2011 Annual Meeting From the Supplement to the 125th Annual Meeting

Dining and Services Near the Meeting Hotels

By Debbie Ann Doyle

Dining

Annual meeting participants will find a number of dining options within easy walking distance of the meeting hotels. Those not yet acclimatized to the New England winter will be happy to learn that many can be reached without going outside.

The Hynes Convention Center, Boston Marriott Copley Place, Sheraton Boston, and Westin Copley Place Boston are part of a complex connected by climate-controlled walkways to the Shops at Prudential Center and Copley Place malls.

Numerous lunch options can be found in the Prudential Center food court. Local chain Legal Sea Foods has two locations in the complex (Prudential Center, 617-266-6800, legalseafoods.com/Restaurants/Boston-The-Prudential-Center; Copley Place, 617-266-7775, ). National chains such as P.F. Chang’s (Prudential Center, 617-378-9961), The Cheesecake Factory (Prudential Center, 617-399-7777), and Wagamama (Prudential Center, 617-778-2344) operate restaurants in the malls. See www.prudentialcenter.com for a complete list of dining options.

The hotels in the complex all have restaurants. For seafood, try Turner Fisheries at the Westin (617-424-7425). Asana, in the Mandarin Oriental, serves contemporary cuisine with an Asian influence (776 Boylston St., 617-535-8800).

Farther Afield

Try The Summer Shack, located above a bowling alley across the street from the Sheraton, for New England comfort food, including lobster rolls, clambakes, clam chowder, baked beans, and twice-baked squash (50 Dalton St., 617-867-9955, closed for lunch). Also in the Back Bay, visit the Cactus Club (939 Boylston St., 617-236-0200) for Tex-Mex or Tapeo for tapas (266 Newbury St., 617-267-4799).

Insider's Tip

No self-respecting history nerd should miss the Boston Public Library, which is dripping with old-timey atmosphere and usually host to an art exhibit or two (700 Boylston St., 617-536-5400). If you need the full Boston Brahmin effect, splurge on high tea in the library’s courtyard dining room. For those of us who’d prefer ogle than indulge, the staff will usually let you peek in for the price of a kind word. After a long day of sessions and interviews, the drinks at Delux Cafe pack twice the punch for half the price (100 Chandler St., 617-338-5258).

—Josh A. Segal

Participants with time for a short cab ride or trip on the T will find many dining options in Boston’s neighborhoods. Across the Charles River in Cambridge, dine on contemporary cuisine at The Blue Room (1 Kendall Sq., 617-494-9034), Indian food at Tanjore (18 Eliot St., 617-868-1900), or Mediterranean at Casablanca (40 Brattle St., 617-876-0999). The North End is known for Italian food; try Strega (379 Hanover St., 617-523-8481), Lucca (226 Hanover St., 617-742-9200), Taranta (210 Hanover St., 617-720-0052), or Massiminos (207 Endicott St., 617-523-5959). Dine in Chinatown at East Ocean City (25-29 Beach St., 617-542-2504), New Shanghai (21 Hudson St., 617-338-6688) or Chau Chow City for dim sum (83 Essex St., 617-338-8158).

Services

Historians who can’t start their day without a banana and yogurt or like some cookies and milk at bedtime will be happy to know that there is a 24-hour Shaw’s Supermarket across the street from the Marriott (53 Huntington Ave., 617-262-4688). For those in search of a quick, thrifty meal, the store also sells prepared foods.

There are two drugstores nearby, a CVS (240 Newbury St., 617-236-4007) and a 24-hour Walgreens (841 Boylston St., 617-236-1692). Copy services and office supplies are available at the Staples copy shop in the Hynes Convention Center (899 Boylston St., 617-262-0310). Mac users can get last-minute computer advice at the nearby Apple Store (815 Boylston St., 617-385-9400).

—Debbie Ann Doyle is the AHA Convention Assistant. She thanks Walter Penk and Jaine L. Darwin for the restaurant tips.

 

Last Updated: December 30, 2010 2:16 PM