Whether you want to start a new tradition this year that takes all the planning and shopping off your plate, or you always outsource Christmas dinner, there are many motivations to eat out on the big day.
Maybe you cooked for family on Thanksgiving. Maybe they cooked and you wished they hadn’t. Whatever your reasons, you've got dining options. Here are eleven good ones.
1. Bar Boulud at the Mandarin Oriental in Back Bay offers traditional French bistro fare. The Boston addition to Michelin starred-chef Daniel Boulud’s growing culinary empire will have an $85 three-course prix fixe menu from noon till 8 p.m.
776 Boylston Street, Boston, 617-535-8800, barboulud.com
2. Bricco Ristorante in the North End will be open for its usual dinner hours on Christmas because Bricco is no fair-weather restaurant. “In the eight years I have been here, we have never closed,” said general manager Nick Vatistas. “Every holiday, every snowstorm, every state of emergency, you can always count on us.” The regular dinner menu will be available, as well as a couple of chef features.
241 Hanover Street, Boston, 617-248-6800, bricco.com
3. Ceres Bistro, a culinary landmark in Worcester, serves locally-sourced food in a sleek dining room within the Beechwood Hotel. The restaurant will be open from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Christmas, with a $49 three-course prix fixe menu.
363 Plantation Street, Worcester, 508-754-5789, beechwoodhotel.com
4. Clink at the trendy Liberty Hotel in Beacon Hill will offer a special holiday à la carte menu from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m.
215 Charles Street, Boston, 617-224-4004, clinkrestaurant.com
5. Eastern Standard Kitchen & Drinks was declared a “perfect restaurant” by the Boston Globe, in part for its ability to satisfy every combination of occasion and diner palate, and so we can safely assume that its Christmas offerings would satisfy your family as well. The long-acclaimed Kenmore Square favorite will be open for lunch and dinner with a prix fixe menu.
528 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, 617-532-9100, easternstandardboston.com
6. Fogo de Chao is a Brazilian churrasco steakhouse in Copley Square. Wait staff move from table to table with giant skewers of meat, slicing it right onto your plate. The restaurant will be open for dinner, offering its standard all-you-can-eat menu for $51.95 per person.
200 Dartmouth Street, Boston, 617-585-6300, fogodechao.com
7. La Voile on Newbury Street in Back Bay won Best of Boston for French cuisine this past year. (Urgent French language trivia interruption: la voile means “the sail” in French.) In addition to the regular à la carte lunch and dinner menus, prix fixe menus will be available for both meals: during lunch, $31 for two courses and $37 for three courses; and for dinner, $74 for four courses.
261 Newbury Street, Boston, 617-587-4200, lavoileboston.net
8. Mooo offers exactly what you would expect from the name: cows in an improved form. The Beacon Hill steakhouse will have limited items from its à la carte menu, plus a holiday prix fixe menu.
15 Beacon Street, Boston, 617-670-2515, mooorestaurant.com
9. Nubar, the chic restaurant and bar located in the Sheraton Commander Hotel in Harvard Square, will again feature a holiday buffet. The buffet will run from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at $45 per adult and $20 per child.
16 Garden Street, Cambridge, 617-234-1365, nubarcambridge.com
10. Oishii, the Best of Boston-winning sushi icons in the South End and its sister location in Chestnut Hill, will be available for dinner only with their regular menus. Break up your Facebook feed’s monotony of roasted birds and gingerbread with some toro and uni.
South End: 1166 Washington Street, Boston. 617-482-8868. Chestnut Hill: 612 Hammond Street, Chestnut Hill. 617-277-7888, oishiiboston.com
Nicole Fleming is the author of The Girl Who Ate Boston food blog. Follow her on Twitter @GirlEatsBoston.
