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After-Theater Dining

Brasserie Jo

Okay, it’s not in the theater district, but it’s hopping till the wee hours. With a jovial ambience and serious Alsatian cuisine, this is the place to head for a bite when most other kitchens are cleaning their pots. Drop in until 1 a.m. and take the edge off with a bowl of sturdy onion soup or a platter of choucroute. Check out the selection of great beers and good wines if you want to stretch out the night, or order a cappuccino or an espresso to sharpen up for the road.

Asian Market

88 Supermarket

This is where shoppers from both the ‘burbs and Chinatown buy their lime leaves, shrimp balls, bok choy, and soy “pork,” in a Star Market-sized store crammed with tidy aisles of Asian goods. Bilingual signs and a friendly staff make 88 accessible to the uninitiated; 10 minutes of wandering, and you’ll be ready to fire up the wok. No wok? Buy it here.

Bagels

Brooklyn Bagel

How far did we have to go to find the best bagel? To Brooklyn, by way of Framingham Center. Firm on the outside, hot on the inside, these babies come in varieties that torment purists and tantalize the rest of us-jalapeqo, apple cinnamon, banana nut, and spinach. You can even watch them being made through a window to the kitchen.

Bakery

Hi-Rise Bread Company

If bread making is calming and cathartic, watching the bakers here is like Prozac by proxy. Chef-owner Rene Becker rose swiftly to the top of the baking world by supplying local restaurants with excellent breads; he also makes cookies, pies, and cakes (the tall brown concoction with blueberries is extraordinary) for his retail shop. Kick off the day with cappuccino and thick hand-cut slices of toast or fragrant lemon scones. Return for lunches of fabulous, imaginative sandwiches with the best fresh ingredients around, not to mention the soups, salads, a classic roast chicken, affordable wines, and his pie annex (at 56 Brattle Street).

Beer

Tremont India Pale Ale

Used to be this hophead’s delight was available only on the occasional tap at, say, F.J. Doyle’s in Jamaica Plain. As of April, though, the good people at the Tremont Brewery, way over in Charlestown, started running product through their million-dollar bottling line. This ale is malty, extremely well-hopped and just the right shade of light copper. By now, it should be flying off the shelves at your neighborhood’s finest packy.

Bistro

Salts

Salts is a great little bistro, the kind of place you want to have in your neighborhood. It says welcome, have a seat, relax, and-most of all-have some great food. We loved a smoked- salmon sausage served with fiddleheads and marinated onions, and a very crisp grilled chicken. The bread is homemade, the wines are affordable, and the service couldn’t be more pleasant.

Hall of Fame

Bread

Iggy’s Bread of the World What does “Bread of the World” mean? For Iggy’s, it translates into old-fashioned, naturally leavened, hearth- baked breads made from ingredients that have not been chemically treated in any way (“as close to the tree as possible”) and available at a price “for all people.” For the yeast-addicted, it means the yummiest bread in Boston-from country sourdough to brioche to the decadent orange chocolate cherry. If you can’t make it to the retail store in Watertown, Iggy’s breads can be found at various stores in Boston (Bread & Circus, Savenor’s, select Star Markets) or ordered by mail.

Breakfast

SoundBites

Open 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Now here’s a concept: buttery but not greasy breakfast. SoundBites may be a little out of the way for your day’s start, but the restaurant serves up as delicious and fresh an omelet as you’re likely to find. The mashed home fries, Wonder Waffles, and serve-yourself coffee are so good that they take the guilt out of loading all your calories and caffeine into the morning hours.

Breakfast, Cheap

The Neighborhood

Do the math: $4.39 = orange juice, three eggs, home fries, fresh fruit or cream of wheat, toast, coffee, and a plateful of pastries. All this served at no extra charge in the grapevine-canopied patio during the summer. Sometimes, though, the slow seatings make us want to sneak in our own table and chairs.

Brew Pub

Back Bay Brewing Company

No matter how much they tinker with the menu, the food never gets beyond adequate, not to mention overpriced. But Tod Mott still brews the best damn small-batch beers. His India Pale Ale, bitter ale, and seasonal brown ale are all excellent renditions of classic styles, and his lager is one of the better light beers to be found locally. His seasonal offerings-stouts, Belgian triple, mai bocks- are generally superb.

Brownie

Beacon Hill Market

Cakey or fudgey; chewy or gooey? What ideal tension of textures constitutes the perfect brownie? We found it in an unlikely grocery where they make virtually everything in a little kitchen upstairs (including chicken, roasted and cut into juicy fresh chunks for sandwiches-no thin, slimy slices here). But the brownie: It’s fudgey at first, then cakey at the core, with a rough sprinkling of walnuts on top. Got milk?

Brunch

Rowes Wharf Restaurant at The Boston Harbor Hotel

Bring a hefty appetite and anyone you want to impress for the elegant dicor and sensational harbor views at the most sumptuous buffet brunch in the city. For $42 per person, we’re obviously not talking about a hangover greasefest. The upscale yet down-home fare includes anything and everything you could possibly be craving-including platters of lobster, mussels, and clams; grilled rack of lamb; made-to-order omelets; seasonal fruits; and decadent desserts. No heartier way to break the fast.

Burger

Audubon Circle

Carnivores come out of the closet at this New American eatery near Audubon Circle-there’s nothing birdlike about the eating habits here. A mere $5.75 gets you 8 ounces of the juiciest, most perfectly grilled beef (add 50 cents for cheddar or Swiss, $1 for mozzarella or bleu cheese) and a decidedly hip scene that you just can’t find at the local greasy spoon.

Burrito

Anna’s Taqueria

Sick of hearing the yammering of burrito snobs putting down the local variety? Take them to Anna’s and shove one of these foil-wrapped fat boys in their mouths. Chances are, they’ll change their minds. Anna’s got the whole thing down: the rice, the frijoles refritos, the guacamole, and the salsa just like your mother used to make-that is, if your mother happened to be born south of the border.

Butcher

John Dewar & Co.

Cognoscenti (including top chefs) admit that it’s impossible to buy better meat anywhere in the city. Great cuts, fair prices (for the extraordinary quality you get), and straight talk about how many racks of lamb you need to feed your six ravenous friends. You might spend more here than you would elsewhere, but there won’t be a morsel of meat left on anyone’s plate. 753

Caesar Salad, Traditional

The Ritz-Carlton Dining Room The classic light meal for the lunching-ladies set. Here, it’s prepared tableside in a huge bowl with raw egg, Worcestershire sauce, and a flourish. You’ll still have room enough for dessert cookies before leaving the table-and will be able to rise comfortably, even in a snug Chanel suit.

Caesar Salad with Chicken

Sonsie

Okay, so we’re crazy about Caesar salad, but Bill Poirier and friends get the ’90s classic lunch right. Lemony and crisp, dressing ample enough to coat the romaine leaves but not to overwhelm and turn a salad into a fricassee. The chicken breast slices, though juicy and still warm from the grill, don’t wilt the lettuce. Most important, the greens are grit-free and fresh, with no slimy brown edges.

Cafi

Hollywood Espresso

Sultry movies and moody java. Is there a better combination on this planet? At this “European Film Cafi,” you can watch a recent release on one of three TV screens while sipping a white mocha latte or cafi au lait and munching on a croissant or a slice of carrot cake.

Cake, Birthday

May’s Cake House

The problem with most birthday cakes is that the better they look-all flowers and scrolls-the worse they taste. May, bless her heart, has solved the dilemma. She complements her delicate batters with light mousses and whipped creams, then trims with finely sliced fruits. The cakes she creates are beautiful and delicious. And you can afford one-even after the ticket you’ll probably get for double-parking on the south edge of Chinatown.

Cake, Wedding

Cakes to Remember

This is your chance to undo all the stereotypes of inedible wedding cakes: frostings that feel like a furball on your tongue, cake consistencies more like cardboard than chiffon. Ellen Bartlett goes beyond the basics with panache, offering more than a hundred possible combinations: smooth molded fondant, fillings like meringues, fruit purees, and dacquoises, buttercreams in Grand Marnier and Frangelico. The only risk is having the wedding party upstaged by the amazingly customized cakes-you can surprise your British bride with a buttercream replica of Big Ben, or your political hack husband with a miniature State House for a groom’s cake.

Cambodian

Carambola

Who could have guessed there would be such hunger for the exotic in the land of the cod? The owners of the Elephant Walk have given the suburbs straight Cambodian sans the French twist of its other menus: Here, adventurous diners love the Carambola Salad (thinly sliced star fruit in a lime dressing) and the Vegetarian Mee Siem (garlic, crushed chilis, shallots, tofu, and noodles).

Cannoli

Maria’s Pastry Shop

Fresh, chilled, and creamy sweet, the ricotta filling gushes from the flaky cannoli shells at Maria’s, making these pastries not only the area’s best, but at $1.25 per, among the most affordable. No stale tourist treats here.

Caterers

Calla Lily Caterers

With its whimsical presentation and extraordinary attention to detail, Calla Lilly reinvents hors d’oeuvres. You’ll find the usual suspects (crab cakes and California rolls), but the twist is in the remoulades and dipping sauces. Portobello mushroom quesadillas, mini-popovers, and lobster cakes with citrus salsa are served on platters with exotic floral arrangements.

Caviar and Vodka Splurge

Julien