Restaurants in Wakefield

The chefs at Tasty Foods compile a smorgasbord of sustenance that showcases fresh, natural ingredients and soups, pita bread, and sub rolls sculpted from scratch. With New York–style pizzas, some crowned with zesty toppings such as chicken and feta, and authentic pastas, the menu exudes a distinctly Italian flavor despite not being written in marinara sauce. But stuffed grape leaves, meat-laden subs and wraps, burgers, and seafood fried to a golden brown also represent Greek fare and other global tastes.

Throughout the past millennia, the Iranian city of Shiraz has been celebrated for its nightingales, its poets and philosophers, and its wine, with the oldest known wine discovered just outside the city. Shiraz Cuisine seeks to capture this heritage of refinement amid its ambient-lit dining area, replete with vibrant paintings depicting grapes and Persian cuisine. To complement the bounty of traditional kebab and soltani plates, belly dancers swivel their hips inside the premises on Thursday night. On Friday, musicians strum guitars in time with the most rhythmic chewer in the restaurant.

The open flames beneath Molana Restaurant’s grills lend a distinctive smokiness to the restaurant’s signature kabobs, but the closely guarded combinations of imported spices is what gives each dish its true Persian essence. Beginning with halal cuts of chicken, lamb, and beef, the chefs carefully roast meat-laden skewers on the grill tops. Appetizers of housemade pickles and yogurt add a refreshing touch to the savory meals, and fruit-accented sides of basmati rice can feature raisins, sour cherries, or sweet orange peels.

The restaurant occupies two floors, securing ample space for tables and a separate bar area. Wall sconces gently illuminate the dining room’s brickwork to help set the mood and alert guests if their shadows are running away.

Though its menu is sprinkled with common dishes such as shrimp tempura and salmon teriyaki that you might find at any Japanese restaurant, Ponzu is anything but typical. Elements of Japanese, Malaysian, Indian, and even European cuisine flood each meal, from roti prata Indian bread topped with curried chicken and potato to more than 30 house special maki rolls and Portuguese-style fish baked in tinfoil. The chefs take a keen interest in their diners’ health as they prepare entrees in vegetable and soy bean oils, avoid adding MSG to dishes, and add weights to the end of chopsticks to boost patrons’ strength. As diners dig into the spread of Eurasian cuisine and clink glasses of sake—Ponzu offers a choice of more than a dozen types including hot and sparkling—they’re surrounded by pale yellow walls and the calming luminosity of pendant lights.

The dining room of Sully C’s Bar & Grill is lined with wooden stools against the orange and red walls and sixteen high-definition televisions that glow softly with sporting events of all kinds. Diners can cheer on their teams as they sip frosty beers and dig into old-fashioned hamburgers topped with blue cheese and bacon, ham and pineapple. In addition to the hamburgers, the menu includes other noshables such as chicken parmesan and sirloin tips.

More than 100 plasma televisions light up inside Sports Grille Boston, treating every diner to a front-row seat for the evening’s sporting events, many of which take place at the TD Garden across the street. The screens share wall space with sports memorabilia, including jerseys, hockey sticks, a Michael Jordan statue, and Ted Williams’s favorite paint color. The restaurant's extensive menu of bar food echoes its milieu with thematically named dishes such as Spud Webb potato skins, Larry Bird chicken, and Fenway sirloin tips, which the kitchen staff douses in a secret house marinade. To accompany each bite, bartenders keep up to 25 beers on tap alongside numerous brews in bottles, buckets, and pitchers.