Best Restaurants for Wine Lovers in Boston
Restaurant wine in our Boston guide follows a Wine Spectator ladder: one Grand Award, 20 Best of Awards of Excellence, and 14 Awards of Excellence. These counts are citywide. The Grand Award is a Back Bay steakhouse cellar. Best of Award rooms also sit in the Leather District, the North End, Beacon Hill, and the South End. Award of Excellence rooms include the Financial District.
Thirty-two wine programs are exceptional citywide, a figure that counts bars as well as restaurants. Back Bay holds the Grand Award at Grill 23 & Bar and Best of Award lists at Deuxave, La Padrona, and Contessa Boston. Lucca brings a Best of Award list to the North End. Barcelona Wine Bar Boston carries a large Spanish program in the South End. Taberna de Haro in Kenmore keeps over 300 Spanish wines and the largest sherry list in the country.
How this list is chosen: Restaurants with a Wine Spectator Restaurant Award or a deep wine list, listed alphabetically. Updated October 8, 2026.
Abe & Louie’s
Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence
A Back Bay institution on Boylston Street, Abe & Louie's occupies the upper tier of Boston's steakhouse circuit. The format is classic American chophouse: generous cuts, a serious wine program, and a dining room that rewards dressing for the occasion.
Barcelona Wine Bar Boston
Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence · Deep wine list
On Tremont Street in the South End, Barcelona Wine Bar earns its White Star recognition from Star Wine List through a format built around Spanish-inflected small plates and a wine program designed for depth over novelty. The room pulls from the South End's dense dining corridor and positions itself as a reliable anchor for wine-led occasions in a neighbourhood that rewards repeat visitors.
Bistro du Midi
Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence · Deep wine list
On Boylston Street at the edge of the Public Garden, Bistro du Midi brings a French sensibility to Boston's Back Bay dining corridor. Recognized by Star Wine List with a White Star designation in 2022, the restaurant positions itself in a tier where wine program depth and ingredient provenance carry as much weight as the menu itself. A considered choice for diners who want classical European framing with a clear sense of place.
Ci Siamo
Deep wine list
Ci Siamo brings homey, approachable Italian cooking to Boston's Seaport district at 200 Seaport Blvd, placing itself in a neighborhood better known for waterfront seafood than red-sauce tradition. The format leans toward the kind of Italian cooking that prizes familiarity over spectacle, the sort of food that reads less as restaurant performance and more as inherited kitchen habit. A useful anchor in a district still defining its dining identity.
Contessa Boston
Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence · Deep wine list
Positioned on a rooftop above 3 Newbury Street, Contessa Boston occupies one of the Back Bay's most considered dining addresses. The setting places it in conversation with Boston's growing tier of atmosphere-forward restaurants where location and sourcing philosophy carry as much weight as the menu itself. For visitors already tracking the city's better tables, it belongs on the same shortlist.
Davio's Northern Italian Steakhouse - Liberty
Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence
Davio's Northern Italian Steakhouse at Liberty Wharf places a classic American chophouse format inside a Northern Italian frame, earning a White Star recognition from Star Wine List for its wine program. The Fan Pier address puts it at the water's edge in one of Boston's newer dining districts, where the service structure and wine list depth distinguish it from the neighbourhood's more casual options.
Deuxave
Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence · Deep wine list
Deuxave Boston restaurant occupies a corner of Commonwealth Avenue where Modern French cooking meets a serious wine program with 2,600 bottles and a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence held since 2015. The bar draws a crowd well before dinner service, and the dining room, silver walls, dark wood, candlelight, sets a tone that the kitchen keeps up with through dishes anchored in classical French technique.
Eastern Standard
Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence
Eastern Standard at 775 Beacon St sits in the Kenmore Square corridor, a stretch of Boston that draws a more local crowd than the waterfront or Back Bay dining rooms. Without the usual signaling of awards or a celebrity chef, it positions itself in the neighborhood brasserie bracket rather than the destination-dining tier, a useful distinction for readers calibrating expectations before booking.
Grill 23 & Bar
Wine Spectator Grand Award · Deep wine list
Grill 23 & Bar has anchored Boston's upper tier of American steakhouses since opening at 161 Berkeley Street in Back Bay. Its wine program, recognized with a White Star on Star Wine List, holds 2,540 selections across 14,825 bottles, with particular depth in California, Burgundy, Bordeaux, Piedmont, Rhône, Champagne, Loire, and Germany. Dinner service positions it firmly in the city's high-end dining bracket.
Hawksmoor Boston
Deep wine list
The British steakhouse group that built its reputation on properly aged beef and Sunday roasts brings its deal-table formula to Boston. Hawksmoor occupies a tier where the room does as much work as the menu, dark wood, deliberate service, and the kind of quiet that lets conversations happen. For midday business in a city that still takes lunch seriously, it operates in a narrow and useful category.
Krasi
Deep wine list
Krasi brings the Greek tradition of philoxenia to Boston's Back Bay with a wine program anchored in Hellenic varietals, alongside fresh breads, cured meats, and shareable meze. It occupies a distinct position in Boston's restaurant scene: a serious wine bar with food credentials strong enough to anchor a full evening. Located on Gloucester Street, it rewards those who arrive hungry and curious about the eastern Mediterranean canon.
La Padrona
Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence · Deep wine list
Part of the Raffles Boston hotel in Back Bay, La Padrona opened in May 2024 as a two-story Italian restaurant with a ground-floor bar and a high-energy dining room above. Chef Jody Adams, who spent more than two decades at Cambridge's Rialto, leads a kitchen built around house-made pastas and shareable plates. The room earns its reputation on cooking, not just atmosphere.
Lucca
Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence · Deep wine list
On Hanover Street in Boston's North End, Lucca sits inside a neighbourhood that has been shaping Italian-American cooking for over a century. The kitchen works from a framework where European technique meets New England's seasonal larder, placing it in a quieter tier of the North End scene than the tourist-facing trattorias a block away. Reservations are advisable, particularly on weekends.
Mariel
Wine Spectator Award of Excellence
Mariel occupies a polished address at 10 Post Office Square in Boston's Financial District, where a Star Wine List White Star recognition signals a wine program operating well above the neighbourhood average. The list is the draw here, positioning Mariel within a small tier of Boston restaurants where the cellar competes as seriously as the kitchen.
Mistral
Deep wine list
Mistral occupies a converted South End space on Columbus Avenue, sitting within Boston's most densely concentrated stretch of serious dining rooms. The restaurant draws on Mediterranean and French culinary frameworks and has maintained a consistent presence in the neighborhood's upscale corridor for years. Plan ahead: demand at this price tier in the South End runs ahead of available reservations most weeks.
Mooo
Deep wine list
Mooo at XV Beacon is a Forbes Travel Guide four-star steakhouse anchored in Beacon Hill, where sourcing from named producers like Oregon's Painted Hills and Kansas' Creekstone Farms defines the beef program. With a wine list exceeding 325 labels and a bar that fills most evenings, it occupies the occasion-dining tier in Boston's American steakhouse category.
Nautilus Pier 4
Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence · Deep wine list
Nautilus Pier 4 occupies one of Boston's most recognizable waterfront addresses at 300 Pier 4 Blvd in the Seaport District, where the city's dining scene has shifted from industrial afterthought to its most competitive dining corridor. The restaurant sits at an interesting inflection point in that evolution, carrying a name that signals seafood ambition against a backdrop where the neighborhood itself has become the story.
Oishii Boston
Wine Spectator Award of Excellence
One of Boston's most respected sushi counters, Oishii Boston has held a place on Opinionated About Dining's North America rankings consecutively in 2024 and 2025. Located in the South End at 1166 Washington Street, the restaurant operates a dinner-focused format Tuesday through Saturday, with Friday and Saturday lunch service available for those who plan ahead.
Ostra
Wine Spectator Award of Excellence
Ranked #499 on Opinionated About Dining's Casual North America list in 2025 and holding, Ostra occupies a specific tier in Boston's seafood dining scene: serious technique applied without ceremony. The Back Bay address at 1 Charles St S places it at the edge of the Public Garden, and the kitchen's seafood grill format draws a consistent crowd from Tuesday through Sunday evenings.
Ramsay's Kitchen
Wine Spectator Award of Excellence
Ramsay's Kitchen in Boston, Massachusetts presents contemporary American cuisine anchored by Gordon Ramsay’s signature standards. Must-try plates include the well-known Beef Wellington and Sticky Toffee Pudding, plus a rotating seasonal market fish that highlights New England produce. The restaurant pairs approachable luxury with a notable wine program—900 selections and an inventory of 3,300 bottles overseen by Wine Director Jim Hepple (corkage $25). Located in the Mandarin Oriental Back Bay, Ramsay's Kitchen blends comfort and technique, offering a chef’s five-course tasting menu alongside a lively bar, private Chef’s Table experiences, and weekday family-friendly touches like kids-eat-free offers for children under ten.
Smith & Wollensky
Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence
Smith & Wollensky's Boston outpost on Atlantic Wharf brings the national steakhouse group's dry-aged beef program and deep wine inventory to a waterfront setting along the Congress Street corridor. With a 3,000-bottle cellar weighted toward California and France, a wine list recognised by Star Wine List, and a kitchen under Chef Brian Doyle, it occupies the upper tier of Boston's expense-account steakhouse category.
Sorellina
Wine Spectator Award of Excellence · Deep wine list
Sorellina occupies a prominent address on Huntington Avenue in Boston's Back Bay, positioning itself within the city's upper tier of Italian-influenced fine dining. The room draws a crowd that skews toward pre-symphony diners and business entertaining, and the kitchen's commitment to sourced ingredients places it in conversation with the broader farm-to-table movement reshaping American fine dining.
STK - Boston
Wine Spectator Award of Excellence
STK Boston occupies a prominent Back Bay address on Berkeley Street, bringing the brand's upscale steakhouse format to a city with strong existing competition in the red-meat tier. The room pitches toward energy over formality, with a bar program and music policy that set it apart from the white-tablecloth steak traditionalists nearby. For Boston's broader steakhouse scene, it represents the brand-led, nightlife-adjacent end of the market.
Taberna de Haro
Deep wine list
Taberna de Haro serves authentic Spanish tapas and regional specialties with an extensive, sommelier-led wine list and craft cocktails, set up for leisurely dinners.
The Banks Seafood and Steak
Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence
The Banks Seafood and Steak fits Boston’s seafood-and-steak tradition rather than the city’s tasting-menu conversation: polished, central, and built around the local appetite for cold-water fish, shellfish, and beef in the same room. Its appeal is clearest for travelers who want a Back Bay meal with New England sourcing cues and a more formal register than a casual oyster bar.
The Palm
Wine Spectator Award of Excellence
The Palm at 1 International Place puts a Northern Italian menu inside one of Boston's most formal Financial District addresses, with lunch and dinner service suited to the city's corporate hospitality circuit. A wine list of 415 selections across 2,000 bottles, corkage at $35, and three-figure pricing per head place it firmly in the upper tier of Boston's Italian dining options.
Trade
Wine Spectator Award of Excellence
Trade occupies 540 Atlantic Ave in Boston's waterfront district, positioning itself within a neighborhood that has shifted from working port to one of the city's more competitive dining corridors. Check current hours and availability directly before planning a visit.
Troquet on South
Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence · Deep wine list
Troquet on South occupies a considered space in Boston's South End dining conversation, where the physical room and wine program carry as much weight as the kitchen. Positioned against the neighbourhood's more theatrical alternatives, it represents the quieter, more deliberate end of the city's upscale dining spectrum, a place where the design and the glass work together rather than competing for attention.
Vinoteca di Monica
Deep wine list
Vinoteca di Monica occupies a Richmond Street address in Boston's North End, the neighborhood that remains the densest concentration of Italian-American dining in New England. The restaurant operates within a tradition of family-run Italian hospitality that has defined the North End for generations, positioning it as a reference point for the area's more relaxed, trattoria-style end of the Italian dining spectrum.
Yvonne's
Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence
The room draws from the city's old-guard supper club tradition while running a list serious enough to attract collectors and sommeliers. Plan ahead: this is not a walk-in venue.
ZURiTO
Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence
On Charles Street in Beacon Hill, ZURiTO earned a spot on Resy's Best of the Hit List for 2025, placing it among the year's most closely watched openings in Boston. The restaurant sits in a neighbourhood known more for Federal-period brownstones than for dining destination status, which makes the recognition all the more pointed. Reservation demand reflects the accolade.
Planning restaurants for wine lovers in Boston
- Where do the Grand Award and Best of Award lists sit?
- The only Grand Award in our guide is Grill 23 & Bar in Back Bay, a sommelier-led steakhouse list of 2,540 selections and 14,825 bottles. Best of Award of Excellence rooms cluster in the same neighborhood at Deuxave, La Padrona, and Contessa Boston, then spread to Troquet on South in the Leather District, Lucca in the North End, ZURiTO in Beacon Hill, and Barcelona Wine Bar Boston in the South End.
- Which restaurants focus on Spanish wine?
- Taberna de Haro in Kenmore is the specialist: an exceptional, sommelier-led list of over 300 Spanish wines and the largest sherry list in the country. Barcelona Wine Bar Boston in the South End holds a Best of Award of Excellence and one of the largest Spanish programs in the U.S. ZURiTO in Beacon Hill is the pintxo and vermut room, also at Best of Award level.
- Do the big lists belong only to steakhouses?
- No, Italian rooms at La Padrona and Lucca, French-American cooking at Deuxave, the Spanish program at Barcelona Wine Bar Boston, and ZURiTO, a Basque pintxo bar in Beacon Hill with a list, natural wine, and a strong vermut program, also hold Best of Award of Excellence lists. Grill 23 & Bar has the Grand Award, and Smith & Wollensky in Waterfront holds a Best of Award of Excellence with a 3,000-bottle cellar weighted toward California and France.
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