Restaurants in Framingham

Apple Spice Junction’s menus spring from a deep love of deli cuisine and a fervent desire to make lunch the standout meal of the day. At the eatery, chefs layer fresh-baked breads with deli meats and cheeses to create more than a dozen types of hearty sandwiches, including sugar-cured virginia ham and a classic pastrami-and-swiss. Patrons who would rather stay inside can order box lunches teeming with dill pickles, desserts, and a choice of pasta, potato salad, or frog-eye salad. Apple Spice Junction’s friendly delivery team also directs catering trays toward offices and sets up stations of build-your-own breakfast burritos, baked potatoes, and fajita-themed great helms.

The Renaissance Hotel's five luxurious floors sprout above Twenty8 Food & Spirits, where executive chef Jason Ward shares his creative take on breakfast dishes, sandwiches, steaks, seafood, and flatbreads. He's developed his style over the past 20 years, earning certification from the American Culinary Federation and drawing on inspiration from regional farms and fisheries. Likewise, he and his kitchen staff reach for local ingredients as they make egg dishes and buttermilk pancakes for breakfast; sandwiches and salads for lunch; and meaty dishes such as roast PT farms pork chop and hand-cut sirloin steak for dinner. They knead flatbread dough from scratch and load it with toppings before tossing it into a flaming stone-hearth oven. Feasts unfold inside a modern space with flickering flat-screen TVs, a 60-foot bar with signature cocktails, and a lounge area splashed with zebra-print upholstery. Outside, a knee-high brick wall surrounds the outdoor terrace, where a fireplace casts a warm glow on nearby Gillette Stadium. When guests have events, they can also decamp to the family or private dining rooms for larger events.

Inside a spacious setting adorned with Thai-style woodcarvings, stately pillars, and hanging plants, Erawan of Siam's chef and owner prepares authentic Thai cuisine using techniques perfected across her more than 20-year career. She folds traditional herbs and spices into every dish, starting with appetizers such as the red-curry-infused todmun, a golden-fried shrimp cake served alongside a ground peanut and cucumber dipping sauce. From there, tongues traverse main dishes that, like the best Harlequin romances, span three levels of spiciness, progressing from sweet and mild stir-fried roasted duck with pineapple and scallions to grilled salmon laced with extra spicy choo-chee curry.

Krua Khun Yah's vast lunch and dinner menus encapsulate the many and varied flavors of Thailand's culinary history with dishes such as massaman curry, tamarind duck, and Bangkok beef. Chefs willingly adjust the spice level of dishes based on how many ounces of sweat bead on customers' brows from just the smell. Authentic ingredients include rich coconut milk and native chilies, and fresh ingredients come from local farmers' markets. Meals are also cooked in pure vegetable oil to bring out each flavor, coaxing any shy ingredients out of hiding.

Appetito's sleek, modern interior, with its burnished wood bar and polished windows, is indicative of the contemporary sensibilities with which its kitchen interprets classic Italian fare. Handmade pastas, fresh herbs, and seasonal heirloom vegetables furnish brunch, lunch, and dinner menus. On weekends, diners can sit down to a hearty brunch dish such as the challah french toast, which oozes with strawberries and rum-splashed bananas. During the week, the dining room hums with energy generated by tables chatting amicably and digging into five styles of focaccia paninis or savory pasta dishes, such as gnocchi polloi with mascarpone.