For huge portions of delicious food, a rowdy atmosphere where CEOs share tables with students, and run-ins with the famously cranky waitresses, people have poured into Durgin-Park since 1827. It's everything it's cracked up to be -- a tourist magnet that attracts many locals, where everyone's disappointed when the waitresses are nice, as they often are. Approximately 2,000 people a day join the line that stretches down a flight of stairs to the first floor of Faneuil Hall Marketplace's North Market building. The queue moves quickly, and you'll probably wind up seated at a long table with other people (smaller tables are available).

The food is wonderful, and there's plenty of it -- prime rib the size of a hubcap, lamb chops, fried seafood, and roast turkey are sure bets. The cooks broil steaks and chops on an open fire over wood charcoal. Fresh seafood arrives twice daily, and fish dinners are broiled to order. Vegetables come a la carte; Boston baked beans are a signature dish, and this is the best place to try them. For dessert, strawberry shortcake is justly celebrated, and Indian pudding (molasses and cornmeal baked for hours and served with ice cream) is a New England classic.