Restaurants in Jamaica Plain

A commitment to traditional Latin flavors is the number-one priority at El Oriental de Cuba, though the kitchen staff isn't afraid to add a touch of New England flair. These bold combinations have been lauded by both local culinary and cultural institutions. Through a large, open window, diners watch as haddock is prepared spicy, garlicky, or coated in a coconut sauce, and lobster is stuffed into empanadas. In creating other dishes, the cooks reach for ingredients such as plantains, yucca, and pigeon peas, and slow-cook their meats to transport minds to Caribbean sunsets.

Though the atmosphere may be casual, the decor in the dining area isn't without touches of refinement. Sage-green walls surround the long space, whose high, peaked ceiling supports hanging lamps and fans. As guests bite into classic cuban sandwiches and fried pork chops, they gaze at colorful paintings and photographs of children playing in the old country.

Imperial Kitchen's chefs have prepared authentic Chinese cuisine for more than 35 years, searing seasoned chicken, roast pork, seafood, and assorted garden pluckings in vegetable oil. Classic dishes such as cashew chicken and satay beef arrive fresh and made to order so that diners can customize the heat level of each dish, turning the dial from mild to extra spicy to hotter than a pile of burning fireman calendars. Combo dinners bolster favorite entrees with pork-fried rice, whereas chef's specialties add inventive flair with lotus flour and flavorful ginger sauce, spicy orange sauce, or the chef's signature sauce.:

Sugar Baking Co. & Restaurant’s kitchen is always full of appealing ingredients: cage-free eggs, certified humane meats, real Vermont maple syrup, and fresh picks from the Roslindale Farmers’ Market. It’s also almost always open; diners flock to the eatery for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. In the morning, diners bite into lemon ricotta pancakes and French toast stuffed with brie, and at dinnertime, they feast on braised lamb shank and pan-seared salmon. They complement their meals with wines from New Zealand, Argentina, and France and craft beers from nearby breweries such as Ipswich and Smuttynose. While they enjoy their meals, they also delight in the smell of fresh bread from the on-site bakery, whose treats range from cannolis and éclairs to apple turnovers—regular apples you eat with your feet touching the ceiling.

Declared the home of the best sandwiches in Boston by the Boston Phoenix, The Real Deal lives up to its reputation with paninis, wraps, and traditional sandwiches alike stuffed edge to edge with gourmet ingredients. Paninis such as the Carmelo Soprano don roasted eggplant and red peppers, spinach, cheese, and pesto, and the Veg Out sandwich's brie, sprouts, baby greens, and apple slices stare endlessly, deliciously into the distance. Burgers, topped with over-medium eggs and named for comic book characters, help round out the menu alongside thin-crust pizzas.

What began 24 years ago as a sports bar with five TVs and a massive satellite dish has blossomed into a mecca for fans of Boston sports teams and lovers of hearty pub fare. Visitors to Coolidge Corner Clubhouse watch year-round hockey, baseball, pro and college football, and basketball on 25 LCD screens while feasting on 16-ounce burgers, savory pastas, and tender morsels of barbecue pork, chicken, and shrimp. Patrons also sip frosty craft beers on draft or potent cocktails and martinis as they share plates of chicken wings and nachos, or piled-high deli sandwiches and wraps.

A light-hearted celebration of Boston sportsdom permeates the restaurant, with its burgers and wraps named for famous athletes and the multiple screens showing area college and professional games. On the walls, framed photos commemorate Boston's proudest sports moments, such as a floor-to-ceiling print of Adam Vinatieri's famous 45-yard kick during the “Snow Bowl” and an iconic photograph of Ted Williams defending his graduate thesis, “On Hitting the Baseball Really, Really Hard to Make It Go Pretty Far.”