Roslindale Farmers’ Market
The market boasts a full bar, live music, and an army of booths that showcase locally made goodies including cheese, coffee, honey, and pasta—plus every vegetable under the sun. Our only complaint: It’s not open year round. Adams Park, Boston, MA 02131, roslindale.net/farmersmarket.
Museum of Science
We all want our kids to like STEM education, but this museum makes it downright irresistible: Enjoy story time for preschoolers featuring live animals, lightning presentations using a Van de Graaff generator, and even fun "magic" shows explained through science. One Science Park, Boston, MA 02114, mos.org.
Calla Lily Caterers
With its whimsical presentation and extraordinary attention to detail, Calla Lilly reinvents hors d'oeuvres. You'll find the usual suspects (crab cakes and California rolls), but the twist is in the remoulades and dipping sauces. Portobella mushroom quesadillas, mini-popovers, and lobster cakes with citrus salsa are served on platters with exotic floral arrangements. 92 Krikland St., Cambridge, MA .
The Neighborhood
Do the math: $4.39 = orange juice, three eggs, home fries, fresh fruit or cream of wheat, toast, coffee and a plateful of pastries. All this served at no extra charge in the grapevine-canopied patio during the summer. Sometimes, though, the slow seatings make us want to sneak in our own table and chairs. 25 Bow St., Union Square, Somerville, MA .
NewBridge Cafe
Heaping piles of juicy tips, soaked in marinade, perfectly grilled and doused with the cafe's secret sauce make the NewBridge our favorite place for the pointy peaks. And not just steak, either; the turkey, pork, and lamb tips are bodaciously good. 650 Washington Ave., Chelsea, MA .
Edward M. Pickman Concert Hall
Dodging the line for Symphony Hall tickets, classical concertgoers in the know head for Cambridge's Edward M. Pickman Concert Hall and enjoy ethereal concerts courtesy of the Longy School of Music. The price of most tickets is music to our ears: free.
Punch Bar
Points off for being a dark cavern in the corner of one of the city's ugliest hotels (the Back Bay Sheraton). But the cushy chairs and cozy nooks lend a decadent air to the art of cigaring. The selection is immense— 100 by our last count— and the bar staff is adept at guiding even novices to a satisfying stogie. Sheraton Boston Hotel & Towers, 39 Dalton St., Boston, MA .
Spascape Day Spa
Whether you go for an invigorating facial featuring South African Environ products or a skin-brightening body cocoon, it's impossible to leave Spascape feeling anything but light and rejuvenated. We like to finish our appointment by pulling up a chair on the spa's deck and enjoying the peaceful view of Scituate Harbor with a glass of wine. Scituate, MA 2066,
The Underdog
The Underdog, 6 Bow St., Cambridge, is top dog in our book. The franks are meaty and tasty—the stuff of an Oscar Mayer dream. Marty's Famous, on Cambridge Street opposite City Hall, also hawks hot-stuff red hots. 6 Bow St., Cambridge, MA .
Fresh
At Fresh—where shelves are sparse but gracefully arranged, and all the products are silky smooth and lusciously scented—quality reigns over quantity. Our favorite indulgence? The Brown Sugar Body Polish, a decadent exfoliant that leaves skin feeling smoother than a fine fondant. 121 Newbury St., Boston, MA fresh.com.
Pho 2000
Sure, they serve pho at this hole-in-the-wall storefront in Dorchester: great steaming bowls of it, delicately flavored with lemongrass and scallions. But the soup is just the beginning of an adventurous menu of rare and authentic Vietnamese dishes. There's a reason why the tables beneath the tourist prints and buzzing neon are always crowded with locals. The highlight is the chef's specialty, dac biêt bò báy món, seven courses of beef served six ways to Sunday. Thin slices of pure pink meat are offered with the tools to cook it yourself at the table—boiled in vinegar, flash-fried in butter and garlic—then followed up with soup, skewers, and three other gut-busting courses. While no alcohol is served, you can wash down your meal with such exotic beverages as jasmine limeade, salty plum soda—even egg soda. 198 Adams St., Dorchester, MA pho2000boston.com.
Midwest Grill
In Brazil, restaurants like Midwest Grill are everywhere, which helps to explain why Brazilians traditionally consume their largest meals at lunch: Feasts like those served up by this Inman Square establishment take time to digest. The format is all-you-can-eat, and the fare centers on grilled meat: skewers of sausages, pork loin, lamb, chicken hearts, and sirloin, carved by hand at your table until you finally beg the friendly servers to bring you no more. The accompanying buffet features salad fixings, fluffy mashed potatoes, tasty casseroles, and what might be the best rice and beans outside of Rio. It does not include dessert, but you won't mind—you'll be too full anyway. 1124 Cambridge St., Cambridge, MA midwestgrillrestaurant.com.
Via Matta
This Back Bay nuovo Italian restaurant is as self-consciously trendy as its downtown sister, Radius, but damned if they don't mix a thumpingly good basil gimlet here, poured with iced Ketel One and a garnish of fresh basil leaves. It's a sunny drink for a bar that aspires to Tuscany via Fifth Avenue. There's cool elegance in the beige-coated bartenders at the twin bars, while the round marble tabletops are pure Mediterranean café—perfect for a social grappa. Equally elegant, although perhaps a touch more florid, is the high-end clientele, and while elbows rub through Prada sleeves and the wine list flows with beauty, the absence of smoldering MS Clubs means it will never quite smell like Italy. 79 Park Plaza, Boston, MA viamattarestaurant.com.
Bauer Wines & Spirits
You've planned the menu and invited the guests. Now you need the perfect wine to make the dinner party a success. Look no further: Bauer Wines & Spirits buyer Howie Rubin knows his wines, has an encyclopedic knowledge of food, and can direct even the most confused oenophobe to the right bottle. Rubin may not offer as expansive a selection as some shops, but the juice he stocks is superlative, and his advice—unobtrusive but freely offered for the asking—is comforting and practical. He and his well-trained staff can steer you toward the perfect bubbly for caviar, the ideal sauvignon blanc for oysters, or a new shiraz for lamb to suit your menu, taste, and budget. Added bonuses: Cases are sold at a discount of 10 percent and delivery is free. 330 Newbury St., Boston, MA bauerwines.com.
No. 9 Park
Oenophiles searching for a wine list that both delights and challenges need look no further than the fringes of Boston Common. No. 9 Park wine director Cat Silirie has organized a list that's a worldly tour of tried-and-true Chianti, sauvignon blanc, and chardonnay, and paired them with such never-before-heard-of vineyards and varietals as Josco Gravner's ribolla gialla from the northeast corner of Italy and No. 9 Park private label refosco, a grape from Trentino, Italy, that's grown and bottled at Santa Barbara, California's Au Bon Climat winery. The result: a list that complements chef Barbara Lynch's sophisticated cuisine and is easily organized by grape and flavor (lighter for aperitif to full-bodied, barrel-fermented big boys). Silirie wants diners to be comfortable with wine, and that's exactly what her stellar palate and fastidious organization achieve. 9 Park St., Boston, MA no9park.com.