Durgin Park: A Classic Boston Dining Tradition


Article and photo by Eric H.
Some elitist dining snobs say that Durgin Park in Boston, MA, is a dinosaur, a crass tourist attraction that pales in comparison to other Boston restaurants where you can eat trendy food in small portions at high prices.

Then again, many New Englanders love historic restaurants where management finds no reason to change their traditional New England menus if people keep coming back in crowds for more regional fare, generation after generation.

Durgin Park has been around since the early 1800s, features communal seatings at long tables and keeps the somewhat annoying but endearing tradition of hiring brusque, somewhat rude waitresses -- although it's nowhere near as pronounced as in previous generations.

For those who love clam chowder, baked, stuffed and steamed lobster, New England clambakes (clam chowder, lobster, steamers, boiled potato, and corn on the cob), roasted native turkey and chicken, prime rib, Yankee pot roast, fresh Boston schrod, Boston baked beans and Boston Cream pie, you won't be disappointed. My personal favorites are the roasted chicken and Yankee pot roast, while our working-class friends through the years have had nice things to say about the other menu selections -- and still do.

Located in the heart of historic Faneuil Hall, Durgin Park offers a true New England atmosphere as does the restored brick buildings featuring retail shops, restaurants, bakeries and ice cream stops.

Durgin Park is a great dining introduction to Boston, a place where you can feel the flavor of the "Hub of the Universe" while feasting on its favorite foods throughout the years. You might not get fried alligator with okra and hand-rubbed saffron, but then again, we Bostonians were never really wired for that kind of cuisine.

Durgin Park
340 Faneuil Hall Market Place
Boston, MA
Tel: (888) 766-6528

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