Big City

If a neighborhood restaurant's first obligation is to genuinely reflect its setting, Big City is a high-shine mirror, taking Allston's collegiate culture and refining it by a notch or two. Sure, there's plenty of beer—one of the city's best selections, in fact—but it's handcrafted and from every corner of the globe. And while pizza and finger foods reign supreme, they come in such neo-gourmet renditions as spinach-artichoke dip and Mediterranean nachos with balsamic tomatoes.