Frutti di Mare di Boston — Aragosta, Clam Chowder e Cucina del New England
Boston's seafood culture (the most authentic seafood-focused food culture of any major American city, rooted in New England's centuries of fishing tradition and the unparalleled quality of the cold-water seafood of the Gulf of Maine — the Maine lobster (Homarus americanus), the soft-shell clam ('steamers'), the quahog (the hard-shell clam), the New England sea scallop, and the Atlantic cod that defined the economy and identity of Massachusetts): no other American city has a food culture as inseparably connected to a single food category as Boston's relationship with seafood.
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Faneuil Hall Marketplace — New England Seafood
Quincy Market's seafood stalls serve Boston's classic lobster roll (warm, with butter) and New England clam chowder in a sourdough bowl — the tourist-facing version of Boston food culture in the city's most-visited marketplace since 1742.
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Neptune Oyster Bar — North End Oysters & Lobster Rolls
Neptune Oyster in the North End is Boston's most celebrated seafood institution — the cold lobster roll (with Japanese mayo) served in a tiny cash-only room has won national awards, with wait times regularly exceeding 2 hours.
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Legal Sea Foods — The Boston Institution
Legal Sea Foods (founded 1950, Cambridge) became Boston's defining seafood chain — the chowder recipe has been served at every US presidential inauguration since 1981, and the motto 'If it isn't fresh, it isn't Legal' drove industry-wide standards.
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Boston Fish Pier — Working Commercial Fishery
The Boston Fish Pier (1914) on the South Boston waterfront remains an active commercial fishing dock — the New England fishing fleet's catch auction begins at 7am. The Black Rose and No Name Restaurant serve the morning's catch to workers.
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Ipswich & Essex County — Clam Strip Country
Woodman's of Essex (40 minutes north of Boston) invented the fried clam in 1916 — the Essex County clam shacks along Route 133 serve Ipswich soft-shell clams fried in lard, the defining Massachusetts summer meal.
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Island Creek Oysters — Duxbury Oyster Culture
Island Creek Oysters (Duxbury, 30 miles south) pioneered the farm-to-table oyster movement in New England — the oyster beds in Duxbury Bay produce a briny, minerally oyster that appears on menus in New York and London.