Travel

Boston Experts

Boston is a fantastic "foodie" city, full of award-winning and innovative restaurants, but if you have a food allergy it can be a frustrating place to try and enjoy the local scene. For all their acclaim, Boston chefs are not known for being the friendliest toward food allergies (some that I know personally have even balked at taking the time to label their menus), but it's still entirely possible to eat well and safely in Boston. Your best bet is to start by heading across the Charles River.

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Boston is a fantastic "foodie" city, full of award-winning and innovative restaurants, but if you have a food allergy it can be a frustrating place to try and enjoy the local scene. For all their acclaim, Boston chefs are not known for being the friendliest toward food allergies (some that I know personally have even balked at taking the time to label their menus), but it's still entirely possible to eat well and safely in Boston. Your best bet is to start by heading across the Charles River to slightly more progressive neighborhoods like Somerville and Cambridge, closer to the universities and the student pulse, but downtown Boston isn't entirely a gluten-free food desert, either -- and wonderful new options are popping up all the time!

Central Square in Cambridge, wedged between MIT and Harvard universities, has always had a smorgasbord of ethnic and interesting food options lining Massachusetts Avenue -- and remains the epicenter of good gluten-free dining. Life Alive Cafe offers a full juice bar and addictively healthy meal options, like the steamed veggie, tofu, and rice "Goddess" bowl with a ginger namu sauce that locals like myself crave with a vengeance. Retro diner Veggie Galaxy offers a full menu of scratch-made vegan and vegetarian options, with almost all of their sandwiches available on gluten-free bread. Slightly farther afield: in Kendall Square, kitschy favorite The Friendly Toast offers gluten-free pancakes all day; Inman Square's authentic Brazilian grill Muqueca has a dedicated fryer for even celiac-friendly options; and Harvard Square's Otto now has gluten-free pizza.

In Somerville's Davis Square, just outside the Tufts University campus, student and family favorite Flatbread Pizza in the historic Sacco's Bowl Haven bowling alley offers a gluten-free crust and a variety of hard ciders. Around the corner, Boston area BBQ favorite Red Bones has extensive gluten-free options, including most of its barbecued meats (brisket, ribs, pulled pork/chicken, sausages, chili, wood-smoked half chicken) and most of its popular sides.

If you do decide to stay in downtown Boston proper, ironically your best bet is to head to the North End, the historically Italian neighborhood, for gluten-free pasta and pizza -- even a zucchini lasagne that won Bobby Flay's Throwdown -- at Nebo on Washington Street, near Boston Garden, the Freedom Trail, and just over the bridge to the U.S.S. Constitution.

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Shopping

Melissa Massello

As one might expect in the City of 1,000 Colleges, Boston is a great place to go treasure hunting and is chock full of a wide range of top-notch thrift shops and vintage stores. New Englanders are known for their frugality for a reason: while the rich donate their gently-loved castoffs to charity, the truly wealthy go elbow-to-elbow with starving artists and students for the best finds.

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As one might expect in the City of 1,000 Colleges, Boston is a great place to go treasure hunting and is chock full of a wide range of top-notch thrift shops and vintage stores. New Englanders are known for their frugality for a reason: while the rich donate their gently-loved castoffs to charity, the truly wealthy go elbow-to-elbow with starving artists and students for the best finds.

Yankee ingenuity means never paying a cent more than you need to for the good stuff, and knowing where to uncover the best bargains in The Hub is a finely honed skill -- one that I achieving expert status with while growing up in Boston. Here are my favorite places to shop:

Nowhere appreciates vintage clothing and furniture for its merit as museum-worthy timepieces quite like the bloggers and shop owners in Boston. One of the last remaining founders of Boston's vintage scene, Bobby from Boston owner Bobby Garnett, can still be found almost daily in his South End shop, curating his sartorial legacy and apprenticing the next generation. A bit farther down Tremont Street, newcomer Pioneer Goods Co. keeps this vision alive with a fantastic collection of "mantiques." Across the river in Cambridge, Poor Little Rich Girl and Boutique Fabulous, both in Inman Square, have wonderful collections of more feminine wears and wares, and Oona's Experienced Clothing in Harvard Square is everything you'd want from a New England vintage shop that overlooks such historic Ivy-covered gates. Saving the biggest for last, the Cambridge Antiques Market at Lechmere is four floors of vendors chock full, floor to ceiling, carrying every decade and design era a collector could possibly want.

THRIFT STORES

Boston's charity and thrift stores are some of the absolute best outside of Europe, both for the quality of the goods and the epic number of them in every neighborhood. Davis Square in Somerville, near the Tufts, Lesley, and Harvard University campuses, is your best one-stop-shop for vintage and thrift shopping, with a fantastic Goodwill next door to a Buffalo Exchange and FOUND, a local consignment shop, plus Consignment Galleries, a well-kept student secret for furnishing an entire apartment on a budget. Just down the road in Harvard Square is Second Time Around, the national consignment chain founded in Boston, and the famous Basement at Urban Outfitters. Hop on the T two stops to Kendall Square, near MIT in Cambridge, for vintage and thrift favorite Garment District, known for its two floors of vintage finds separated by decade and its famous "By the Pound" pile sale. Across the river, hidden in the center of Boston's infamously ritzy shopping promenade Newbury Street, sits designer consignment mecca The Closet, which has been outfitting Boston's sartorial set on a shoestring for more than 30 years. In Boston's South End, visit Boomerang's boutique on Washington Street for the creme de la creme of designer finds donated in the name of AIDS research, or Restoration Resources for upcycled and reclaimed pieces from antique Boston homes and brownstones for all of your DIY home projects. Definitely make sure to hit Goodwill's Harrison Ave store location, which is also the headquarters for the Morgan Memorial organization founded in Boston in the late 1800s. Next door, The Goodwill Outlet is not for the faint of heart, but a 1,000-square-foot section of warehouse featuring ever-rotating bins of items that (for whatever reason) never found a buyer in stores, and are sold by the pound. I once found a vintage men's Pendleton wool coat in pristine condition for $3.99 and a Burberry's wool sweater for under a buck!

For longer stays in New England, a well-timed vacation can provide wonderful day trips to the many historic flea markets and antiques shows -- including one right within city limits. The SoWa Market in Boston's South End is a weekly ritual for many locals, happening all day each Sunday from the beginning of May through October, featuring hundreds of local, handmade, and vintage vendors, artists, food trucks, and more. Todd's Farm Flea Market, on the North Shore of Boston, happens every Sunday from mid-April through mid-November, and the famous Brimfield Flea Markets -- America's oldest outdoor antiques market in Brimfield, MA -- happens for one week each May, July, and September. Put on the map by HGTV's show Flea Market Flip, the Elephant's Trunk Flea Market in Connecticut is also open every weekend from May through September and is well worth the 3-hour drive from Boston.

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About Boston

Boston, Massachusetts is arguably the most historic city in the United States. With a variety of nightlife and entertainment, historical attractions, and thriving arts scene, Boston has become one of top travel destinations within the United States. Boston is broken down into several unique neighborhoods. Some of the highlights include Back Bay, an upscale area with many boutique shops and top-class dining options; Chinatown, the fourth largest in the U.S.; Downtown, the primary hub of all tourist activity; and the South End, known for its Victorian brownstones dating back hundreds of years.

While you're in Boston, be sure to make time to visit some of these must-see destinations:

Some of the city's most popular events include a two-day regatta in October that features over 8,000 rowers, the Boston Marathon in mid-April, and one of the biggest St. Patrick's Day festivals in the country during mid-March. No matter what time of year you visit, you'll have no problem finding a vacation rental in Boston. Whether you want a luxury villa, an apartment with skyline views of downtown Boston, or a condo in nearby Cambridge, there's sure to be a property that will meet all of your needs. If you have some extra time and want to explore the surrounding area, check out Cape Cod or Providence, both of which are less than an hour and a half away by car.