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A bowl of raw fish and avocado in a sauce with strips of plantain chips on the side.
Ceviche and plaintain chips from Black Cat Eatery, now popping up at Vee Vee in Jamaica Plain.
Erika Adams/Eater Boston

The Best Restaurants in Jamaica Plain

Dominican chimis for lunch, pasta for dinner

by Erika Adams and Terrence Doyle Updated
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Ceviche and plaintain chips from Black Cat Eatery, now popping up at Vee Vee in Jamaica Plain.
| Erika Adams/Eater Boston
by Erika Adams and Terrence Doyle Updated

Jamaica Plain is full of excellent food, as anyone who lives in the neighborhood can attest. The broad range of restaurants — including top-notch Italian, Mexican, Jamaican, and Ethiopian stops — means there are practically endless options to explore, but here are 14 top picks to get started.

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Jamaica Mi Hungry

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This Jamaican food truck-turned-permanent restaurant deserves every accolade it has scooped up in its years of serving jerk chicken, sweet plantains, and tender oxtail to the masses. Located steps away from the Jackson Square stop on the Orange Line, Jamaica Mi Hungry is a popular spot for plates piled high with expertly seasoned meats, seafood, and sides like creamy mac and cheese and curried vegetable stew. And of course, no order is complete without adding a beef patty or three on the side.

225 Centre St, Boston, MA 02130
(617) 708-0465
(617) 708-0465
Overhead view of two black takeout containers on a picnic table. One contains jerk chicken with sides of fries and a slaw, while the other contains fried, coconut-encrusted shrimp with mac and cheese, plantains, and a small plastic cup of dipping sauce.
A takeout feast from Jamaica Mi Hungry.
Rachel Leah Blumenthal/Eater Boston

Also featured in:

Alex's Chimis

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At Alex’s Chimis, there is no wrong order. This Dominican mainstay is a local favorite for its namesake chimis (burgers), orejita (fried pig’s ears), chicharrón (fried pork rinds), flaky pastelitos stuffed with beef or chicken, and a slew of other options. Load up with one of the hefty combo plates for a belly-warming Dominican feast any night of the week.

358 Centre St, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
(617) 522-5201
(617) 522-5201

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Blue Nile Restaurant

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At Blue Nile, there will be rolls and rolls of injera — use it to scoop up deliriously tasty bites of misir wet, which consists of red lentils cooked in a bebere-spiced sauce with ginger, garlic, and cardamom. Also worth trying at this Ethiopian hot spot: the stewed veggie firfir with shredded injera, and the doro wat, a slow-cooked chicken stew packed with onions, tomatoes, chili peppers, and seasoned with herb butter.

389 Centre St, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
(617) 522-6453
(617) 522-6453
Yellow lentils, stewed carrots, lettuces, and chicken in a red sauce are scooped over an unfurled brown circle of injera on a blue and green patterned plate. Erika Adams/Eater Boston

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Abuela’s Table

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Abuela’s Table — a Mexican restaurant from the owners behind Somerville’s Tu Y Yo — is located inside the former home of neighborhood cornerstone Oriental de Cuba, which shut down in 2023. This little spot had some big shoes to fill, given the former tenant, but it’s doing a fantastic job rising to the occasion. Order the spread of five tamales to dip into the zingy house hot sauce, load up with the chicharron taco plate, and don’t forget to try the crunchy tacos de chapulines, rolled and stuffed with grasshoppers and chiles.

416 Centre St, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
(617) 524-6464
(617) 524-6464
Tamales wrapped in corn husks and banana leaves and arranged on a plate with side cups of hot sauce and black beans.
Some fantastic tamales at Abuela’s Table.
Erika Adams/Eater Boston

Also featured in:

Life Alive

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The veggie enthusiasts at Life Alive are slowly but surely taking over Boston, and we’re not mad about it. The growing restaurant group now includes a brand-new Jamaica Plain location at a sunny corner spot wedged between South Huntington Avenue and Moraine Street. It’s a reliable stop open daily for salads, soups, acai bowls, breakfast sandwiches, smoothies, and more.

435 South Huntington Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02130
(617) 942-7525
(617) 942-7525

Tres Gatos

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Books, records, tapas, and paella? Tres Gatos is definitely the right place for anyone interested in living deliciously. Tres Gatos’ sibling spot in the neighborhood — taqueria Casa Verde — is also worth a visit.

2056, 470 Centre St, Boston, MA 02130
(617) 477-4851
(617) 477-4851
An oval plate with strips of steak laid out and yellow salsa and green herbs arranged over top.
Tres Gatos’ flat iron steak with mango salsa.
Erika Adams/Eater Boston

Also featured in:

Chilacates

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Chilacates — Boston’s homegrown version of Chipotle — is a favorite among the neighborhood for its stuffed burritos, saucy tortas, and tender chicken tinga tacos. The Amory Street location is the original, but the neighborhood also supports a second location a half-mile away on Centre Street, which says something about how excellent Chilacates is.

224 Amory St, Boston, MA 02130
(617) 553-6007
(617) 553-6007
Three tacos in an aluminum takeout container on a picnic table.
Tacos at Chilacates.
Rachel Leah Blumenthal/Eater Boston

Also featured in:

The Joint

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The Chilacates team also runs the Joint, a rebranded restaurant that was formerly known as a burger spot called Grass Fed. You can still find solid burgers and fries here for dinner, but the ideal time to stop by for those in the know is breakfast. A small menu of pancakes, waffles, breakfast burritos, and huevos rancheros may read as run of the mill, but the quality ingredients and expert execution is what keeps the place buzzing before noon every day of the week.

605 Centre St, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
(617) 477-3197
(617) 477-3197
A breakfast burrito cut into two halves to display cheese and egg on the inside, sitting on a white plate.
A breakfast burrito at the Joint.
Erika Adams/Eater Boston

Also featured in:

The Haven

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The Haven is Boston’s Scottish headquarters — now in new, larger digs on Armory Street. Go for the curry, the deep-fried Mars bars, and, as one might imagine, the very decent scotch selection. Start with something floral and slightly salty from the Highlands, and finish with something sweet and malty from Speyside.

JPNDC Brewery Complex, 284 Amory St, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

Also featured in:

Tonino

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This shoebox-sized Italian restaurant has been winning over diners — both locally and nationally — since its debut in the neighborhood two years ago. Owner and chef Luke Fetbroth oversees a tightly edited, excellent menu of pasta, fluffy pizza, and small dishes to share, like mortadella with house pickles and pecorino, and plump Countneck clams with guanciale and Calabrian chiles. Reservations are extremely hard to come by; booking far in advance is the best way to go.

669A Centre St, Boston, MA 02130
(617) 524-9217
(617) 524-9217
An overhead shot of a shallow white bowl filled with taleggio cappelletti drizzled with aged balsamic.
The taleggio cappelletti drizzled with aged balsamic.
Erika Adams/Eater Boston

Also featured in:

JP Seafood Cafe

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JP Seafood Cafe has been holding it down on Centre Street since the mid 1990s. The menu is stacked with excellent Japanese and Korean food, so it’s difficult to say where to start. Good bets, though, are the katsu don (fried pork cutlet served with rice, sautéed onions, and sweet-savory Japanese-style eggs), an assortment of sushi and maki, an order of kimchi, an order of mandoo kuk (Korean-style beef dumpling soup), some beef gyoza, and the spicy basil pad thai. And bring, like, 10 friends.

730 Centre St, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
(617) 983-5177
(617) 983-5177

Also featured in:

Vee Vee

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A neighborhood mainstay known for its tucked-away back patio, Vee Vee recently shook things up and invited in acclaimed chef Valentine Howell to stay for awhile and run the kitchen with his Afro-Latin Caribbean pop-up Black Cat Eatery. That means diners can now chow down on Jamaican jackfruit empanadas and crispy fish tacos, slurp coconut shrimp ceviche with plantain chips, and finish off with soursop ice cream for dessert.

763 Centre St (btwn Eliot and Thomas), Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
(617) 522-0145
(617) 522-0145
A bowl of raw fish and avocado in a sauce with strips of plantain chips on the side.
Black Cat Eatery’s ceviche with plantain chips.
Erika Adams/Eater Boston

Also featured in:

Third Cliff Bakery

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One of the best bakeries in Boston happens to be located in Jamaica Plain, too. Third Cliff is an excellent first stop in the morning for buttery ham and cheese croissants, orange and cardamom morning buns, and a creamy cappuccino to wash it all down.

3531 Washington Street, MA 02130
A round croissant with crispy edges and drizzle of sauce over top along with green garnishes.
A special vegan summer croissant with corn and queso from Third Cliff.
Erika Adams/Eater Boston

Also featured in:

Brassica Kitchen + Cafe

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Not a secret: Brassica’s fried chicken is among the best in Boston. Maybe more of a secret: Brassica also has an outstanding brunch lineup on the weekends. Try the brown butter pancakes or the chilaquiles with duck and pork chorizo — and, of course, the famous fried chicken, served with waffles for the morning crowd.

3710 Washington St, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
(617) 477-4519
(617) 477-4519
A white plate with three giant pieces of fried chicken and four wedges of waffle, plus a cup of red sauce on the side.
The famous chicken and waffles at Brassica’s brunch.
Brassica

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Jamaica Mi Hungry

225 Centre St, Boston, MA 02130

This Jamaican food truck-turned-permanent restaurant deserves every accolade it has scooped up in its years of serving jerk chicken, sweet plantains, and tender oxtail to the masses. Located steps away from the Jackson Square stop on the Orange Line, Jamaica Mi Hungry is a popular spot for plates piled high with expertly seasoned meats, seafood, and sides like creamy mac and cheese and curried vegetable stew. And of course, no order is complete without adding a beef patty or three on the side.

225 Centre St, Boston, MA 02130
(617) 708-0465
(617) 708-0465
Overhead view of two black takeout containers on a picnic table. One contains jerk chicken with sides of fries and a slaw, while the other contains fried, coconut-encrusted shrimp with mac and cheese, plantains, and a small plastic cup of dipping sauce.
A takeout feast from Jamaica Mi Hungry.
Rachel Leah Blumenthal/Eater Boston

Alex's Chimis

358 Centre St, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

At Alex’s Chimis, there is no wrong order. This Dominican mainstay is a local favorite for its namesake chimis (burgers), orejita (fried pig’s ears), chicharrón (fried pork rinds), flaky pastelitos stuffed with beef or chicken, and a slew of other options. Load up with one of the hefty combo plates for a belly-warming Dominican feast any night of the week.

358 Centre St, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
(617) 522-5201
(617) 522-5201

Blue Nile Restaurant

389 Centre St, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

At Blue Nile, there will be rolls and rolls of injera — use it to scoop up deliriously tasty bites of misir wet, which consists of red lentils cooked in a bebere-spiced sauce with ginger, garlic, and cardamom. Also worth trying at this Ethiopian hot spot: the stewed veggie firfir with shredded injera, and the doro wat, a slow-cooked chicken stew packed with onions, tomatoes, chili peppers, and seasoned with herb butter.

389 Centre St, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
(617) 522-6453
(617) 522-6453
Yellow lentils, stewed carrots, lettuces, and chicken in a red sauce are scooped over an unfurled brown circle of injera on a blue and green patterned plate. Erika Adams/Eater Boston

Abuela’s Table

416 Centre St, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

Abuela’s Table — a Mexican restaurant from the owners behind Somerville’s Tu Y Yo — is located inside the former home of neighborhood cornerstone Oriental de Cuba, which shut down in 2023. This little spot had some big shoes to fill, given the former tenant, but it’s doing a fantastic job rising to the occasion. Order the spread of five tamales to dip into the zingy house hot sauce, load up with the chicharron taco plate, and don’t forget to try the crunchy tacos de chapulines, rolled and stuffed with grasshoppers and chiles.

416 Centre St, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
(617) 524-6464
(617) 524-6464
Tamales wrapped in corn husks and banana leaves and arranged on a plate with side cups of hot sauce and black beans.
Some fantastic tamales at Abuela’s Table.
Erika Adams/Eater Boston

Life Alive

435 South Huntington Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02130

The veggie enthusiasts at Life Alive are slowly but surely taking over Boston, and we’re not mad about it. The growing restaurant group now includes a brand-new Jamaica Plain location at a sunny corner spot wedged between South Huntington Avenue and Moraine Street. It’s a reliable stop open daily for salads, soups, acai bowls, breakfast sandwiches, smoothies, and more.

435 South Huntington Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02130
(617) 942-7525
(617) 942-7525

Tres Gatos

2056, 470 Centre St, Boston, MA 02130

Books, records, tapas, and paella? Tres Gatos is definitely the right place for anyone interested in living deliciously. Tres Gatos’ sibling spot in the neighborhood — taqueria Casa Verde — is also worth a visit.

2056, 470 Centre St, Boston, MA 02130
(617) 477-4851
(617) 477-4851
An oval plate with strips of steak laid out and yellow salsa and green herbs arranged over top.
Tres Gatos’ flat iron steak with mango salsa.
Erika Adams/Eater Boston

Chilacates

224 Amory St, Boston, MA 02130

Chilacates — Boston’s homegrown version of Chipotle — is a favorite among the neighborhood for its stuffed burritos, saucy tortas, and tender chicken tinga tacos. The Amory Street location is the original, but the neighborhood also supports a second location a half-mile away on Centre Street, which says something about how excellent Chilacates is.

224 Amory St, Boston, MA 02130
(617) 553-6007
(617) 553-6007
Three tacos in an aluminum takeout container on a picnic table.
Tacos at Chilacates.
Rachel Leah Blumenthal/Eater Boston

The Joint

605 Centre St, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

The Chilacates team also runs the Joint, a rebranded restaurant that was formerly known as a burger spot called Grass Fed. You can still find solid burgers and fries here for dinner, but the ideal time to stop by for those in the know is breakfast. A small menu of pancakes, waffles, breakfast burritos, and huevos rancheros may read as run of the mill, but the quality ingredients and expert execution is what keeps the place buzzing before noon every day of the week.

605 Centre St, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
(617) 477-3197
(617) 477-3197
A breakfast burrito cut into two halves to display cheese and egg on the inside, sitting on a white plate.
A breakfast burrito at the Joint.
Erika Adams/Eater Boston

The Haven

JPNDC Brewery Complex, 284 Amory St, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

The Haven is Boston’s Scottish headquarters — now in new, larger digs on Armory Street. Go for the curry, the deep-fried Mars bars, and, as one might imagine, the very decent scotch selection. Start with something floral and slightly salty from the Highlands, and finish with something sweet and malty from Speyside.

JPNDC Brewery Complex, 284 Amory St, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

Tonino

669A Centre St, Boston, MA 02130

This shoebox-sized Italian restaurant has been winning over diners — both locally and nationally — since its debut in the neighborhood two years ago. Owner and chef Luke Fetbroth oversees a tightly edited, excellent menu of pasta, fluffy pizza, and small dishes to share, like mortadella with house pickles and pecorino, and plump Countneck clams with guanciale and Calabrian chiles. Reservations are extremely hard to come by; booking far in advance is the best way to go.

669A Centre St, Boston, MA 02130
(617) 524-9217
(617) 524-9217
An overhead shot of a shallow white bowl filled with taleggio cappelletti drizzled with aged balsamic.
The taleggio cappelletti drizzled with aged balsamic.
Erika Adams/Eater Boston

JP Seafood Cafe

730 Centre St, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

JP Seafood Cafe has been holding it down on Centre Street since the mid 1990s. The menu is stacked with excellent Japanese and Korean food, so it’s difficult to say where to start. Good bets, though, are the katsu don (fried pork cutlet served with rice, sautéed onions, and sweet-savory Japanese-style eggs), an assortment of sushi and maki, an order of kimchi, an order of mandoo kuk (Korean-style beef dumpling soup), some beef gyoza, and the spicy basil pad thai. And bring, like, 10 friends.

730 Centre St, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
(617) 983-5177
(617) 983-5177

Vee Vee

763 Centre St (btwn Eliot and Thomas), Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

A neighborhood mainstay known for its tucked-away back patio, Vee Vee recently shook things up and invited in acclaimed chef Valentine Howell to stay for awhile and run the kitchen with his Afro-Latin Caribbean pop-up Black Cat Eatery. That means diners can now chow down on Jamaican jackfruit empanadas and crispy fish tacos, slurp coconut shrimp ceviche with plantain chips, and finish off with soursop ice cream for dessert.

763 Centre St (btwn Eliot and Thomas), Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
(617) 522-0145
(617) 522-0145
A bowl of raw fish and avocado in a sauce with strips of plantain chips on the side.
Black Cat Eatery’s ceviche with plantain chips.
Erika Adams/Eater Boston

Third Cliff Bakery

3531 Washington Street, MA 02130

One of the best bakeries in Boston happens to be located in Jamaica Plain, too. Third Cliff is an excellent first stop in the morning for buttery ham and cheese croissants, orange and cardamom morning buns, and a creamy cappuccino to wash it all down.

3531 Washington Street, MA 02130
A round croissant with crispy edges and drizzle of sauce over top along with green garnishes.
A special vegan summer croissant with corn and queso from Third Cliff.
Erika Adams/Eater Boston

Brassica Kitchen + Cafe

3710 Washington St, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

Not a secret: Brassica’s fried chicken is among the best in Boston. Maybe more of a secret: Brassica also has an outstanding brunch lineup on the weekends. Try the brown butter pancakes or the chilaquiles with duck and pork chorizo — and, of course, the famous fried chicken, served with waffles for the morning crowd.

3710 Washington St, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
(617) 477-4519
(617) 477-4519
A white plate with three giant pieces of fried chicken and four wedges of waffle, plus a cup of red sauce on the side.
The famous chicken and waffles at Brassica’s brunch.
Brassica

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