Boston has come a long way in the hundred-odd years since the most beloved local toast was, "And here’s to good old Boston/the home of the bean and the cod/Where the Lowells speak only to Cabots/And the Cabots speak only to God." Even over the last few years, Boston's restaurants have become more difficult to describe using the old categories of "French," "Italian," and the like. It's an evolution to celebrate, even if, in trying to describe the latest upstart, you sometimes end up with incredibly quirky descriptors like "farm-to-table Sardinian-fast-casual."

So if you're visiting Boston, or you’re new to these parts, or you live here but don’t get out much, which 10 dining experiences will give you the best sense of the city's food scene? To me, the point is not to cover every trendlet, but to feel like you’ve eaten specifically here—in a city that's a hodgepodge of different cultures and distinct styles of foods.

And so we have a mix of the traditional and the unexpected. The best lobster roll (a must); a legendary pizza that outperforms all newcomers; the most carefully crafted burger in America; oysters served at a historic oyster house; Mediterranean-fusion pastry; the new red sauce joint; and the best ceviche, among others. It’s a delicious snapshot of Beantown eats at a particularly tasty moment in its history.