6 Things To Eat In Boston Other Than Chowder

If your travels are taking you to Boston, you’ll want to make a meal plan. Because even the most eager tourist needs to refuel between visits to this historic capital’s Fenway Park and the Paul Revere House. A bowl of baked beans or clam chowder will definitely hit the spot, but believe it or not there’s even more to this city’s food culture. Make sure to save room for these six picks of what to eat in Boston.

Lobster pizza at Scampo

Get your New England seafood served up on a crisp crust with a lobster pizza at Scampo. Photo Credit: @scampoboston

In a bisque or between a bun—there’s no shortage of ways to eat lobster in Boston. So in order for a restaurant to stand out, it needs to adopt a road-less-traveled approach. That’s exactly what Scampo chef Lydia Shire did when she created her crowd-favorite lobster pizza. This crispy, thin-crust pizza is slathered with cream sauce and then topped with chunks of lobster tail and a sprinkling of caramelized shallots. At $28, this is a pricey pie, but this is one pizza everyone needs to try at least once. It’s that good.

Scallion pancake sandwich at Mei Mei

At Mei Mei, a sibling-run Chinese-American eatery, sandwiches swap out bread for something a little more unique: scallion pancakes. The popular Chinese street food is deep-fried to a chewy golden brown and then folded, crepe style, around two poached-then-fried eggs. Cheddar cheese, pesto and a side of Sriracha ketchup complete the sandwich, which is listed on the menu as The Double Awesome. Get yours from any of Mei Mei’s three Boston locations, which include a shipping container-turned-food kiosk and a mobile food truck. (If you see a line of hungry locals, you’re in the right spot.)

Cannoli at Modern Pastry and Mike’s Pastry

Treat yourself to a pistachio cannoli or one of many other treats from Modern Pastry. Photo credit: @gytica

Ask a Bostonian to point you in the direction of Boston’s best cannoli, and they’ll likely direct you to the North End. Steeped in Italian heritage, this section of the city is home to several Italian bakeries, each with its own set of loyal customers who’ll declare that “their” bakery is the best. Still, two contenders rise above the rest: Modern Pastry and Mike’s Pastry. Within these two Hanover Street storefronts, skilled bakers pipe crispy cannoli shells full of ricotta cream, pausing between squeezes to load up cardboard boxes with biscotti and other Italian sweets. As for which bakery boasts the superior cannoli, you’ll have to conduct your own taste test to declare a winner.

Fried Ipswich clams at B&G Oysters

Think all clams are created equal? Think again. The clams at B&G Oysters are sourced from the Ipswich clam flats in (you guessed it) Ipswich, Massachusetts, a coastal town about 30 miles northeast of B&G’s South End locale. Part of the Great Marsh, an extensive stretch of coastal wetlands that spans Cape Ann to New Hampshire, the Ipswich clam flats are renowned for their mud, which is said to create a soft-shell clam with unparalleled flavor. At B&G, the whole-belly clams’ delicate, briny tang is complemented by a crunchy shell of flour and cornmeal that’s been fried to a golden brown. Piles of fries and coleslaw complete the dish, alongside a duo of ramekins containing ketchup and house-made tartar sauce.

The namesake sandwich at Kelly's Roast Beef

When pitted against the Fenway Frank and the lobster roll, only one sandwich can hold its own as Boston’s favorite handheld eat: a roast beef sandwich from Kelly’s Roast Beef. This family-owned and -operated restaurant has been a Massachusetts favorite since its 1951 debut in Revere Beach. Four more locations have since joined the original outpost, but the process behind Kelly’s flagship offering remains the same. The roast beef is roasted in-house every day before being carved to order. The thinly sliced meat is piled high on a grilled roll and is finished with the customer’s choice of condiments. (Insider’s tip: Go for the barbecue sauce.)

Boston cream pie at Parker’s Restaurant

Before Boston cream dominated the doughnut scene, it was a staple on the menu at the Parker House. It was at this historic hotel—the longest continuously operating hotel in the U.S.—that a chef stacked layers of vanilla custard and sponge cake and, then, after finishing the confection with a heavy hand of chocolate icing, dubbed his creation the “Parker House Chocolate Cream Pie.” This was in the 1850s, and the cake (er, pie) remains on the hotel restaurant’s menu to this day, although it’s since been renamed Boston cream pie. You can try a slice for yourself at the restaurant or have an entire pie shipped to your front door. The eight-inch pie is said to feed 10 to 12 people, but you may find it hard to share.

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