairmont, 138 St. James Avenue, Boston
Pasta at the Precinct
Located in a former police station in a luxury Back Bay hotel, Precinct Kitchen + Bar is adding spring tortellini with sun-dried tomato pesto ($22); rigatoni bolognese ($28); and lemon-garlic shrimp linguini ($28) to its menu the night before the big run.
When: Sunday, April 16
Where: Inside the Hotel AKA Back Bay (formerly the Loews Boston Hotel) at 154 Berkeley Street, Boston
Complex Carbs at the Liberty Hotel
Carb-loaders can order the Liberty Hotel’s pasta specials for the marathon weekend at Clink, the Liberty bar, or have it sent up for in-room dining dinner service. On the day of the big event, a “fuel up” table in the lobby will be laid with complimentary grab-and-go items like waters, sports drinks, fruits, and energy bars.
When: Friday, April 14 through Sunday, April 16
Where: Inside the Liberty Hotel, 215 Charles Street, Boston
All-you-can-eat pasta at Bambara
Runners can stuff themselves silly the night before the race with as all-you-can-eat pasta ($26.20 per person) at Bambara. Chef Adam Resnick is whipping up linguini with an herb cream, braised leeks, and parm, as well as fusilli with a roasted garlic marinara, lemon chili crumb, and pecorino for the occasion.
When: Sunday, April 16, during dinner hours (5 p.m. to 9 p.m.)
Where: 25 Edwin H Land Boulevard, Cambridge
Pasta specials at Lucie Drink and Dine
Tuck into dinner plates of cacio e pepe; cavatelli with lamb ragu, artichokes, and olive perperonata; chicken pappardelle; and clam and chorizo linguini all weekend long at Lucie Drink and Dine. Brunch is available on Marathon Monday, as well.
When: Friday, April 14 through Monday, April 17
Where: 120 Huntington Avenue, Boston
Mac and cheese at Stillwater
Bring your runner's bib to downtown Boston spot Stillwater and get a complimentary cup of creamy mac and cheese.
When: Monday, April 17
Where: 120 Kingston Street, Boston
Marathon Monday burgers at A+B Kitchen and Bar
A+B Kitchen and Bar, located just outside of TD Garden, has a special Marathon Monday spread that they’ll be offering that includes a Marathon Monday burger, Runner’s High pot pie, Second Wind shrimp fra diavolo, and more.
When: Monday, April 17
Where: 115 Beverly Street, Boston
Pasta, pasta, and more pasta at Mida
Mida owner and chef Douglass Williams teamed up with local runners shop Heartbreak Hill for a special Marathon Weekend pasta, a green pesto spaccatelli. For more pasta, hit up both of Mida’s locations in the South End and Newton on Marathon Monday, where the restaurant’s popular Mangia Monday will be going strong: Five courses of pasta, plus salad, for $80 for two people.
When: Saturday, April 15 and Sunday, April 16 (for the special pasta) and Monday, April 17 (for Mangia Monday)
Where: 261 Walnut Street, Newton; 782 Tremont Street, Boston
...and more pasta at the Westin
Find a variety of pasta, including rigatoni with a spicy sausage ragu and fusilli with scallops and shrimp, on the marathon-themed menu at Bar 10 inside the Westin at Copley Place.
When: Thursday, April 13 through Monday, April 17
Where: 10 Huntington Avenue, Boston
Party on the rooftop at Revere Hotel
Sam Adams is collaborating with the Revere Hotel for a rooftop Marathon Monday party starting at 11 a.m. Grab a pint of the brewery’s race-themed 26.2 brew, pose for post-marathon photo ops, and enter a giveaway for a tour of the Sam Adams brewery in Jamaica Plain (plus a $50 gift card). A la carte food and drinks are available for purchase. Plus, the hotel’s restaurant Rebel’s Guild will be offering a special marathon menu from Friday to Sunday with lemon garlic shrimp scampi and lobster mac and cheese.
When: Friday, April 14 through Sunday, April 16 (for the marathon menu at Rebel’s Guild) and Monday, April 17 (for the marathon-day party).
Where: 200 Stuart Street, Boston
A special Bolognese at the Boston Harbor Hotel
The waterfront hotel has a special Bolognese on deck for Monday called the Mezzi Bolognese “My Way” ($32) with wild boar short rib ragu, burrata, and Thai basil.
When: Monday, April 17
Where: 70 Rowes Wharf, Boston
A marathon-themed tasting menu at Fratelli
Fratelli, the Italian restaurant inside the Encore hotel and casino from veteran North End restaurateurs Frank DePasquale and Nick Varano, is doing a special four-course tasting menu for $39.95 that includes a pasta, choice of entree, and tiramisu for dessert.
When: Sunday, April 16 and Monday, April 17
Where: 1 Broadway, Everett
Pints and pretzels at Kings
Kings, a combo sports bar, restaurant, and entertainment venue, will have live music sets from 2 to 4 p.m. and 5 to 7 p.m., as well as a $5 pretzel and a pint deal on their pretzel sticks and Sam Adams’s 26.2 brew.
When: Monday, April 17
Where: 50 Dalton Street, Boston
Live music at Nash Bar
Southern bar and restaurant Nash Bar will open at 11 a.m. on the day of the marathon. The bar has Sam Adams’s 26.2 brew on tap and they’ve lined up live music performances from 2 to 5 p.m.
When: Monday, April 17
Where: 253 Tremont Street, Boston
Chug Spindrift near Heartbreak Hill
Newton-based seltzer company Spindrift is staking out mile 20, by Heartbreak Hill, with free drinks for fans who are cheering on runners starting at 9:30 a.m. There’s also a giveaway for a year’s supply of Spindrift.
When: Monday, April 17
Where: Mile 20 (near Heartbreak Hill in Newton)
Carb up with shrimp and crab pasta at the W
The W Hotel in downtown Boston put together a special menu for the weekend that includes a burger, blackened chicken pasta, and shrimp and crab pappardelle.
When: Marathon weekend
Where: 100 Stuart Street, Boston
Grab a new gose at Night Shift
Night Shift is unveiling a new beer over marathon weekend — Gose the Distance, a fruit punch-like gose with 5 percent ABV — at its taprooms in Everett and Lovejoy Wharf. Plus, Lovejoy Wharf is selling bowls of Bolognese and Detroit-style pizza that can be loaded up with toppings like mac and cheese, lobster, chorizo, and steak tips. Any runner who shows their bib at the taproom gets a free pizza.
When: Friday, April 14 through Monday, April 17 (for the Lovejoy food specials)
Where: 87 Santilli Highway, Everett; and 1 Lovejoy Wharf, Boston
For coffee at the starting line
Grab-and-go market and grocery store Alltown Fresh is setting up a pit stop from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. with free food and coffee at its store near the beginning of the race in Hopkinton.
When: Monday, April 17
Where: 92 West Main Street, Hopkinton
Cocktails for a good cause
Roxbury distillery Bully Boy concocted a special cocktail for the weekend: The Wellesley Kiss, a blue and yellow creation with gin, lime juice, blue spirulina tonic syrup, turmeric foam, and black salt. Proceeds will be donated towards Roxbury nonprofit Project HOPE.
When: Thursday, April 13 to Sunday, April 16
Where: 44 Cedric Street, Boston
Duck Bolognese at Bistro du Midi
Chef (and marathon runner) Robert Sisca of downtown Boston French spot Bistro du Midi is putting one of his favorite marathon dishes on the menu just for this weekend. It’s a duck Bolognese with whole wheat cavatelli pasta, apple, and feta ($28).
When: Friday, April 14 to Monday, April 17
Where: 272 Boylston Street, Boston
South Shore-style bar pizza topped with meatballs
South Shore-style pizza champion Bardo’s is whipping up a special carbo-loaded marathon pie topped with meatballs and ziti at its South Boston shop.
When: Marathon weekend
Where: 10 Old Colony Avenue, Boston
Eat well and fundraise in the South End
In the South End, Mexican restaurant Cósmica and sister spot — and live music destination — the Beehive are both donating all proceeds from 3 p.m. to midnight to the Gillian Reny Stepping Strong Center for Trauma Innovation, a center established in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing that is focused on trauma healing and emergency preparedness.
When: Monday, April 17
Where: 40 Berkeley Street, Boston (Cósmica); 541 Tremont Street, Boston (the Beehive)
