Places to Enjoy Late Night Bites In Boston

Posted by Spencer Matthews

Boston is home to nearly 650,000 people. It is the central city in New England for culture, education, the arts, and science. With so much innovation and creativity concentrated in one specific location it is hard to imagine that anyone can even rest. Unfortunately, Boston gives its residents no choice on the matter. The only form of public transportation, the T, closes down at 12:30 a.m. The bars and clubs shut their doors around two in the morning on the weekends. It would seem that the city does not care to cater to those who stay up late at night. In particular, there are not enough restaurants open late. People need to eat, not just during society’s breakfast, lunch, and dinner schedule, but also when the midnight rumbling begins in their stomachs. The hungry have only a handful of places to pick from, though, with South Street Diner and Bova’s Bakery packed to the point of over occupancy. So where does one turn when all the known options have been eliminated? I myself
have been trapped in a similar circumstance, so I have ventured into the unknown and returned with a list of my favorite destinations for all late night eaters.
Gourmet Dumpling House: 52 Beach Street, Boston, Massachusetts

There are actually quite a few restaurants open late in Chinatown. The important factor that separates Gourmet Dumpling House from the rest is the superiority of its food. The chefs at Gourmet use fresh ingredients along with quick yet careful preparation to create a variety of tasty dishes. The steamed dumplings are done so well that the owners decided to name their restaurant after them. And everyone can have a taste of these seven dollar delights with a choice of pork, beef, chicken, or vegetable fillings. There are also many familiar Chinese food entrees to pick from, but if you are feeling adventurous I would recommend the Taiwanese style noodles with eel for $8. Finding a table can be hard with the restaurant generally packed full until its 1 a.m. closing time, so take-out is the best method. If a seat is available then you’ll be treated with wonderful service from the servers that will answer any questions asked about the menu. For quality Chinese food that doesn’t empty your wallet Gourmet Dumpling House always delivers.

Saus: 33 Union St., Boston, MA

This Belgian street food styled restaurant opened a year ago, but just in the past few months the owners have expanded their menu making this the perfect time to experience Saus. Located right on a street full of bars it is the perfect destination on Friday and Saturday nights when the restaurant is open until 2 a.m. Their pommes frites, which won “Best Fries in Boston” by the Improper Bostonian, are complimented by a selection of dipping sauces. Said dips have interesting names like Saturday Night Chive, Vampire Slayer, and Bost-Onion. If you want to be authentic try their poutine; fries covered in cheese curds and homemade gravy. That’s probably the best part about Saus’ food; everything is made fresh by the employees. For those that aren’t persuaded by just fries there are also sandwiches and salads available. My favorite is the chicken sauté pocket, which is mixed greens and sautéed chicken inside a pita pocket with their spicy peanut sauce drizzled on top. For dessert you have to have their liege waffles. You can choose sauces like salted caramel and homemade nutella added on top. As for prices a sandwich and a side of fries will only set you back around ten bucks and the waffles are only four dollars. And for those interested in good beer they have imported Belgian bottles along with a few on tap, but you have to get there before midnight because that’s when they cut people off. If you’re looking for a place to sit it depends on how busy the surrounding bars are that night, but usually it’s not hard to grab a table. The menu may seem a bit strange during the first visit, but after the first bite all apprehension melts away.

The Friendly Toast: 1 Hampshire St., Cambridge, MA

A restaurant sort of out of the way that serves up some delicious breakfast food is The Friendly Toast. It is open from 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, so even if you miss your chance at night it is still the perfect meal to start off the next day. For instance, the Hansel-&-Gretel Waffle, a gingerbread waffle topped with pomegranate molasses and real whipped cream. Then there’s the Ole Miss, cayenne-cheddar toast covered with sausage, mashed chipotle sweet potatoes, scrambled eggs, and mango sour cream. My favorite has to be the Sklarmageddon, an “omelet built to kill” filled with three meats, two cheeses, red-chili pecans, and maple sour cream on top. Clearly the owner loves to experiment with her food, and she has the knack. The food is as daring and pleasing as it sounds, with prices ranging from eight to twelve dollars for a meal that is a struggle to finish in one sitting. For those few breakfast-haters the Friendly Toast does offer some other zany burritos and sandwiches, along with milkshakes that constitute a meal all by themselves. The atmosphere is strictly hipster, as evidenced by the flannel sporting servers and indie music playing in the background. At its busiest the wait time is still rather brief, so you’re almost always guaranteed a table and plenty of time to enjoy all the distinct flavors of each dish. Just a quick walk from the Kendall T stop the Friendly Toast is a restaurant everyone should stop by at least once.

Sicilia’s Pizzeria and Café: 840 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, MA

Sicilia’s is open until 2 a.m. on every day except Friday and Saturday, when it stays open until 3 a.m. Located over by Boston University Sicilia’s is easily accessible. One thing I like about this place, however, is that you can order your food online and have it delivered. It will cost a little extra with the delivery fee, but when hanging out with a bunch of friends in need of a late night fix, Sicilia’s is the best option. Their menu includes the standard salads, sandwiches, and pasta dishes, but the main attraction is the pizza. Their stuffed pizza is Sicilia’s signature item. It’s a deep dish pizza, but imagine getting one the size of a regular 16” pizza that’s one inch tall. Just two slices of this monstrosity can fill even the hungriest teenager, which means about four people can be fed with just one pie, and at around $25 total that comes out to about $6 each. They offer the usual meat and veggie lovers along with a bacon cheeseburger pizza, and the blazin’ buffalo chicken. The owners take pride in their heritage, with the appropriately named Sicilian Sweet Tooth and Sicilian Superman pizzas. If you decide to dine-in there is plenty of seating at the full sized restaurant and the service is fine. For those willing to wait, though, there is nothing better than being handed the hot and heavy pizza box on your own doorstep.

Tasty Burger: 1301 Boylston St., Boston, MA

This wonderful little burger joint is located right behind Fenway Park, and stays open until 2 a.m. When you first walk in you immediately notice the painting on the wall of Samuel L. Jackson’s character from Pulp Fiction biting into a burger, a reference to when he says, “That is a tasty burger,” when eating his future victim’s food. Here again is another restaurant whose name does not mislead its customers. They have such burgers as the Blue Collar, the Kahuna burger, and the Hubba Burger. There are also chicken sandwiches and sides for those who don’t eat beef. And this can all be washed down by one of their 30 different types of beer, eight of which they have on tap that can come by the pitcher. The beer is $6 a can or $20 a pitcher, but the food is a better deal with burgers at just under $6. The most expensive food item they have is the All-the-Way Dog at $12. It earns its price tag when you find out the following ingredients: ½ pound of hot-dog, a cheeseburger cut in half and placed on the bun, chili, cheese sauce, and bacon. This behemoth served on a sub roll actually has its own Tasty Burger challenge, which is eating three of them faster than the current champion. The winning time as of now is 9 minutes and 47 seconds, so good luck.

These five distinct restaurants will curb any appetite that comes their way. As long as they remain open there is still hope for night time consumers. Boston is a progressive city. Sometimes you just need to give it a nudge for it to be aware of certain deficiencies. Maybe other fine establishments will notice the success of these five businesses, and it will lead to extended hours for more locations. It may just be a dream, but the idea of it being reality already has my belly growling. I guess tonight is going to be just one more adventure in search of the next best late night destination in Boston.

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Posted by Spencer Matthews on Aug 3 2012. Filed under Entertainment, Featured - For home page featured article. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry