Burlington is quite a bit outside of my usual radius, but an unavoidable errand brought me right by Viet Citron, a fairly new Vietnamese restaurant about which I’d been hearing rave reviews around the internet food-enthusiast circles. I’m so glad I had to go out there — only problem is that now I’m craving more of the bánh hỏi and can’t easily make the trip. —RLB

Currently offering takeout and delivery.

Order: Official Website (takeout) / DoorDash (delivery)

Having very much enjoyed Nightshade pop-ups in and around Boston last year, I’d been enviously eyeing the brick-and-mortar up in Lynn from afar since it opened in late 2019. Fortunately an errand took us up to that neck of the woods one evening, and we were able to grab some pickup. Even reheated after the long ride home, it was exceptional: Try the egg noodles with caramelized garlic sauce, peanuts, Thai basil, chile crisp, and shredded beef.

Currently offering takeout and delivery (within five miles for lunch and eight miles for dinner).

Order: Official Website

I’m pretty sure I haven’t shut up about Goldilox Bagels since a year before it even opened. (Through non-food-world connections, I got my hands on some sample bagels back in the day and quickly became obsessed.) The cheerful Medford bakery is an essential addition to the Boston area’s bagel scene — and one of only three or four local bagel purveyors I heartily recommend to people on a regular basis. Get a rosemary salt bagel, get an everything bagel, and, sure, get a chocolate chip cookie, too. —RLB

Currently offering takeout on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings; advance ordering early in the week extremely encouraged, but occasionally there are some extras available for walk-ups. Ordering opens Monday at noon for the upcoming weekend. (Keep an eye on Instagram for updates.)

Order: Official Website

We’ve been cooking a ton of Thai or Thai-inspired meals at home (I can’t stop buying Thai cookbooks; it’s becoming a problem), so we haven’t been ordering from our favorite Thai restaurants too often (although you’ll also see Dakzen on this map), but we did sneak in an order from Yummy Thai in North Cambridge early in the pandemic. Since coming under new ownership a couple years ago, the restaurant has zeroed in on Isan (northeastern Thai) dishes, including quite a few variations on papaya salad (somtum). Try one of those; try the kor moo yang; try the larb; try anything from one of the menu sections labeled “E-Sarn” (an alternate spelling for Isan). —RLB

Currently offering takeout and delivery.

Order: Official Website / Grubhub (missing most of the Isan dishes)

Since its 2018 opening, Dakzen has been one of my favorite Thai restaurants in Boston’s increasingly excellent Thai food scene; it was one of my top takeout picks last year, and it has remained so during the pandemic — one of my only repeats as I’ve tried to use this time to try a lot of new-to-me places. Every dish is a hit, especially the khao soi — one of the best in town, but these days I find myself most frequently ordering the ba mee moo dang, which includes so many different components: barbecue pork, crispy pork belly, pork and shrimp dumplings, noodles, and more. And a lime iced tea on the side, always. —RLB

Currently offering takeout, delivery, and indoor dining.

Order: Official Website (takeout) / Grubhub (delivery) / Uber Eats (delivery)

I’ve heard that the stewed oxtail is the must-try dish at Pikliz in Winter Hill, but I can’t personally vouch for it as I haven’t tried it yet. On my most recent visit, I enjoyed the coconut stewed chicken with sides of Creole macaroni au gratin and plantains. (Listen, if there’s mac and cheese and plantains on a menu, those will almost always be my choices for sides. You’ll see them more elsewhere on this map.) My husband reports that the jerk pork is quite fiery. —RLB

Currently offering takeout and delivery.

Order: (617) 625-6255 / Uber Eats

Yeah, yeah, the Sarma fried chicken is great; it has a cult following, and if you haven’t had it yet, you’re in for a treat. Get it, but also get the cornbread, made with feta and jalapeno — it’s the sleeper hit here. —RLB

Currently offering takeout, outdoor dining, and indoor dining. Onsite dining is currently centered around a family-style tasting menu (vegetarian option available), while takeout is an a la carte menu. Weekend breakfast takeout is also available.

Order: Official Website

I haven’t done enough exploration of East Somerville’s renowned Mexican food scene as I tend to default to Taco Loco when I’m in the mood, but our quesabirria map inspired me to finally check out Rincón Mexicano, and I will absolutely order from here again and again. Wish it hadn’t taken me so long to try it. Definitely get the birria tacos for as long as they’re available (they’re a special.) —RLB

Currently offering takeout and indoor dining.

Order: (617) 776-1200

With a number of food and beverage vendors, Bow Market provides a smorgasbord of takeout options for every mood: Try Bengali kati rolls from Nibble Kitchen, hot dogs nestled in empanada wrappers from Buenas, South Shore-style bar pizza from Hot Box, hot chocolate from Gâté Comme des Filles, and tons more. —RLB

Currently offering takeout and outdoor dining from most vendors; check the Bow Market website for details and updates.

Order: Check with individual vendors; ordering links for currently operating vendors can be found here

Everyone always talks about the fried chicken at Bisq, and with good reason: It’s absolutely one of the best around. The restaurant is offering a limited menu Tuesday through Saturday. If the fried chicken is available, definitely get it, but don’t hesitate to try the restaurant’s other offerings. —RLB

Currently offering takeout, delivery, and outdoor dining.

Order: Official Website

Silk Road is the only Uyghur restaurant in the Boston area — well, this location and its Allston offshoot, Silk Road Express. For those who haven’t tried Uyghur cuisine, it has elements of Chinese and Middle Eastern cooking that will probably feel familiar. The dry-fried, hand-pulled noodles are a must, as is the lamb-stuffed naan, a big portion that arrives in a pizza box. —RLB

Currenly offering takeout and delivery.

Order: Official Website / DoorDash / Grubhub / Uber Eats

Look, some nights you just need to binge-watch trash television while eating a huge portion of chicken parm with a side of pepperoni-topped garlic bread. (Some nights? Most nights.) Tony & Elaine’s delivers — literally and figuratively. —RLB

Currently offering takeout, delivery, and indoor dining.

Order: Official Website (takeout) / DoorDash (delivery) / Grubhub (delivery) / Uber Eats (delivery)

I know, I know — I write about Regina a lot. But credit must be given where credit is due. Regina in the North End has been at it for nearly 100 years, using the same oven (which was built in 1888) all that time, although it was converted from coal to gas in the 1930s. While the original location is Boston’s pizza lodestar, each location — even the kiosks found in train stations and malls — uses the same dough, which is made in a commissary kitchen and left to ferment for up to six days. The result is a deeply flavorful crust, one that sets Regina — and particularly the North End location — apart from all other pizzerias in Boston. I ate it a couple times a month before the pandemic struck; I still eat it a couple times a month; I cannot wait to, some day when it’s safe, sit at the bar on Thacher Street and chug draft Peronis while demolishing a pepperoni and mushroom. —TBD

Currently offering takeout and delivery.

Order: Official Website (takeout) / Grubhub (delivery)

Go with the most popular choices at this Central Square Chinese mainstay, and you can’t go wrong: the peanut-y dun dun noodles (I like them with tofu) and the suan la chow show wontons with pork). Throw in some boneless spareribs, too — they’re particularly thick and meaty here. —RLB

Currently offering takeout.

Order: (617) 864-1991

I’m always a little skeptical when a restaurant tries to pull off too many cuisines, but Mâe — serving Thai, Vietnamese, and Chinese dishes — nails all three. My household usually leans toward the Thai dishes in particular; try the original street noodles or the short rib khao soi. —RLB

Currently offering takeout, delivery, and outdoor dining.

Order: Official Website (takeout) / Grubhub (delivery) / Uber Eats (delivery)

Local fried chicken enthusiasts already know that the Coast Cafe is the real deal. The tiny Cambridgeport mainstay serves a variety of other soul food dishes, but the chicken is a necessary part of any order. Try the mac and cheese, candied yams, and/or collard greens on the side. —RLB

Currently offering takeout and delivery with a limited menu and limited hours.

Order: (617) 354-7644 (takeout) / Grubhub (delivery) / Uber Eats (delivery)

(Ignore the location of this map point; it’s pinned to Boston in general as this is a delivery-only local pop-up.) The Sekali pop-up has grown increasingly popular throughout 2020, selling out each of its weekly deliveries in minutes. Chef Derrick Teh offers a rotating assortment of incredible Malaysian food — a rarity in the Boston area, but hopefully not rare for much longer — and each dish is better than the last. There are detailed reheating instructions included, too. Sign up for the mailing list, and be ready to immediately click the order button when the email arrives. —RLB

Currently offering deliveries, typically once a week, with occasional pop-up takeout events too.

Order: Mailing List

I felt a little ridiculous ordering a fancy, expensive steak dinner for delivery, but I felt like the research was necessary in the early days of the pandemic: Could fine-dining restaurants make the necessary pivot to takeout and delivery? Would the steak hold up to a car ride across town? Would it be cooked properly? Would it be worth it? (Yet to be seen, yes, yes, and pretty much.) I’ve had several wonderful special-occasion meals at Mooo over the years, and I think the name is hilarious, despite some coworkers picking on it mercilessly, so for those reasons — and the fact that it was one of the only fancy steakhouses open and delivering to my address on the night in question — I opened up my wallet and gave it a shot. I was impressed (and yes, Mooo’s perfect Parker House rolls come with the order even though they’re not mentioned on the delivery menu.) The steaks were cooked exactly as ordered (rare) and the accompaniments were what I’ve come to expect from Mooo over the years. Is eating at my uncomfortable coffee table in my cramped apartment the same as dressing up for a night at a swanky steakhouse? Definitely not. But I’d rate this a worthy pandemic date-night splurge. —RLB

Currently offering takeout and delivery, as well as indoor dining (reservations required).

Order:  (617) 670-7799 (takeout) / DoorDash (delivery)

It hasn’t been feasible for me to get downtown for takeout, so I probably checked on Gene’s delivery status approximately weekly throughout the pandemic, waiting for the day it would pop up on an app and I’d be in range. Finally, the day came. (Note: If you’re able to do takeout and avoid third-party delivery apps, it’s much, much better for the restaurants.) I wasn’t sure the hand-pulled noodles would handle delivery well, but they actually did — not quite as good as eating onsite, but still one of the best dishes in town. The garlic! The chile! I used the opportunity to stock up on other parts of the menu that I figured would reheat well the next day, such as the pork flatbread sandwiches and the hot and sour dumpling soup. Great all around. —RLB

Currently offering takeout and delivery.

Order: Official Website (takeout) / Grubhub (delivery)

Kenmore Square has changed quite a bit in the past 40 years. Businesses have come and gone, the T station no longer smells like dead rats, hotels and upscale restaurants have gentrified the neighborhood — and through it all, India Quality remains. The North Indian restaurant opened in 1983 and has been one of the city’s best purveyors of food from the subcontinent ever since. Our most recent order consisted of chicken madras, lamb curry, garlic naan, vegetable samosas, and chat. Everything was excellent, as it always is, and abundant — we ate off of it for a couple days. —TBD 

Currently offering takeout and delivery.

Order: Official Website

I miss Picco’s beer list (the restaurant was serving beer from my little hometown of Amesbury the last time I sat on the patio!), but fortunately I can still get the pizza (update: beer and wine are now available for takeout, too.) Pepperoni and mushroom is the play. Picco uses those adorable little penny-sized pepperonis that curl up into little meat bowls while they’re cooking. The cornicione is spotted with black char marks, and the crisp offers a nice textural contrast to its otherwise pillowy crumb. This is some of the best pizza in the city, hands down. —TBD 

Currently offering takeout and delivery.

Order: Official Website (takeout) / Caviar (delivery)

The kao moo dang (crispy pork, roasted pork, and pork sausage with egg and Thai barbecue sauce over rice) is a good place to start. The mango crispy duck is also compulsory. The crispy squid and the spicy eggplant, too. We’ve ordered from Rod Thai Family Taste a few times since the pandemic began, and it’s been “10/10, would try again” every damn time. It’s quickly becoming one of our favorite Thai spots in the city (along with S&I Thai to Go, Thai Place, Pad Thai Cafe, and Dakzen). —TBD 

Currently offering takeout and delivery.

Order: Official Website / DoorDash / Grubhub / Uber Eats

Mama’s drunken noodles are the move at Bangkok Pinto. This version swaps the more traditional flat, ribbon-like rice noodles for instant ramen noodles. Get it with pork, which is impossibly tender, and also order Bangkok Pinto’s excellent pork belly fried rice and mango popcorn chicken. —TBD

Currently offering takeout and delivery.

Order: Official Website (takeout) / Grubhub (delivery)

Hipster doughnut shops are fine (and can even be transcendent), but I don’t always need a doughnut to be the size of a small birthday cake because sometimes I want to eat three doughnuts, not half of one doughnut. I also don’t need rocket fuel in place of coffee. Mike’s Donuts on Mission Hill makes normal-sized doughnuts, and the coffee is weak-ish, which is what I want when I’m eating doughnuts — if heart palpitations are inevitable (and they are when consuming fatty, fried pastries), I don’t need to exacerbate them with a venti quadruple red-eye lattecino. Mike’s is basically Dunkin’ Donuts but good. It’s a tight space, so we’ve limited our trips in the era of COVID-19. But I’m glad it’s still open and there whenever I crave an unfussy, excellent doughnut or three. —TBD

Currently offering takeout.

Order: (617) 427-6828

We live in Roxbury, so the Mission Hill shop is our local. It was a once-a-week thing before the pandemic hit, and it’s still a once-a-week thing now. We usually order eight tacos (a mix of al pastor, chicken tinga, lengua, and carnitas), chips and guac, and a burrito, which we refrigerate and reheat for breakfast the following morning. —TBD

Currently offering takeout. Consult the restaurant’s website for information on the other locations.

Order: (617) 286-3888 / Official Website

Part of Boston’s small but mighty West African dining scene, Suya Joint is the place to go for spicy beef skewers (the restaurant’s namesake suya, a Nigerian dish) and hearty stews that come with fufu, doughy dumplings meant to be dipped into the stew. Try the taushe, a peanut stew. —RLB

Currently open for takeout and delivery.

Order: Official Website (takeout) / Grubhub (delivery) / Uber Eats (delivery)

Jamaica Plain is not typically a reasonable pickup or delivery destination for me, living at least a half hour away in Somerville, but I decided to spend my birthday wandering the Arboretum and then meeting friends who live in JP for a socially distanced picnic (not in the Arboretum — no food allowed!) It was the perfect time to finally try Jamaica Mi Hungry, which everyone’s been raving about forever. My only disappointment is that I don’t live closer (well, there’s a pop-up in Allston now, at least). Many talk about the jerk chicken, but I fell hard for the coconut shrimp with sides of mac and cheese and plantains. This was one of my absolute favorite takeout meals of 2020. —RLB

Currently offering takeout and delivery in Jamaica Plain; plus, the restaurant’s food truck is parked at 182 Western Ave. in Allston for lunch takeout.

Order: Official Website (for catering orders) / DoorDash (from Jamaica Plain location)

Over a decade ago, my now-husband and I took our first vacation together; we went to Antigua. We were at a restaurant when a When Harry Met Sally situation unfolded at a table near us over a dish called roti, with which we were previously unfamiliar. We obviously had to order it and see for ourselves what the fuss was about and were not disappointed. Back in Boston, it took us longer than it should have to realize that our city has quite a few excellent roti options. Singh’s Roti Shop in Upham’s Corner is arguably the best. In addition to roti, you must get a bottle of the house hot sauce and the doubles, curried chickpeas with a sweet and spicy chutney sandwiched between pieces of fried dough. (I hate chickpeas in almost all contexts, so my love of this dish is really saying something.) The doubles get a little messy when packed for takeout/delivery, but the dish is worth the mess. —RLB

Currently offering takeout and delivery.

Order: Grubhub