The recently opened full-service dining area boasts a warm, cavernous appeal (including a working fireplace, a boulder-like wall that serves as a tactile homage to the elements and an upscale ambiance downstairs with windows peeking out to a rock garden that actually feels like you're dining in a cave) and a stylish, but cramped, space upstairs. The moderately-priced menu boasts a few comfort-food staples like their winning parmesan-garlic fries with chipotle aioli. The fries have a tasty, crunchy coating and score points with its creative cone-style presentation. The South End Buttery's menu has several stellar pasta dishes including its penne with pumpkin seed pesto and serves up some killer braised beef short ribs with parsnip puree that literally melt in your mouth. The vibe is cozy. Perfect for a first date or an intimate gathering of friends. As far as the upstairs cafe area, it's delicious, but small. Kind to children, but no high chairs for this South End local hangout. There is a cafe that serves everything from coffee to cupcakes, quiches to tuna melts.

Joe V's is one of those typically great and under-rated neighborhood spots that you wish someone had told you about long ago. Popular with those who live in the South End neighborhood. Casual, comfortable, and unpretentious ... a great find since the South End continues to go increasingly upscale. Joe V's is good food at reasonable prices. While it is best known for pizza, there is plenty more on the menu.
Boston Magazine named Joe V's the winner of Best of Boston 2004 Neighborhood Restaurant, South End...saying "Joe V's has already shown that it can hold its own in a neighborhood crowded with great restaurants. The excellent food at reasonable prices ranges from thin-crust pizzas with a tangy, garlicky sauce, to confidently executed classics (lobster ravioli), while delicious brunch dishes (the South Beach omelet, with Egg Beaters, ham, and tomato) keep the locals dropping in all weekend long."^[1]

Hip and happening, cool and fun: Stella is a great addition to the "foodie" world of the South End as it is not only a great place to dine: but the place to be seen as well. The scene is swanky, mod and high energy-not a place for a quiet dinner with grandma (unless she can swing with the in-crowd). You won’t be sorry if you start with the Beet and Goat Cheese appetizer. The menu is stacked with pasta and fish, flatbread pizzas and side dishes to die for. They do lunch, dinner and a fab brunch on the weekends. So throw on something cute and grab a glass of bubbly: Stella is here to stay.

Gaslight is the highly anticipated new french culinary addition to the SOWA region of the South End. Loud and lively, the Gaslight is always hopping and filled with the beautiful and trendy of Boston's dining scene. The food is classic french bistro, small portions that are full of flavor.

Dine on pizza and pasta in this tiny place (just 10 tables) on a side street across from the Franklin Cafe. "Big dish" entrees, like sirloin, are very good, but it's the pizza and wine list, which owner Christine Didiuk updates constantly, that keep people coming back.

A hidden gem in the South End that serves cocktails and oysters! From their website: In 2003, Barbara opened B&G Oysters providing the city with a classic yet stylish oyster bar. At the center of the dining room of this subterranean restaurant is an open kitchen surrounded by a white marble bar and black bar stools. Cool blue and grey tiles accented by stainless steel lend a calming oceanic aura to the space while the funky music playing keeps the mood fun and social. The menu offers exquisitely fresh seafood including a daily selection of 12+ oyster varieties, ready to be shucked, New England classics like lobster rolls and fried clams, and Mediterranean-inspired dishes. The selective and reasonably priced wine list features a number of whites and sparklers as well as a selection of smooth reds that compliment shellfish and seafood. Never tried a Gigamoto? No worries. This is a staff that loves their mollusks and bivalves: they can discuss oysters the way other servers might discuss a fine wine, able to describe a particular oysters origin, flavor profile, and farming method.

Hamersley's Bistro is a four star French inspired restaurant in the South End. Hamersley's features one of Boston's first open kitchens, allows you to see the chef, Gordon Hamersley, while he cooks your dinner. The design of Mistral is both elegant and casual, resonating with the ambiance of Provence as arched floor to ceiling windows drench the room with light. Hamersley's prides themselves on fresh, never dull ingredients and impeccable customer service(the majority of the waitstaff have been with Hamersley's Bistro for years). Select menu items include "Halibut and Clam Roast with Bacon Braised Greens, Big White Beans and Black Trumpet Mushrooms-$29," "Grilled Beef Rib-Eye with Garlic, Marrow Bone and “Bistro” Potatoes and Red Wine Sauce-$36," and "Maple Brioche Bread Pudding with Vanilla Ice Cream and Walnut Praline-$9."

The recent addition of Rocca to the growing list of top-tier restaurants in the SOWA region of the South End was highly lauded when it opened in Spring 2007. Italian food inspired by the Riviera, this hotspot is not only a fabulous meal with a creative twist, but it also boasts a great bar scene. Rocca's menu is mid-range prices with a fairly expensive wine list. The best way to describe Rocca? Italian-style tapas. Rocca specializes in small portions and a collection of Italian-style tastes like fresh raviolis, gnocchi and the artichoke "taste" dish. There's a rustic water wheel sculpture made out of metal for outdoor diners which punctuates the restaurant's already stunning red-and-silver ambience. Also, Rocca boasts ample free parking which is a definite plus for Boston-area foodies. Check out Rocca's blog HERE.

This place used to be known for its interesting middle-eastern influenced cuisine, despite the mediocre service. However, the restaurant has changed its menu to a completely generic array of kebabs and humus at South End prices.