BEST FOR: FOOD FANATICS

CCERTAIN NEIGHBORHOODS are a magnet for good food. Perhaps attractive rents enabled talented chefs to take chances, as in Boston’s South End. Maybe a concentration of immigrants brought the flavors of home along with them to their new digs, as in L.A.’s Highland Park neighborhood. In other cases, an abundance of fresh local ingredients inspires a wave of culinary creativity—or an enclave’s sudden trendiness drives a mini economic boom that draws food enthusiasts willing to spend on exciting dining experiences. If you are one of those enthusiasts, here’s where you’ll find some of the best food in the country today. And if you’re shopping for a new home, a second home, or a home-away-from-home, the neighborhoods themselves are as vibrant and burgeoning as their culinary scenes.

Chef Douglass Williams has turned MIDA into a Boston hotspot.

Here Comes the Neighborhood

SOUTH END, BOSTON It wasn’t too long ago that the South End’s stately brownstones were in ruins, and the neighborhood was considered best avoided. But a combination of artists and restaurateurs seeking low rents and big spaces started moving in and reclaiming the Victorian masterpieces. One could argue that alchemy put the food scene on the map. Walk Tremont Street and you’ll come across many bold-type restaurants—as well as people pushing expensive baby carriages. Venture down the side streets and you’ll find hidden playgrounds, says Lisa Means, Instagram influencer @porkandpintsboston. “It really does have that neighborhood feel,” she says.

The South End isn’t defined by a specific cuisine, but by quality and passion. Take Chef Douglass Williams of MIDA, one of Food & Wine’s 10 Best New Chefs in America 2020. Known for his generous cooking style, community focus, and amazing handmade pasta, he came up in the kitchens of two of the South End’s food gurus: Jamie Bissonnette and Ken Oringer. “Coppa and Toro will forever be two of my favorite restaurants,” Means says of the South End mainstays. “The service is always perfect and the food is phenomenal.” Means says Coppa is one of the only places where she orders charcuterie. That’s high praise, since she also owns whole-animal butchery The Modern Butcher in Newburyport, Massachusetts, with her husband,

Vietnamese fuses with Cajun at Phuc Yea in MiMo, Miami.

Warren. Means’s other top picks? Myers + Chang for the pork dumplings, pork buns, and Dan Dan noodles, and tiki drinks at Colin Lynch’s Shore Leave. If you can score a seat, slip into No Relation—Lynch’s tiny sushi counter at the back.

MIMO, MIAMI Sink deep into your Marvelous Mrs. Maisel fantasies in MiMo, along Biscayne Boulevard from 54th to 77th Streets. The acronym stands for Miami modern architecture, a design style developed in the 1950s and embodied by cheery motels that are getting a second life 70 years later. Bright restaurants, stylish shops, bars, salons, and little parks share space along the seawall, inviting a stroll cooled by ocean breezes.

“MiMo is laid-back residential walkability with an understated coolness,” says Liana Lozada, a lifestyle and travel writer for Meta. For cheeky fun and phenomenal flavors, it’s hard to top Phuc Yea, which serves up “Vietnamese Cajun with a touch of hip-hop chill” in a great funky space, she says. For an entirely different vibe, check out Luna Pasta e Dolci, a tiny family-owned spot known for fresh pasta and empanadas. Although the wait can top an hour on Sundays, Lozada says it’s worth it to visit the brick-and-mortar location of El Bagel, which started out as a food truck that only operated on Sundays and drew lines of hungry fans.

Shore Leave transports diners from Boston’s South End to the tropics.

EADO, HOUSTON You just might encounter some roving chickens walking the streets of EaDo, says editor and writer Joanna O’Leary. The acronym stands for east of downtown and is a combination of Houston’s Chinatown and east end. It’s home to a blend of lifelong residents—“people who live in houses they were literally born in, baby boomer transplants from other states, and a very strong artist contingent,” O’Leary explains. “There are pockets of great eats all over, but if I had to pick a foodie street, it

would be Navigation Boulevard.”

You can feast on everything from fajitas, breakfast tacos, and Mexican pastries, to giant pizza slices, craft beer, and dumplings, if you know where to look. Some of O’Leary’s favorite spots include El Tiempo Cantina, from one of the founding families of Tex-Mex cuisine, where

“MiMo is laid-back residential walkability with an understated coolness.”

—Liana Lozada, Meta

Dumplings take on artistic new dimensions at Dumpling Dudez in EaDo, Houston.

Here Comes the Neighborhood

A curated menu of mezcal and tequila cocktails delights diners at L.A.’s Nativo.

she has an unusual favorite. “Sweetbread tacos are really underappreciated, terrific, and very traditional,” she says. Need to get up your nerve to try them? Start with a blue margarita.

For another kind of fusion, visit Dumpling Dudez for dumplings in flavors like kimchi bacon cheeseburger. Or try (along with everyone else in EaDo) to book a table at Nancy's Hustle, which caught national attention for its innovative bistro cuisine. Order the lamb tartare with sesame flatbread.

HIGHLAND PARK, CALIFORNIA The stock of beautiful, old 1920s Craftsman homes, many long ignored, is getting some new love in this neighborhood in northeast Los Angeles. Mingling happily along Figueroa Street and York Boulevard are multigenerational families who are longtime residents, younger “hipster” families, artists, and other creative types, says Jessica Bradford, president of the public relations and marketing firm 2BPR.

“Highland Park reminds me a bit of Brooklyn in the early 2000s, when it was just starting to make the transition from old school to trendy, hipster neighborhood,” but without the brownstones, says Bradford.

Since it’s L.A., you have to get tacos. “La Estrella is a favorite,” Bradford says. Nativo features upscale Guadalajara-inspired dishes and one of the coolest outdoor dining setups in L.A. Order the mole verde tacos—handmade corn tortillas stuffed with chicken, perhaps paired with something from their huge selection of mezcal and tequila cocktails.

At past James Beard Award winners Nancy Silverton and Matt Molina’s Triple Beam Pizza, known for unique toppings, Bradford recommends the roasted fennel with house-made sausage and goat cheese. Triple Beam cuts the pizza with scissors to your preferred size. She is also a fan of Molina’s Cal-Ital hotspot Hippo, housed in the former Highland Park Post Office.

For candy and carbonated refreshments, visit Galco’s Old World Grocery on York Boulevard, which sells sodas from all over the world (more than 700 brands) and stocks a huge array of old-school sweets like Clark Bars, Turkish Taffy, and Mallo Cups.

“Highland Park reminds me a bit of Brooklyn in the early 2000s.”

Shore Leave serves up sophisticated sushi rolls in Boston. —Jessica Bradford, 2BPR

MiMo exudes retro charm, with historic hotels like the Vagabond.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP CENTER: WORLDPIX/ALAMY; RICHARD LEVINE/ALAMY; CHRISTOPHER PAYNE/ESTO; NATASHA MOUSTACHE HARLEM, NEW YORK CITY Like the rest of New York City, Harlem is constantly evolving, says Kysha Harris, food editor and owner of SCHOP!, a personalized cooking service. “When I was young, if my mother wanted certain types of food, we had to go downtown,” recalls Harris, who was born and raised in Harlem. Now she’s delighted to find many more options at her doorstep. “To be able to live in a community that has evolved to a place of inclusivity and diverse expressions of food is quite amazing.”

So while you shouldn’t miss out on the soul food, with Sylvia’s celebrating 60 years, you’ll also find a proliferation of tasty Italian, Mediterranean, and Caribbean offerings begging for attention. Start along Eighth Avenue, or Frederick Douglass Boulevard—the extension of Central Park West historically known as the gateway to Harlem, Harris advises. Then stop at Vinatería, a Spanish-Italian restaurant, for squid ink pasta in a space completely done in recycled furnishings, right down to repurposed pews for seating. Get “rugelach from a brother,” at Lee Lee’s Baked Goods, Harris advises. “Get there when the rugelach has just come out of the oven. It is transformative.” Lechonera La Isla is a counter-service restaurant serving up big plates of pork, rice and beans, and flan for dessert. For comfort food, visit Melba’s. Melba Wilson puts her own spin on chicken and waffles (made with eggnog) and her signature spring rolls packed with rice, black-eyed peas, collard greens, and cheddar cheese.

After six decades, Sylvia’s is still a go-to for soul food in Harlem.

Alvin Lee Smalls bakes legendary rugelach at Lee Lee’s in Harlem.