Mamma Maria

North End, Boston · Italian · $$$$

Mamma Maria occupies a 19th-century townhouse on North Square - one of Boston's oldest public spaces - and the setting does something to how food tastes. The menu changes daily around local ingredients and classical Italian technique: rabbit pasta, osso buco, lobster agnolotti. It's expensive, unhurried, and exactly the right place for a meal that matters. The upstairs bar often takes walk-ins when the dining room is full.