The 10 Restaurants That Defined Boston Dining in 2025 — Resy | Right This Way

Best of The Hit List 2025

We asked our contributors to the Resy Hit List to share their top dining experiences in their cities this year — to choose 10 restaurants that define the state of great dining right now. Welcome back our Best of The Hit List for 2025.

Say what you will about 2025 — it’s been a good year to be a diner in Boston. To toast the year that was, we’ve compiled a list of the 10 restaurants that captured dining in our fair town this year, whether they were buzzy newcomers like Fallow Kin and Wa Shin, or familiar favorites including Zurito and Lenox Sophia, each of which made 2025 their year to fully come into their own. Read on for our full accounting, reserve accordingly, and get ready for a great year of meals ahead.

Here are the 10 restaurants that defined dining for us in Boston in 2025:

1. Wa Shin

• Location: Boston
• Cuisine: Sushi
• Price: $$$$
• Description: Wa Shin — whose name translates to “harmony of the heart” in Japanese — is emblematic of a growing local hunger for the omakase experience at its most thoughtful and highest-touch. This iteration arrives in the form of an 18-course experience using seasonal ingredients sourced from local farmers and fishermen whenever possible.

2. Fallow Kin

• Location: Cambridge
• Cuisine: Farm to Table
• Price: $$$
• Description: Located in Central Square, Fallow Kin debuted in 2025 with a farm-to-table dream team. It features a locally sourced, vegetable-centric menu that puts sustainability first.

3. Louis Corner

• Location: Boston
• Cuisine: American
• Price: $$$
• Description: A throwback Italian restaurant that provides a much-needed neighborhood restaurant feel, serving comfort foods like shrimp and grits and smash burgers.

4. Desnuda Cocina & Bar

• Location: South End
• Cuisine: Modern Latin
• Price: $
• Description: Offers innovative cocktails and a culinary program inspired by Asian and South American flavors along with a curated soundtrack in a subterranean space.

5. Zurito

• Location: Beacon Hill
• Cuisine: Spanish
• Price: $$
• Description: A tribute to Basque culture and cooking, Zurito serves dishes inspired by San Sebastian’s Old Town.

6. TABLE

• Location: North End
• Cuisine: Italian
• Price: $$$
• Description: A communal dining experience that features a six-course Italian feast for guests.

7. Mai

• Location: Seaport
• Cuisine: Contemporary Izakaya
• Description: Blending Japanese and French flavors, Mai offers hand rolls and various innovative dishes.

8. Lenox Sophia

• Location: South Boston
• Cuisine: New American
• Price: $
• Description: Focuses on seasonal ingredients in a prix-fixe menu, and is BYOB.

9. Saigon Babylon

• Location: Cambridge
• Cuisine: Vietnamese
• Price: $$
• Description: Operates as a restaurant, bar, and rooftop coffee garden, exploring modern Vietnamese cuisine.

10. Darling

• Location: Cambridge
• Cuisine: Dim Sum
• Price: $
• Description: A cocktail bar with an Asian-inspired menu that changes daily, focusing on genuine discovery.