Chef Michael Schlow brings you one of Boston's premier seafood dining destinations. The team of Schlow, Esti Parsons and Christopher Myers--who were so successful with Radius and Matta have created Great Bay in the Commonwealth Hotel. It is not cheap, but who wants seafood that isn't of the utmost quality anyway? This place has a modern, nautically themed dining room and lounge marked by sky-high ceilings, deep blues and playful lighting fixtures. The "Sand Dollar Menu," offered weekdays from 5pm to 6pm at the Island Bar (raw bar), includes spicy fish tacos, chilled Duxbury oysters and lobster-shrimp dumplings, all for $1 each.

Eastern Standard serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. It caters to hotel guests, locals and Red Sox fans. A popular place to dine before a Red Sox game, Eastern Standard is a popular destination post game as well. Whether you are there for a delicious brasserie experience or saddling up to the bar to enjoy the extensive cocktail list, Eastern Standard does not disappoint. Voted Best of Boston for Group dining as well. Fair warning: can be loud at the bar after the Sox get out! A real French brasserie is kind of like the equivalent of an American steak house/comfort food joint: croque monsieurs, onion soup, a huge plate of oysters, crabs legs, and other seafood tasties, wash it down with a flute of champagne or a nice glass of belgian ale. It's high minded, delicious, slightly decadent without feeling like you've gorged on a side of creamed spinach.

You may remember Maison Robert the tres fancy French restaurant that occupied a corner of Old City Hall for many years? This is one of two new incarnations of that old standard -- a smaller and more intimate setting as it's name suggests. It has a sibling in the South End. The chef and owner pride themselves in being a true French bistro, meaning a restaurant where your average Joe goes to eat. Lunch entrees are under $12 and dinner entrees are $20.