Restaurant - nice - in Boston?
 

I am taking a trip to Boston this weekend with my 15 year old niece. As her b-day is next week (Sweet Sixteen!) I'm looking for a nice restaurant to take her to this weekend to celebrate. Any suggestions? We will be in downtown Boston and I will not be driving. Already have planned one night at Legal for seafood so outside of that all suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

What's your definition of 'nice'? What kind of experience are you looking for? Price range? Off the top of my head, here's a list of places I find to have top teir food and offer an excellent overall dining experience. They all tend to be 'fancy' and expensive however and might be more suitable to dates than to dinners with 16yo nieces... depending on what you're after.

No. 9 Park - French/Italian. I'd only go for their prix fixe menu which the couple times I've had it was quite good. I'm particularly fond of the prix fixe format as culinary experience though.

Radius - French/Fusion. The food is both very good and a bit unique.

Capital Grille - Steak. Probably the best - and most expensive - steak in Boston.

Federalist - American. Fresh, inventive food and a chocolate/raspberry, mousse-like cake that must be the work of the devil.

I generally agree with grizzly's recs, although I'm not a big fan of Capital Grill and wouldn't in any event bring a 16-year-old girl there for her birthday. My votes go to:

No. 9 Park
Clio
Mistral

While it may not make the top 10 as far as culinary excellence, how about The Top of the Hub restaurant - 52nd floor of the Prudential Building. I've found the food to be decent, and if you have a nice day the views are outstanding. I think this may be more of a special dining experience rather than a formal restaurant setting. Some info here http://www.selectrestaurants.com/tophub/

As grizzly indicated, it would be helfpul if the OP could define "nice" and tell us whether there are any cost constraints.

While all great restaurants I would never consider it worth it to bring a 16yo neice to any of these. Way too much money for food that they probably won't appreciate nearly enough (and most likely won't finish all of it). :)

I mean, I love Radius but it is way expensive..... :td:

Grille 23 on Berkley st will give you a nice restaurant experience, good food for you and eas(ier) on your wallet.

I'm a fan of Grill 23 -- it's where I go when I want steak in Boston -- but the atmsopehere is mens clubby and I think it's in the same general price range as the other places recommended.

For a nice but more casual restaurant, consider the Bristol Lounge at the Four Seasons Hotel. It is the more casual of their two restaurants, but it still is a lovely place with very good food. If you tell them about the special occasion, you might be able to get one of the tables in the window looking across to the Public Gardens

Being fron Boston
 

For Seafood, I recommend the No Name on Northern ave. For steak, Grill 23. There are plenty of great places to eat. Talk to the Hotel when you get into town. They will steer you in the right direction. Just avoid the "Big collapse"

Well, the OP already has plans to go to Legals, so probably isn't looking for another seafood place (putting aside that I would never in a million years recommend No Name). And I'm not sure why I'd trust the hotel more than FTers: in fact, except at the top htels, such as the Four Seasons, I'd expect a hotel conceirge to recommend some tourist trap that provides them with some sort of kickback. IMHO, the most reliable source of restaurant recommendations is www.chowhound.com.

Agreed. Someone recommended it strongly to me one time so I went. Not good. My fish was very mediocre and the cole slaw was inedible.

At 16, I would have cared less about dinner... but I would have loved to go to this place for dessert:
http://www.finaledesserts.com/inform...formation.html

Today... I would still love to go, but my waistline says no. :D

WOW! You guys ARE GREAT!
 

Thank you so much! I really appreciate these suggestions. The concierge at the hotel had suggested limoncella - what do ya'll think of that?

As far as what she likes, well, she is a "sophisticated 16 year old :)" but even so, she seems to like meat/potatoes/pasta/seafood/pizza. She tends to eat healthy (I actually have never seen her eat candy or "junk" food- not big on Asian or fusion type food. I love the idea of going somewhere separate for dessert one night too!

As far as pricing, would prefer to keep it in the $35 or < entree pricing range.

Again, thank you SO much; I am just amazed at how helpful everybody has been; I am also appreciative!

Limoncello in the north end right? That place is amazing! Great food and good service inside. Plus, it's off of Hanover st so you feel a bit secluded. ^ I love the Zuppa di pesce (a seafood platter in sauce). A great review of the restauran can be found HERE

I've never been, but based on what I've read I think Limoncello would be an excellent choice. And if you want to go elsewhere for dessert, there are two well known Italian pastry shops on Hanover Street, the "main drag" of the North End neighborhood in which Limoncello is located: Mike's, the better known and larger of the two, but also the more touristy and less well regarded; and Modern Pastry.

As for Finale, their desserts are beautiful, and tasty, but unfortunately more beautiful than tasty. But still they're good enough to eat and served in a setting that a 16-year-old might enjoy, not because there's anything kid-like about the place, but because it might make her feel a little sophisticated (especially if she were allowed to order a decaf espresso with her dessert!).

If she still has an appetite on Sunday morning - if she's like most teen-agers, she will - consider Tremont 647 (at guess what number Tremont Street, corner of West Brookline) for brunch. (I've heard that it's overpriced and overrated for dinner, but haven't been there for dinner myself.)