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Sauciety - In the Westin Hotel, adjacent to the convention center, this upscale beauty allows diners to complement their entrees and some desserts with fabulous sauces and condiments of their choice. Entrees: $23-$39

Sauciety
425 Summer Street
(617) 532-4670
www.sauciety.com

Toro - Ken Oringer's South End Barcelona-inspired restaurant serves more than three dozen authentic tapas at cozy communal tables by the fireplace.

Toro
1704 Washington St.
(617) 536-4300

In Boston's South End, Aquitaine Bar a' Vin Bistro is one of Boston's most beloved bistros. Inspired by Parisian style neighborhoods, the dining room's French artwork and floor-to-ceiling windows make for a romantic setting in spite of the usually large crowds. From the menu, you'll find classic French standards that include crispy poussin and foie gras served in a variety of creative ways including in a pumpkin bisque and in pasta wrappers made into ravioli. Death by chocolate is encouraged here where the specialty dessert is "trois chocolat," an egg of chocolate mousse perched on a dense chocolate pudding cake and drowned in bitter chocolate sauce. The wine list is one of the best in town.

Known for years as the Bull & Finch Pub, and always one of Boston's biggest attractions since its televised namesake drew "Cheers" from millions of viewers more than 20 years earlier, diners will find friendly service and some basic grub served just the way its regulars would have loved it. Menu highlights include "Sam Starter's," "Frasier's Favorites," "eNORMous Burgers," and "Diane's Desserts," all featuring traditional pub food with a slight Bostonian accent. Cheers features an award-winning bloody marys and a variety of draft beers. When there's a wait, stop by the neighboring gift shop and catch an episode or two on the set while sorting through the vastness of shirts, shorts and souvenirs, and anything else they could slap the logo on.

Big, bold and slightly old world, Capital Grille is a steak house for the ages with a rich decor, white-jacketed waiters, a healthy-sized single-malt Scotch list, and a prodigious wine list including one entire category given over to "interesting reds." Drawing most attention are the thick porterhouse steaks and juicy filets unlike any you've seen in a long time, not to mention the North Atlantic lobsters and seafood. Order carefully. Food here is really big and ordering too many separates -- creamed spinach, cottage fries and garlic mashers -- may leave you unable to do justice to any. For dessert, don't miss the cheesecake with giant strawberries. Even if you don't smoke, it's the kind of meal you'll want to top off with a cigar.

Chef/Owner Todd English delivers a seafood experience combining style and color with high-end servings in his dazzling KingFish Hall, a two-story eatery right next to the historic Faneuil Hall. Daily catch specials, a raw bar, sushi selections, and grilled items with Asian twists are given star billing. English's genius is in his creativity and it comes out in items like miso Chilean sea bass marinated in hot chili and soy, or the "Dancing Fish" roasted over an open fire pit on a vertical rotisserie.

Chef Frank McClelland and his classic French technique rank him as one of America's top chefs and his best known culinary exploration still ranks as one of Boston's best restaurants. L'Espalier, built into an 1880 Back Bay townhouse, has a New England-French based menu with captivating appetizers like terrine of veal with wild rice and toasted walnuts, and wild mushroom linguini with slow braised rabbit, crayfish and mushroom ragout. Sophisticated main courses might include soy brushed Arctic char or roasted Guinea hen with morels. Vegetarians also give the place raves for entrees like chard and beet risotto. Explore some of the chef's savory specialties with the "Tasting Journey" inspired by the seasons of New England, but this lavish menu, which includes caviar and truffles, is priced accordingly at $170. Save room for the cheese course served after dinner. The "Grand Fromage" includes selections from around the world.

One of the city's prettiest views is found at the Meritage Restaurant overlooking the waterfront in the Boston Harbor Hotel. The interior is world-class, featuring glittering decor and lush furnishings wrought of only the highest quality earthly elements. On the menu, chef Daniel Bruce's dedication is showcased in thoughtfully prepared dishes offered within a seasonally changing menu of wine-friendly food using locally available ingredients and imported specialty items. Such would include the New York State Foie Gras, Nantucket Scallops and Vermont Pheasant to name but a few. Try the sauteed Block Island Swordfish with a light white, or Italian plum glazed New Brunswick Salmon with a fruity red. Meritage was voted number one by City Search for best wine list and waterfront dining for 2005.

Mistral was one of the first fine dining establishments to make gourmands sit up and pay attention to Boston as a culinary city when it opened in 1997. Located in the city's stylish South End, this gorgeous restaurant continues to draw adoring crowds. Taste the food and you'll know why. A casual bistro in the front section serves sandwiches and pizzas while the back opens into a dynamic dining room featuring the French Mediterranean dishes of chef Jamie Mammano. Confit of duck with foie gras served in brioche with dried cherries and roasted halibut with shrimp and corn succotash are samplings of a very creative menu. Elegant and romantic, this restaurant serves notice that as a city Boston is a culinary force here to stay.

Named the Northeast's top chef in 2003 by The James Beard Foundation, Barbara Lynch has been receiving almost universal acclaim from food magazines for her casually elegant 1940's style townhouse restaurant, which sits near the State House on Beacon Hill. No. 9 Park serves distinctly European fare with fusions of Northern Italian and Southern French. Steak tartare, pizettes and tagilatelle in a Tuscan meat sauce are among menu items garnering attention. The poached pear in Gewurztraminer was once nominated for the city's best dessert. You'll need to reserve well in advance to get a table here where the trendy meet to eat and drink.

A recipient of numerous "Best of Boston" awards, Radius is an imaginative French bistro with a Japanese minimalist decor located in the heart of the financial district. Gothic hand-painted silver gray ceilings and taupe-colored furniture lend a cool, contemporary ambience. Even the waiters are stylish in slick gray uniforms. Entrees to steal your heart include wolf fish and chanterelles, and torchon of French foie gras served on mango. Dessert brings a wonderful carmelized grapefruit tart or buttery shortbread served with homemade ice cream. Chef/Owner Michael Schlow likes to mix ingredients with an artist's touch. As tasty as the food are the plates, beautifully presented and colorfully arranged. An expensive experience, but one of Boston's finest.

Yet another one of Boston's gourmet chefs has downscaled to great success. Frank McClelland, best known for the very chic L'Espalier, opened Sel de la Terre with his former sous chef, Geoff Gardner. This casual, sunny Provencal bistro, located right on the waterfront not far from the aquarium, offers a light menu with bistro-like options including potato leek soup and chopped salad, grilled swordfish and braised rabbit. Not to be missed are the homemade breads served both in the restaurant and at the adjacent boulangerie which opens at 7 a.m. for early risers. Very affordable, the prices are nearly as good as the food.

Sonsie is the perfect place to begin your morning. What could be finer than to sit at the open air, streetside cafe with a huge mug of java and some wonderful pastries watching the world pass by? And, on Newbury Street, there's a lot of world passing by. Stay for lunch or dinner and sit inside the French-styled salon with its colorful dining room and glass front vantage to the action outside. Award-winning chef and owner Bill Poirier serves up a multi-national daily menu that includes thin crust pizzas from the brick oven, truffled ravioli and crab cakes. The desserts -- warm free form peach tart and lavender panna cotta -- are perfect comfort foods. And as the day turns to night, relax with a martini and enjoy the music reflective of the restaurant's European ambience.

The Summer Shack is a casual fish joint in Cambridge run by renowned Boston chef Jasper White. Without a shred of formality, the 'Shack sports paper tablecloths and picnic table-seating in an enormous 300-seat room with a cacophonous noise level. Seafood is prepared any way you like it. Corn dogs, baked beans and slaw are crowd pleasers for adults and children. A 1,500-gallon lobster tank in the middle of the dining room sets the decor along with an open viewing fish cutting room. Moderately-priced, come expecting huge waits. No reservations accepted. Summershack Boston (50 Dalton St.; 617-867-9955) located in Boston's Back Bay, is White's scaled down version of the original, and features Boston's biggest raw bar.

Before John Kennedy was president he and his cronies would visit the Union Oyster House, located on the Freedom Trail near Faneuil Hall, every Sunday for the seafood and clam chowder. America's oldest restaurant, established in 1826, is a ramshackle of rooms filled to the brim with bits of history including furniture, photographs, pictures, and art depicting the history of Boston. Very New England, the Yankee-style seafood and shore dinners are casual and a little on the heavy side, but also tasty and reasonably priced. Oysters on the half shell are a long time favorite along with the Boston scrod. To really follow in his footsteps, you'll have to request the Kennedy booth. Marked with a plaque, it's the busiest table in the place.

Having changed its location from above the Hasty Pudding Theater to facing Winthrop Park in the heart of Harvard Square, as well as its name, the former Up Stairs at the Pudding is now UpStairs on the Square. The restaurant is a fine lunch and dinner venue featuring two dining rooms, the casually dressed and priced Monday Club Bar on the first floor, and the slightly more elegant and priced in kind Soiree Room located upstairs. Prime seafood dishes include the butter poached lobster with andalusian gazpacho and bruleed aioli, and for dessert, the coconut panna cotta or passionfruit and coconut macaroon make for enticing top offs - though you may have to do a little climbing to mix and match, but then again, the "upstairs" part is among the many items that give it its charm.