Restaurants in Melrose

Organic Garden Cafe's vegetarian, organic dishes have earned the eatery nods in Edible Boston, Boston Magazine's "Best of Boston 2009," and Northshore Magazine's Best of Northshore Awards from 2009 to 2011. As owner Robert Reid told Edible Boston, the menu consists largely of gourmet raw foods, but has evolved to include "transitional items" such as hot soups, which widen the eatery's appeal. Pizzas on buckwheat, carrot, or flax crusts and nut butter 'squash' ravioli are heated under a food lamp, so that the food remains 80 to 90 percent raw, yet "tastes like it just came out of the oven." He's also added more seasonal and local items, working with nearby farms such as First Light Farm in Hamilton for greens and root veggies.

The café's staff also whip up smoothies at its juice bar, such as the Yoda's Jedi smoothie with strawberries, bananas, dates, and spirulina. Customers can also add a boost to their drinks with smoothie enhancers such as flax oil, maca root, bee pollen, and poltergeist sweat.

At Maki Sushi Bar, pale yellow walls accented with a crisp, rust-hued stripe surround dark wood tables and a sushi bar where chefs artfully slice up fresh fish into eye-pleasing Japanese dishes. Before diving into main courses, stomachs warm up with a series of calisthenics and bites of starters such as the gyoza's pan-fried pork dumplings. Signature specials blanket plates with bites from the deep blue, seasoned delicately and accented with unexpected ingredients. The tuna tartare flaunts minced tuna mingling with fried red onion and avocado alongside black tobiko and a quail egg, and the seafood martini hosts salmon, tuna, and seaweed salad in an long-stemmed martini glass. To sip more liquid spirits from stemware, patrons select from a full menu of signature cocktails, such as the Crazy Makitini or the Japanese mojito. After exploring a rainbow of nigiri, sashimi, and maki rolls, tongues delight in tasting sweet bites of tempura cheesecake à la mode or crafting sweet mouth guards out of mochi ice cream.

The Talk's owners keep their family recipe book wide open, just like the thick steel bank vault in their dining area, which also boasts a wine bar made of polished granite and wraparound booths that hug tables. Chef Billy Holt and his kitchen staff wrap their hands around fresh ingredients when preparing heirloom dishes, such as veal piccata, eggplant parmesan, and chicken marsala, as well as sea scallops broiled with seasoned bread crumbs and pan-seared trout with sun-dried tomatoes.

Sincere servers dart around the dapper dining area, jotting down orders, balancing trays, and seating private parties behind the vaulted door of the Vault room. In the dining room, guests lounge in beige booths and gaze at black-and-white photos or read the vinyl wall print that reads La Dolce Vita. The Talk also boasts awards such as "Best of the Best" in 2010, 2011, and 2012 from Market Surveys of America, and was voted the number one choice for dinner by Reader's Choice Awards in 2011.

Penguin Pizza’s dough-melding staff prepares each of its 22 specialty thin-crust pizzas by hand. The same treatment is applied to custom pies, which can be topped with the menu’s “usual” ingredients, such as onions, pepperoni, and mushrooms, or its “unusual” fixings, such as smoked salmon, pulled pork, or duck confit. The casual eatery complements its pizzas with a line-up of draft beers and orders of homemade chili, spaghetti and meatballs, beer-battered pickles, and spicy wings that allow diners to taste the heat without trying to get a tan on their tongues. Though not included with this Groupon, Penguin Pizza features 335 beers.

As you sit down on one of the The Red Hat's green vinyl barstools and lift a mug of lager to your lips, you might be replicating the movements of a patron from more than 100 years ago. Except that he or she would have snuck a nervous glance at the back door between every sip. The historic establishment survived the Prohibition era in Scollay Square—an area known for its bawdy vaudeville theater and risqué entertainment—by functioning as a reputable restaurant by day and a speakeasy by night.

Though the taps now flow freely in the daylight, some things at The Red Hat haven't changed. The menu still provides sailors, dockworkers, and local shoppers with hearty, comforting dishes of wings, fried fish, and other pub snacks. As Mike Dunphy of Beacon Hill Patch put it, "The Red Hat is a rare reminder of Boston's yesteryear, bringing an earthy spice to the more refined palate of Beacon Hill—an unpretentious watering hole to gain some courage for the climb." The exposed brick, wood-paneled walls, and old-timey memorabilia also give the space a turn-of-the-century feel. So do the nostalgic street-scene murals depicting the days when Saturns were Studebakers and people walked their Electrolux vacuums instead of pet dogs.

Brightly colored walls, a permanent display of paintings by Dominican artists, and flavorful tropical dishes helped net Merengue a nod for Best Caribbean Restaurant in Boston Magazine's Best of Boston 2008. The kitchen yields a spread of meat and seafood items that range from fried pork skins and steak tips cooked in creole sauce to shrimp gumbo and a grilled red snapper in garlic-and-parsley sauce. Merengue’s two dining rooms seat 90 people, and a private room with WiFi and a PowerPoint screen projector provide ample meeting-room space. Catering menus for weddings and banquets offer a variety of serving styles, including formal seated dinners, self-serve buffets, and spoon feedings performed with accompanying airplane sounds.