3 days in Boston, staying in Back Bay

Regional Dining Discussions Boston, New England
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Hi! I am heading to Boston for a work trip, but will have lots of free time. Arriving on a Thursday afternoon, leaving Sunday early evening. Hotel is near Boston Common. Bringing a friend along who is going through a separation and needs a fun trip. On her request, we are having dinner at Myers & Chang on Saturday night.

Other ideas I have: flight lands at 4pm Thursday–is it crazy to try to arrive at Sarma for a bar seat at 5? Or should we try that on Friday?

I would like to go to Neptune Oyster Bar mid-afternoon on Friday, so I worry that will conflict with an early dinner at Sarma (we will be too full).

The only other thing I really want to do is visit Flour, which I loved on a previous visit about 7 or 8 years ago.

So, the meals we need to fill are:
Thursday-dinner
Friday - all
Saturday - breakfast and lunch
Sunday - breakfast needs to be lowkey, as I have to give a presentation at noon. But we would have time after for a nice, casual lunch, as we don’t need to be at the airport until 3:30/4pm.

Thanks for any feedback.

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Where are you going from? What kinds of food do you like most?

If you’re going to try for Sarma on Friday (good bet to get bar seats if you arrive when they open), I’d push Neptune to Saturday lunch.

I’ll recommend Fox & the Knife for oe of your dinners, not too far from your hotel area. Yvonne’s Might be a fun scene for your friend with above average food.

Cafe Sauvage in the Back bay is a bit of an underrated lunch spot.

Breakfast downtown is pretty sparse. Charlie’s Sandwich on Columbus is good, just not what it was in its original iteration. Great Taste in Chinatown might be close to your hotel.

Enjoy your visit.

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PP! I’ve missed you!

Contessa is really awesome for a special meal - get whatever pasta they recommend and the squash carpaccio. Tatte is better than flour. I love love Sarma and you could take the T and go to Oleana. Sofra is the best bakery - also in that family of restaurants. Butternut Bakery is tied with Sofra and is in Arlington and Belmont.

When are you coming? Weather matters!

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I agree with sallyt, I’ve missed you, PP, and I’ve wondered how your family is doing.

I live a mile from Sarma and haven’t been in ages. We got take-out several times when they were offering that for a while in the early-ish days of the pandemic. We hope to go soon as we have a significant adoption anniversary coming up and I was wondering about wait times for walk-ins myself. So I emailed them and got this response within a few hours:

"Thursdays through Sundays usually have a line of 40+ guests when we open at 5, so the earlier weekdays are encouraged for faster seating at opening. We have a few tables left open for walk-ins, too, so if the bar fills up that is an alternative. "

Traffic in Boston is truly horrible these days, much worse than pre pandemic, especially on Thursdays (the new Friday) and Fridays, so keep that in mind for timing from the airport. As you know, the bar does open at 5 but the kitchen doesn’t open until 5:30 so if you are lucky enough to get seated, you’ll have time to peruse the menu, if they’ll give it to you before 5:30.

Neptune and Sarma in the same day would be a lot of food, although you can share at both places. I assume you know about the line issue at Neptune/very small place, and very popular.

I agree with Sally about considering Oleana, Sarma’s older sibling in Cambridge. There is some availability in their reservations and they also reserve the bar and a few tables for walk-ins. There is a very lovely garden if the weather is good (can’t reserve garden seating, but if you have a reservation or walk-in and there are garden seats available, go for that). We’ve had a few very cold days in Boston this winter but almost no snow and warmer than usual temps otherwise.

I also agree with Sally about Sofra Bakery. It is very small and it’s cramped to eat inside; great for take out. Sofra is opening what is billed to be a much larger space in the Allston neighborhood of Boston, but that’s projected to be sometime in the summer.

I don’t have much else to offer because we haven’t been out much the last couple of years.

Have a great trip with your friend!

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Too early for PP, most likely, but for others interested in Sarma, I just saw this: a pop-up breakfast on Saturday, March 2, with Grateful Bagel.

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I’m a fan of the Dough sticky buns.

On my last visit to Boston in 2018, a fellow Chowhound/ FB friend/ pastry chef (!) based in New Hampshire mentioned Tatte Bakery’s morning buns and a few other pastries. It is a chain with several locations, but it’s much better than any chains and most bakeries/ pâtisseries in Toronto. It was a treat and I’m glad she mentioned it. There are some Tatte locations that are convenient to museums around town.

I kept my meal at Neptune very light because I had dinner plans later. I think a bowl of chowder and an appetizer mid afternoon. I really enjoyed it and I’m glad I went.

I also really enjoyed a hot lobster roll at Select.

I have stayed in Back Bay on my last 2 most recent visits (April 2013 and Oct 2018).

There is a Trader Joe’s nearby, in case you’re still based in Canada, and want to make a pit stop. :slight_smile:

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There are two Trader Joe’s in Back Bay, one at 899 Boylston St and one at 500 Boylston St. A while back (maybe a year ago), I went in one that had a large mural declaring it to be the smallest Trader Joe’s store anywhere. I think it was 899 Boylston. It’s like a Manhattan smallish grocery store, packed to the rafters and they get so much squeezed in there.

I would love to try Select Oyster; haven’t yet. It’s interesting that the chef there, Michael Serpa, was the chef at Neptune Oyster for a long time before setting off on his own and opening Select and then also Little Whale Oyster Bar, also in Back Bay on Newbury St, and Atlántico, in the South End. It sounds like Neptune Oyster is still making a lot of Serpa’s original recipes.

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Oops, I meant Flour Sticky Buns

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according to the tj’s website, the 500 boylston street is coming soon — no date mentioned.

wonder if they’re planning to close the small one.

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Saltie Girl, corner of Dartmouth and Newbury. Especially great for brunch.

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Nice to see you @pistachiopeas. I used to enjoy your adventures in cooking for your family (twins, correct?). I hope you and your friend will share good meals—this must be a sad time for her.

I don’t think that would be humanly possible. My family and I travel quite a bit; getting out of Logan can oftentimes be hellish, especially at rush hour whether you take the T (our public transportation system) or a car/cab. The T in general has been awful lately (long gaps between subway trains).

A place that may be convenient to your hotel is haley.henry, a tiny wine bar with food. I don’t know how crowded it gets these days, though.

My husband met a friend for a weekday lunch at Neptune recently and said they still waited ~30 minutes even after showing up at 11:45 am. He said the food was as good as ever but with your short trip, I’m not sure you want to waste precious time waiting in line? Like @Phoenikia I loved my one visit to Select and would suggest that as a worthy alternative.

I wish I could suggest more places based on experience—we just don’t eat out at nice places these days, especially in the “big city.” If my memory gets jogged, I’ll post here again.

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Thanks for correcting that! Here is an article about the new store published December 7. At that time, the news was they were planning to keep the small store on Boylston open.

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Also arriving around 4 pm (if your flight is on time) at the airport on Thursday (the new Friday) would probably mean prime surge rates for Uber/Lyft. This recent Globe article reports on a resurgence of taxis at Logan, with usually cheaper fares.

The T has been very awful lately…finally a good, new general manager, who is coping with many decades of neglect and deferred maintenance. Sometimes it’s OK. Sometimes there are major, unexpected, prolonged shutdowns.

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While there is usually a line, in practice, we have never failed to be seated when going to Sarma by opening time. Most recently in December on a Friday. YMMV.

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That’s great news! Thanks.

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Butternut surpasses my two former favorites, Flour and Tatte. Those morning buns…devine.

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Transportation from Logan is the only aspect of this I can comment on, but I recommend that you take the silver line from Logan (it’s free, comes every 15 minutes, and does not break down like the subway) to South Station and then walk or take a cab up to the Common (or take the red line to Park Street if that’s working.)

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Thank so much, everyone! @Madrid and @sallyt I miss you too! And COTM times. But I’ve been trying to be on the internet less and it has really helped me with some issues I was dealing with.

Okay, so we got an 8:45pm reservation at Oleana for Thursday night. It’s later than we want to eat, but I figure this way we don’t to worry about rushing from the airport. We can check in to our hotel, maybe pickup some things at Trader Joe’s (a must for us Canadians, as @Phoenikia says), and chill out before making our way to Cambridge.

That also leaves us open for lunch at Neptune on Friday. We will plan to get there for 12:30, and just expect our wait to be an hour or more (will walk around the neighbourhood). Friday night we are thinking something like a cocktail bar that has nice snacks? Or just keeping it a bit more open.

Clearly I need to look into Tatte and Butternut.

Any ideas for some kind of lunch that can be picked up or served fairly quickly around the Sheraton? Or not too far away? I will be done at the Sheraton around 1:30 and we will need to get to Logan for 3:30/4. EDITED TO ADD: maybe Select Oyster? We can’t get enough seafood, and since they take reservations, this could be a good bet?

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@digga So nice to hear from you!!! Thank you for the advice on getting into the city from Logan. I am glad to not be considering that. Haley.Henry sounds like a good option for us for Friday night.

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One more thing: how much of an issue will St. Patrick’s Day be?