#spanish-tapas

#spanish-tapas

We have a kitchen that we make things from scratch in the airport. You order garlic shrimp... they are not pre-made somewhere, they're cooked in the kitchen before you eat them. And you order your steak, and it's coming medium rare, and it's been cooked before you eat it,

El Pirata, a few steps from Shepherd's Market, black-beamed as a galleon with white walls heaving with Miro and Picasso prints as if raided from Athena, has a refreshingly non-corporate, non-Instagram atmosphere. Seating is intimate and candle-lit at small tables. If you've not booked (although to do so is wise), there are stools to sip and snack at the mirrored bar as you wait. A timbered spiral staircase drills down to a terracotta tiled basement able to host larger groups.

A South End restaurant, which features Spanish-style tapas, a curated wine list and cocktails, was recently named one of Eater's most essential and influential restaurants in America over the past 20 years. Toro has been a Boston staple since it opened 20 years ago but the list further cements its status as one of the best restaurants in the country.