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A seafood spread at Atlántico.
Atlántico

12 Solid Bets for Boston’s Restaurant Week

Where to score a great meal during the city’s biannual dining-out event

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A seafood spread at Atlántico.
| Atlántico

Boston’s official restaurant week — otherwise known as Dine Out Boston — runs for two weeks, actually, and is a good time to get out and explore a few places beyond your regular neighborhood haunts. The current restaurant week runs until March 25, and includes about 150 restaurants offering multi-course meals for lunch and dinner that are each under $50 per person. We’ve rounded up 12 solid bets for spring 2023’s restaurant week below. Want more choices? Find the full list of participating restaurants here.

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Oliveira's Steak House

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Brazilian steakhouse Oliveira’s is already a good bang for your buck — the regular all-you-can-eat dinner menu is $45 — but their restaurant week deal lessens the price a bit and still grants access to a parade of juicy, grilled meats carved tableside. For the duration of Dine Out Boston, the spot has a restaurant week deal where lunch is $32 and dinner is $41. The special pricing is available on every day except Saturday.

Harvest

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Harvest is a nearly 50-year-old Cambridge legend that was evangelizing farm-to-table dining long before it was cool. Haven’t been yet? Now’s the time to go. The restaurant has a three-course dinner for $46 that includes a creamy kabocha squash bisque and squash and sausage risotto. Available every day except Saturday.

Shanti Restaurant

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Find a generous five-course meal for $46 at popular Indian spot Shanti, where picks include the street snack pani puri, chicken momos, and lamb vindaloo. Shanti has multiple locations around town, but only the Kendall Square restaurant is participating in Dine Out Boston. Not available on Sundays.

Go to North End mainstay Tresca to sample the restaurant’s crispy orbs of arancini and bolognese packed with ground sirloin, sausage, and pancetta for dinner ($46). Top it off with tiramisu or flourless chocolate cake. The restaurant week menu is available every day except Saturday.

Scampo is one of local chef legend Lydia Shire’s career-highlight restaurants. The special restaurant week menu is only available for lunch ($32) from Thursday through Saturday, but it’s still worth carving out the time to try some ricotta-stuffed ravioli, grilled swordfish, and Shire’s signature tiramisu.

Scampo Restaurant at the Liberty Hotel. Thursday, September 04, 2008.
Scampo at the Liberty Hotel.
Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images

Pasta Beach

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As the name suggests, Pasta Beach is situated right near the waterfront and has pasta in spades. For restaurant week, the special $41 dinner menu includes roasted scallops and a saffron-laced risotto with a duck ragu. Not available on Saturday.

White plates holding colorful pasta and seafood dishes spread out on a light wooden table.
A spread of dishes at Pasta Beach.
Brian Samuels/Pasta Beach

Grill 23 & Bar

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In a town full of steakhouses, Grill 23 is perhaps the most beloved of the batch. The gilded, two-story restaurant is doing a three-course dinner for $46 that includes seafood chowder, steak frites, and a slice of the steakhouse’s decadent chocolate cake. Not available on Saturday.

A corner restaurant with green awnings over the door with “Grill 23 & Bar” in gold lettering.
Grill 23 & Bar in Back Bay.
Renee DeKona/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images

Mediterranean restaurant Porto — run by another local dining legend, chef Jody Adams — is doing a $46 dinner menu with a chopped salad, parmesan-dusted meatballs, and olive oil poached halibut with chorizo and an olive tapenade. Not available on Saturday.

Shore Leave

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This popular tropical cocktail bar in the South End — which also houses a sushi restaurant — is selling bento boxes for $41 apiece that are packed with a shrimp tempura roll, four pieces of nigiri, spicy cucumber salad, and fried karaage chicken. Not available on Saturday.

Atlántico

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Atlántico is acclaimed chef Michael Serpa’s ode to the coastal seafood of Spain and Portugal. At dinner ($46), try plump bang’s island mussels in a carrot-almond romesco and crispy salt cod croquettes dipped in a squid ink aioli. There’s a $32 lunch menu as well. Available every day except Saturday. (The lunch menu is also not available on Sunday due to brunch service.)

Estragon

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A favorite among the public and industry insiders alike, Spanish restaurant Estragon consistently puts up one of the best tapas menus in the city. The four-course, $41 dinner includes classic Spanish picks like tortilla espanola and gambas al ajillo, or garlicky sauteed shrimp.

A red clay pot filled with sauteed shrimp.
Gambas al ajillo from Estragon.
Wendy Maeda/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ

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Grab a group and head to Gyu-Kaku for some tabletop grilling at this Japanese barbecue chain. For lunch ($32) or dinner ($46), choose from a range of appetizers, ready-to-barbecue meats, and refreshing desserts like green tea ice cream.

Oliveira's Steak House

Brazilian steakhouse Oliveira’s is already a good bang for your buck — the regular all-you-can-eat dinner menu is $45 — but their restaurant week deal lessens the price a bit and still grants access to a parade of juicy, grilled meats carved tableside. For the duration of Dine Out Boston, the spot has a restaurant week deal where lunch is $32 and dinner is $41. The special pricing is available on every day except Saturday.

Harvest

Harvest is a nearly 50-year-old Cambridge legend that was evangelizing farm-to-table dining long before it was cool. Haven’t been yet? Now’s the time to go. The restaurant has a three-course dinner for $46 that includes a creamy kabocha squash bisque and squash and sausage risotto. Available every day except Saturday.

Shanti Restaurant

Find a generous five-course meal for $46 at popular Indian spot Shanti, where picks include the street snack pani puri, chicken momos, and lamb vindaloo. Shanti has multiple locations around town, but only the Kendall Square restaurant is participating in Dine Out Boston. Not available on Sundays.

Tresca

Go to North End mainstay Tresca to sample the restaurant’s crispy orbs of arancini and bolognese packed with ground sirloin, sausage, and pancetta for dinner ($46). Top it off with tiramisu or flourless chocolate cake. The restaurant week menu is available every day except Saturday.

Scampo

Scampo is one of local chef legend Lydia Shire’s career-highlight restaurants. The special restaurant week menu is only available for lunch ($32) from Thursday through Saturday, but it’s still worth carving out the time to try some ricotta-stuffed ravioli, grilled swordfish, and Shire’s signature tiramisu.

Scampo Restaurant at the Liberty Hotel. Thursday, September 04, 2008.
Scampo at the Liberty Hotel.
Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images

Pasta Beach

As the name suggests, Pasta Beach is situated right near the waterfront and has pasta in spades. For restaurant week, the special $41 dinner menu includes roasted scallops and a saffron-laced risotto with a duck ragu. Not available on Saturday.

White plates holding colorful pasta and seafood dishes spread out on a light wooden table.
A spread of dishes at Pasta Beach.
Brian Samuels/Pasta Beach

Grill 23 & Bar

In a town full of steakhouses, Grill 23 is perhaps the most beloved of the batch. The gilded, two-story restaurant is doing a three-course dinner for $46 that includes seafood chowder, steak frites, and a slice of the steakhouse’s decadent chocolate cake. Not available on Saturday.

A corner restaurant with green awnings over the door with “Grill 23 & Bar” in gold lettering.
Grill 23 & Bar in Back Bay.
Renee DeKona/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images

Porto

Mediterranean restaurant Porto — run by another local dining legend, chef Jody Adams — is doing a $46 dinner menu with a chopped salad, parmesan-dusted meatballs, and olive oil poached halibut with chorizo and an olive tapenade. Not available on Saturday.

Shore Leave

This popular tropical cocktail bar in the South End — which also houses a sushi restaurant — is selling bento boxes for $41 apiece that are packed with a shrimp tempura roll, four pieces of nigiri, spicy cucumber salad, and fried karaage chicken. Not available on Saturday.

Atlántico

Atlántico is acclaimed chef Michael Serpa’s ode to the coastal seafood of Spain and Portugal. At dinner ($46), try plump bang’s island mussels in a carrot-almond romesco and crispy salt cod croquettes dipped in a squid ink aioli. There’s a $32 lunch menu as well. Available every day except Saturday. (The lunch menu is also not available on Sunday due to brunch service.)

Estragon

A favorite among the public and industry insiders alike, Spanish restaurant Estragon consistently puts up one of the best tapas menus in the city. The four-course, $41 dinner includes classic Spanish picks like tortilla espanola and gambas al ajillo, or garlicky sauteed shrimp.

A red clay pot filled with sauteed shrimp.
Gambas al ajillo from Estragon.
Wendy Maeda/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ

Grab a group and head to Gyu-Kaku for some tabletop grilling at this Japanese barbecue chain. For lunch ($32) or dinner ($46), choose from a range of appetizers, ready-to-barbecue meats, and refreshing desserts like green tea ice cream.

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