Best of Boston

2016 Best Southern Restaurant

Holly Crab

Southern food isn’t just black-eyed peas and barbecue. There’s a world of regional variety below the Mason-Dixon line, particularly along the Gulf Coast, where the ethnic mosaic of Malaysian, Vietnamese, and Cajun influences resulted in cross-cultural seafood boils—typically mudbugs and blue crabs basted in chilies and garlic. Brothers Ryan and Rick Kim have brought that singular experience to Packard’s Corner using a variety of Louisiana shellfish—boils customizable with corn, potatoes, and links of Andouille—in heat levels ranging from mild to the mouth-blistering Holly X.

1098 Commonwealth Ave., Allston, 617-487-5957, thehollycrab.com