Here's a look at the best new Boston restaurants, hotels, party rooms, corporate event venues, conference centers, and private rooms to open this spring. These new and renovated Boston venues can accommodate groups large or small for private and corporate events, meetings, business dinners, cocktail parties, conferences, weddings, and more.
The dual-nature culinary destination Artistry Kitchen & AK Bistro includes a casually elegant restaurant for 80 guests complete with a community table and fireside seating area, as well as a specialty food shop that also serves as a culinary showroom for private classes and activities such as pasta-making or olive oil tastings. The 3,650-square-foot space holds 150; a 550-square-foot patio holds another 50 guests.
Helmed by former Fenway Park chef Steve “Nookie” Postal, Commonwealth opened up to critical acclaim in late 2013. Come May, the restaurant will open up a roof terrace for private events. The 18,000-square-foot roof deck can hold as many as 600 guests; catering options include pig roasts or a fish fry. The restaurant’s 96-seat patio overlooking Kendall Square’s Broad Canal will soon be available for rental.
One of Boston’s popular spots to get pampered, G2O Spa and Salon is merging with sister spa Emerge, resulting in an expanded salon area and redesigned lobby and retail space by June 1. The 14,000-square-foot space will serve small groups; lunch can be served in the Penthouse Lounge and Terrace, which overlooks the Back Bay neighborhood.
Located below the new luxury residence the Arlington, Liquid Art House is a 10,000-square-foot restaurant, art gallery, and lounge that fuses art and gastronomy in one of the city's most historic buildings. Built in 1899 to house the Boston Consolidated Gas Company, the Back Bay/South End location is centrally located and prepared for events. Several spaces are available for rental, including a main room that seats 200 and a private dining room for 66 people. There is also a curator's lounge and a chef's table available for groups. The venue is scheduled to open in early May.
A sister restaurant to Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steak House, Del Frisco’s Grille takes the classic components of the popular chain and adds a stylish, modern ambiance. The popular private dining room is 425 square feet and seats 40. The restaurant opened in December in the new Chestnut Hill complex the Street.
Located in the seaport district—a popular area for guests visiting the Convention & Exhibition Center as well as for an increasing number of start-up businesses—is Tamo, the restaurant at the Seaport Boston Hotel. After a renovation and expansion that finished in late April, the now-3,800-square-foot, 120-seat eatery includes the Loft at Tamo for private dinners for as many as 24 guests; an outdoor space, Tamo terrace; and the Living Room at Tamo, a cozy space with a fireplace. The restaurant is updating its menu.
District Hall calls itself a “dedicated civic space,” and with options including an open work area, assembly space, classrooms, and writable surfaces, it can be adapted for many different types of events. The 90,000-square-foot Innovation District location was completed in late March and holds 450 guests in the entire space or 200 in the lounge. Small pods hold 40 people for meetings and offer audiovisual hookups.
Located around the corner from Boston Common downtown, Hyatt Regency Boston has more than 30,000 square feet of meeting and event space spread over four floors and two terraces. In June, the hotel renovated its Martha’s Vineyard room, a 2,701-square-foot space that holds 250 guests for receptions, 220 banquet-style, or 78 for a boardroom setup
Located at the recently renovated Boston Marriott Burlington, Chopps American Bar and Grill has Daniel Bruce as a consulting chef. The open kitchen serves organic steaks, fresh seafood, and local flavors, and there is live entertainment. The entire restaurant seats 245, and three private rooms are 670 square feet each and seat 40 or hold 60 for receptions. The restaurant opened in February.
A short walk from the Boston Harbor, DoubleTree Club by Hilton Hotel Boston Bayside completed a multimillion-dollar renovation in February. The 197 guest rooms were updated and now include sprawling suites on the sixth floor with panoramic views of the harbor. The Board Room, a 120-square-foot meeting space, holds eight for meetings. More extensive meeting space is available at the DoubleTree’s sister location in downtown Boston, to which the property offers a complimentary shuttle.
