Restaurants in Springfield

Izumi Japanese Steak House & Sushi Bar's cast of sushi and hibachi chefs infuse their culinary influences into a distinctly Japanese menu. They craft more than 30 different maki and hand rolls and deftly slice more than 20 types of à la carte sushi and sashimi. Teriyaki sauce slathers high-end meats and seafood, such as Chilean sea bass and tuna steak, and top-notch proteins also don crispy coatings of tempura or sizzle on hibachi grills. From behind a full bar accented with LCD televisions and high-def umlauts, bartenders pour a wide selection of sakes and craft exotic cocktails.

Boulevard Grill's owner pulls double-duty in the kitchen as head chef, heaping plates high with generous portions of classic American dishes that emphasize freshly netted seafood catches. As entrees of grilled swordfish, baked sea scallops, and new york strip steak simmer in the kitchen, foot-long toasted subs swell with trimmings of roast beef or veal parmesan. Of-age diners or orangutans in convincing top hats can sip on drinks from the restaurant's full bar, as young offspring enjoy a kids' menu of cheeseburgers and chicken tenders.

In Captain Jack’s kitchen, the crew assembles a concise menu. With the fryer bubbling and the scent of salt and oil in the air, the cooks prepare fresh scallops, whole-belly clams, all-natural beef, free-range chicken, and hand-cut french fries. The menu appears selective because it is. They use only humanely treated animals from regional farms to make their house-made burgers and hot dogs, and all their veggies come from local purveyors who practice sustainable farming. In fact, everything at the roadside shack is so fresh that they don’t even own a freezer, which assures their ingredients are served in a timely fashion and that penguins never claim squatter’s rights.

Inside a warmly lit dining room marked on one side by a sprawling and sleek sushi bar, waiters float from table to table carrying colorful and artful platters from a menu of Japanese eats. Special rolls—including the lobster-and-crab-stuffed Godzilla roll and the cream-cheese-and-avocado-layered Dancing Eel roll—arrive from the sushi bar enrobed in a black-seaweed dress, much like mermaids at a funeral. Next door, hibachi chefs skillfully fry rice and noodles alongside lobster, steak, and salmon on horseshoe-shaped teppanyaki griddle tables, which can seat up to 20 guests. Meanwhile, Hana Saki's barkeeps pour a selection of imported and domestic libations, including white wine, sake, and a variety of beers.

Nestled in the foothills of the Berkshires, the expansive greens and fairways of Edgewood Golf Course are bordered by lush woodlands on one side and Fox Den Restaurant on the other. Named for the foxes that sometimes dart around the course’s forested edges, the restaurant keeps its cunning guests on their toes with daily specials that draw on Pan–American inspirations. Golfers often stop in for a hearty breakfast of omelets and pancakes before their first round of the day, and nightly dinners of prime rib or fish and chips replenish energy lost while running away from rabid golf carts.

As a child in Greece, Tony Rizos would watch his father set out in a tiny boat to catch fish for the family. The image clung to Tony throughout his youth and into his adulthood, eventually inspiring him to open a restaurant in its honor. The façade of Kaptain Jimmy’s Restaurant & Distillery bears the image of Tony’s father at age 20, reimagined in pirate gear. Inside the large eatery, tables populate with fruits of the sea, such as steamed lobster and pan-seared scallops, as well as harvests from land and sky, including prime rib and "parrot" wings. Each meal comes with a splash of entertainment, as servers saunter up to tables dressed to the nines in red and black garments, bandanas, and flashy rings and earrings.

The Opa Tap Bar is fashioned to look like the side of a giant ship, with three faux masts supporting the tap handles for more than 60 brews. If beer is not a diner's choice of beverage, an onsite microdistillery—a passion project of Tony’s—cooks up more spirits than A Christmas Carol, including whiskey, vodka, gin, rum, and ouzo.