Boston's Attractions

Founded in 1969 as the Bull & Finch Pub, the original inspiration for the setting of the TV show Cheers was a favorite neighbor-hood bar. In fact, the year that the Cheers show premiered on television (1982) Boston Magazine chose the Bull & Finch Pub as the "Best Neighborhood Bar" in Boston. Between the Beacon Hill (the original) and Faneuil Hall locations, visitors can enjoy a mouth-watering menu of traditional pub fare and an abundant beverage selection, featuring an award-winning Bloody Mary and a variety of draft beers.

Nearly everything about Central Square's paradoxically named Enormous Room—including the plush furnishings and easy-on-the-ears music—is deeply chill: The cover rarely tops $5, the staff is the easygoing kind, and the lighting is dialed down to ultra flattering, which keeps the crowd of baristas, bankers, artists, and random other classes feeling confident and relaxed.

Residing in the heart of downtown Boston, this full restaurant and nightclub is a popular after-work haunt for business men and women, and a nighttime hotspot for club-goers, hipsters and overall music lovers. Good Life has racked up numerous awards from local media and offers three bars, local artwork, live music and DJs from across the country spinning both upstairs and down.

For more than 20 years, Gordon and Fiona Hamersley have operated one of Boston's most beloved restaurants. On a lovely corner in the heart of Boston's South End, Hamersley's serves hearty, rustic dishes that draw on the diverse ingredients of New England. This Boston restaurant's open kitchen—one of Boston's first—creates a lively, fun touch, and gives Gordon Hamersley a chance to show his patrons how much he just loves to cook.

House of Blues Boston is perfect for live music and dining experiences. In keeping with tradition, House of Blues Boston displays the "Crazy Quilt" and keeps a metal box of mud from the Delta Mississippi underneath its stage.

L'Espalier is often credited with being the first independently-owned restaurant to bring haute cuisine to Boston. Located in a historic Back Bay townhouse, this Boston restaurant has remained the only independent restaurant in New England to receive Five Diamonds from AAA for the last six years. Under chef Frank McClelland stewardship, L'Espalier has consistently been rated one of the top Boston restaurants in the Zagat Survey.

With six locations, this Boston restaurant has become a city institution based on their reliably fresh and delicious seafood dishes. From their signature New England clam chowder to oysters, lobster, and fresh-caught fish to landlubber selections like chicken and steak, this is a Boston restaurant that is worth seeking out.

True Bostonians know that there's only one Regina—the original restaurant in the North End, where they've been baking thin-crusted pizzas since 1926. Yes, lines are common, but it's part of the experience. Skip the new-fangled "gourmet" pies in favor of the pepperoni, anchovy, mushroom, and homemade sausage pizzas popular for generations. Order a beer or a glass of chilled Chianti, punch in a Dean Martin song on the jukebox, and you're in pizza paradise.

John F. Kennedy was a regular, and now, John Kerry is a regular. The oldest restaurant in Boston, established in 1826, and oldest continuously operating restaurant in America is where you go when you're craving a taste of New England. There's no better place in town to feast on hearty portions of Yankee-style seafood and creamy clam chowder.