Red all over
The Chicken Parmigiano at Russo and Sons in Watertown is dangerous – and not only because it’s just about the size of a Buick. The thinly sliced chicken filets are fried to perfection, the marinara has tang, and the sub roll is firm. You tell yourself you’ll eat half now and save the rest for tomorrow, and, well, good luck. Before you know it, your hands are drenched with red sauce, mozzarella cheese is dripping onto the table, and the thing is disappearing. – S.D.H.
560 Pleasant Street
Watertown
617-923-1500
http://www.russos.com
Bon temps burger
Perhaps you’ve had a carpetbagger steak, a filet stuffed with oysters. But you have to go to The Gallows in the South End for a Carpetburger. If the name isn’t particularly savory, the concept is: a humble flat beef burger patty with American cheese that’s goosed with fried oysters and house-made remoulade. Bayou meets Big Mac: How American. – D.F.
1395 Washington Street
Boston
617-425-0200
http://www.thegallowsboston.com
Off the hook
A Tuna Club at Red Rock Bistro in Swampscott is worth the $14 price. This is not tuna out of a can, but fresh tuna, seared to just the other side of raw, and it’s served with a side of Asian slaw tossed with ginger vinaigrette. You find these babies in Hawaii, and to discover one in Swampscott? A dream come true. – S.D.H.
141 Humphrey Street
Swampscott
781-595-1414
http://www.redrockbistro.com
From Lisbon, with love
The lunch-hour star at Newburyport’s new coastal European bistro Ceia Kitchen + Bar is a mouthful in more ways than one. Smothered with caramelized onions and stuffed inside a house-made grilled Portuguese sourdough bun, the Bifana Open-Faced Steak With Caramelized Onion panino – bifana is beef tenderloin marinated in the traditional Portuguese style – is a souped-up, fork-and-knife version of the old corner burger (not to mention a far more suitable companion to an afternoon glass of Garnacha). – A.G.
25 State Street
Newburyport
978-358-8112
http://www.ceia-newburyport.com
Saturday special
Run by a pair of Culinary Institute of America graduates, Cutty’s in Brookline is a sandwich shop for connoisseurs. Just about everything is handmade at the restaurant – and it’s all delicious. Cutty’s slow-roasted pork sandwiches are made only on Saturdays, and they’re worth waiting all week for. There are two versions containing the savory meat, both on sesame seed rolls. The Pork Fennel comes with piquant pickled fennel and roasted garlic, the Pork Rabe with pleasingly bitter sauteed broccoli rabe and provolone. – D.F.
284 Washington Street
Brookline
617-505-1844
http://www.cuttyfoods.com
“It’s peanut butter jelly time!”