Best restaurants for Valentine’s Day in Boston

A love letter to the fresh, often rustic simplicity of Portuguese cuisine, we named Baleia our Best New Restaurant of 2024, and on Valentine’s Day they’re offering a taste of their menu for $100. Fresh oysters, duck liver mousse, grilled prawns, steamed clams and filet mignon with turmeric cardamom butter are all on the menu, if you and your special someone can get a table at this hot spot.

Chef-owner Will Gilson’s menu at this Inman Square classic is packed with locally-sourced ingredients and New England touches, and that will shine through in their curated Valentine’s Day menu set at $95 per person. The four course service will include scallop crudo, honeynut roasted squash, seafood risotto, Berkshire pork belly, roasted half chicken, seared Wagyu strip, chocolate cremeux and much more.

Offering breathtaking views of the Public Garden, Bistro du Midi is one of the most serene, elegant restaurants in the city. On Valentine’s Day, the restaurant will offer a prix fixe menu at $195 per person, with an optional $90 wine pairing. On the menu will be a variety of dishes, including black truffle cauliflower soup and foie gras torchon, alongside wines like Hugel Riesling Classic 2021 and Château Guiraud Petit Guiraud Sauternes 2020. Additional options such as butter poached lobster and Brandt beef filet mignon are available, and much more is in store for an indulgent and romantic evening.

Chef John DaSilva was recently named a James Beard semi-finalist, Best Chef: Northeast, so if your person is a gourmand, this is the table to book. The restaurant is offering a five course chef’s tasting menu for $110, with a $65 wine pairing addition, including handmade potato gnocchi and lamb three ways.

The sexy Charlestown Italian chophouse will offer a pre-fixe menu for $110 for Valentine’s Day, but don’t worry, the regular menu is also available. For an intimate evening, reserve in the Rose Room, or for an elegant, more spirited night, get seats in the Park Room. The restaurant has also created two special cocktails: Butterfly Kisses, with gin, white chocolate, lavender, and lambrusco jam; and Ambrosia, with vodka, vanilla, grapefruit, pomegranate, rose, and egg white.

Overlooking Cambridge Crossing, this modern space resembles an airy greenhouse and the kitchen carefully cranks out hearty, New American fare, and will be doing that and more for Valentine’s Day. Alongside their regular menu, the restaurant will be offering a very well priced $50 three course menu of an appetizer, main and dessert, with grilled swordfish or short rib pappardelle as the main course.

The sprawling, airy brasserie will celebrate Valentine’s day with an $85 contemporary French prix fixe menu (the regular menu will also be available). Highlights will include a raw bar, scallops, risotto galette, wild halibut, black truffle chicken and a chef-curated dessert.

Major Food Group’s celebrity beloved Boston offering Contessa, sits atop the Newbury Boston, and serves more than just comforting Northern Italian fare—it also serves looks in a major way. Take in the skyline with a three-course prix fixe menu on Valentine’s Day including dessert ($195 per person).  For the antipasti course, choices will  include tonnato crudo,  featuring thinly sliced raw tuna, artichoke hearts and anchovy, or daily imported burrata served with pomodorini and basil. The primi selection highlights Contessa’s signature spicy lobster rigatoni, while the secondi-course offers a choice between filet mignon with black truffle sauce or grilled Mediterranean branzino.

Boston’s favorite classic steakhouse, the perfect place to share a tomahawk steak with the person you split your bills with, will offer a full à la carte menu for Valentine’s Day. The menu will feature dinner and dessert specials, including tuna tataki, citrus salad, grilled wagyu short rib, seared scallops and raspberry cheesecake.

Known as one of Boston’s most romantic dining destinations, OAK’s historic dining room draws you in with dramatic vaulted ceilings and cozy roaring fireplaces. On Valentine’s Day, several a la carte specials will complement the dinner menu, including a pear and prosciutto carpaccio, Sole Meunière, Chateaubriand and raspberry sorbet with almond tart tres leches. Sweeten the evening even more with the Eros cocktail, made with Tito’s vodka, prosecco, raspberry purée and lemon juice.

Tucked in The Charles Hotel, this Harvard Square eatery is Italian that doesn’t take itself too seriously, but always delivers an incredible meal and experience. On February 14th for $95 per person the restaurant will be offering a four course meal with selections like treviso salad with prosciutto, pear, and pecorino sardo, wagyu carpaccio, chestnut and porcini agnolotti with brown butter and black truffles and broiled branzino. The restaurant's regular menu will also be available.

The Newton Centre staple is offering a selection of decadent specials on February 14. Tuck into the intimate gastropub for dishes such uovo ravioli, braised lamb shank, chocolate bread pudding and more surprise specials.

Take in stunning views of Lovejoy Wharf while staying cozy and warm at Alcove this Valentine’s Day. The restaurant will be serving their regular menu, along with some indulgent additions like a foie gras and bacon terrine, warm mussel tartelettes, confit squid, roasted duck and for dessert a citrus sundae and chocolate cake with chantilly cream.

For a fun, spirited Valentine's Day dinner, head to the cavernous, modern Capo for big portions and big fun in South Boston. In addition to the restaurant’s regular menu, specials like tuna carpaccio, prosciutto di parma croquettes, rack of lamb and grilled red snapper will be on the menu.

Steps off the Boston Common, enjoy a luxurious Valentine’s Day dinner at the Ritz-Carlton in the heart of the theater district. The $89 prix fixe meal includes an appetizer choice of baked brie, red romaine caesar salad, or roasted beet and cauliflower bisque and entree choice of lobster and crab ravioli, duck confit or blood orange glazed salmon or tofu. Desert will be a special flourless chocolate chocolate cake with caramel gelato.