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Until recently the Seaport was an empty expanse of parking lots and the location of the Boston Children’s Museum; now it’s a taste of the future in this city anchored in nostalgia, a gleaming harborside cluster of high-rises and destination restaurants. In the early 2000s Nia Grace was one of two Black servers working aboard the Spirit of Boston, a dinner cruise that docks in the Seaport; she used to park her car where her Grace by Nia currently stands. Today a turquoise door gives way to a cavernous room, and a menu of Southern classics includes Maryland crab dip and jambalaya. “People of color have learned to adapt and fit into spaces that were not created with us in mind,” says Grace, who also owns Darryl’s Corner Bar & Kitchen, a beloved live-music venue in Roxbury. “Years of being intimidated by spaces like that probably made people feel like, ‘I’ll just stay here in Dorchester or Roxbury.’ But when you see a Grace by Nia or BLKChip Gallery, you think, ‘Oh, you do want me here.’ I’m glad I can be a part of this new wave.”
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On my last evening I join a friend at Somerville’s retro diner Rosebud Bar & Grill. The beloved railcar façade has been a fixture in Davis Square since 1941, and the glossy red chesterfield booths and chrome-ringed tables look like they haven’t been touched since. But the restaurant is under new Indian American ownership, and its classic diner menu now comes with unexpected twists: grilled cheese with a spicy tomato rasam soup, masala chai French toast. I’ve had plenty of memorable meals this week, but in some ways this one tells me the most about the Boston I’ve returned to: aesthetically familiar, some would even say antiquated, but reimagined with bold flavors. History may always be Boston’s most valuable commodity, but there’s complexity surfacing amid the sepia-tinted nostalgia. For the first time it feels like a city I can see shades of myself in.
What to seek out in Boston beyond the Revolutionary history
Afrimerican Academy offers Black-history tours like visits to Roxbury’s Nubian Square and the North End’s 19th-century New Guinea settlement. The Boston Little Syria Project guides visitors through the bygone early-20th-century enclave. The Immigrant History Trail is a self-guided loop through Chinatown with markers that relate to the stories of the area’s multicultural communities. The city’s gallery scene is also gaining momentum: Last year the pioneering BLKChip Gallery for Black and Brown local artists opened in the Seaport, and in October the edgy Street Theory Collective, a 6,000-square-foot cultural hub, will open in Cambridge’s Central Square. After a career in the arts in New York City, Yng-Ru Chen moved back to Brookline in 2019 to open Praise Shadows Art Gallery for emerging and midcareer contemporary artists. And across the city, installations have appeared in public spaces as part of the inaugural Boston Public Art Triennial, on through October.
Where to eat
Since the pandemic, a wave of restaurants has been bringing diverse flavors to the city’s neighborhoods—from Grace by Nia, a soul food spot in the Seaport, to Jadu, a globally inspired café in Jamaica Plain that added a wine bar this summer with bottles from lesser-known regions like Slovenia, Croatia, and Uruguay. In early 2026 the husband-and-wife team behind Comfort Kitchen, a Dorchester joint showcasing flavors of the Global South, will open a sibling restaurant, Ama, as well as a rooftop bar at Atlas, a new hotel in hip Allston. Across the river, among the momo joints and crystal shops of Cambridge and Somerville, there’s been a surge of cool cafés with varied influences, including the family-owned Rwandan place Yego Coffee, the Palestinian-style Yafa Bakery & Café, the Saigon-inspired Cicada Coffee Bar, the Portuguese-inflected Bōm Dough, and the Indian American diner Rosebud Bar & Kitchen, a reborn classic serving twists on familiar favorites.
Where to stay
Most of the city’s finest hotels remain clustered around historic Back Bay, whose central location makes it a good base for venturing out. When the Four Seasons Hotel Boston (from $800) opened across from the Public Garden 40 years ago, it was a trailblazer; now, thanks to a 2023 transformation by the celebrated designer Ken Fulk, its lobby and public spaces have been redone in jewel tones that match the lushness of the park. Newer is the 147-room Raffles Boston (from $675), which became the brand’s first foray into America in 2023; its 35-story tower brings Asian-style hospitality, including Raffles’ signature butler service, while out-of-towners and locals flock to its restaurants, like the Italian-inspired La Padrona and the 17th-floor Long Bar & Terrace, whose views make it popular at sunset. In tony Beacon Hill a historic Beaux Arts building is home to XV Beacon (from $495), an elegant hideaway where all 60 rooms come with fireplaces; the rooftop offers sweeping views over the golden dome of the Massachusetts State House.
This article appeared in the September/October 2025 issue of Condé Nast Traveler. Subscribe to the magazine here.
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