From oysters to pizza, tacos to junk food towers, Boston's new restaurants offer delights

Call it a post pandemic boom, but despite tedious delays due to those pesky supply line problems, Boston is bursting with new restaurants this season. Here’s a handful to try:

Puritan Oyster Bar, Cambridge

As winter drew to a close, Groton native and chef Will Gilson opened Puritan Oyster Bar in Inman Square, in the unused storefront adjacent to his very first restaurant, Puritan & Co. Gilson, who lives in Acton, also heads Café Beatrice, Geppetto, and The Lexington at the newly developed Cambridge Crossing, and also The Herb Lyceum’s delightful dinner series, held spring through fall on the Groton farm where he grew up. With 30 seats surrounding a long bar, Puritan Oyster Bar is a drinks and seafood-focused drop-in spot with sharable, snackable dishes, which could amount to a full dinner if you prefer. As the name suggests, oysters are a focus, but Gilson adds many seafood, meat and plant-based dishes to the menu. Local beers, a mainly white wine focused drinks list and imaginative cocktails round out the fun.

Try: Rotating varieties of New England and eastern Canadian coast oysters on the half shell; smoked bluefish melt; hot buttered lobster toast; and the signature Glug Jug — sharable large-format cocktails tailored to complement each week’s selection of oysters and served in a Gurgling Cod pitcher. Open daily, 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. at 1164 Cambridge St., Cambridge. puritancambridge.com

Borrachito Taqueria & Spirits, Seaport District

In early April, Marathon Monday to be precise, New York-based Garret Group, which happens to be co-founded by Boston-native Gavin Moseley, brought its cocktail bar-taqueria concept to the Seaport’s The Superette. With a vintage looking neon sign at its entry, the taqueria is easy to spot from the street, but the bar is hidden, speakeasy style and accessed from inside the taqueria, through a deceptive walk-in freezer door at the back. The 30-seat taqueria has a clean look, with blue and white tiling; the 70-seat bar has a warmer nostalgic 1950s southwestern diner vibe, especially with its display of vintage Mexican movie posters, postcards and roadway maps. Chef Yuval Ochoa, a native of Guadalajara and a veteran of Borrachito, New York, oversees the kitchen; food may be ordered and eaten in the bar as well as the taqueria.

Try: Fried cauliflower and blistered shishito pepper taco served with jalapeno ranch; esquites — Mexican street-style grilled corn with cotija, chipotle mayo, seasoned with tajin — a blend of chili peppers, lime and sea salt; Truth or Pear, which shakes up chili infused Rosaluna Mezcal with rosemary, pear and lime, and adds a dehydrated blueberry salt finish. Taqueria: Open daily, 11 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. Bar: Monday through Friday 4 p.m. to 2 a.m.; Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. at 70 Pier 4 Blvd., Boston. borrachito.com

Bar Vlaha, Brookline

The latest concept from Xenia Greek Hospitality (the team behind the hottest seats in Back Bay: Krasi Meze & Wine and Hecate cocktail bar, is named for Greek nomadic shepherds, the Vlach, who are said to be the founders of mainland Greek cooking. Culinary director Brendan Pelley interprets that in crisped phyllo pastry pies, freshly baked breads, Greek sheep’s milk cheeses and spit-roasted meats, often using a hot coal, open flame cooking technique in a stone oven called a gastra, which is the basis of traditional rustic Greek cooking. The wine list is informed by Xenia’s extensive cellar, housing one of the country’s largest selections of Greek wines.

Try: Melitzanosalata, a charred eggplant and pepper dip; mavromatika, a black eyed pea, native Greek Florina pepper, and pickled shallot salad; manitaropita, a phyllo pastry pita stuffed with wild mushrooms and thyme; retsina, the everyday Greek wine, on tap. Open daily, 5 p.m. to midnight at 1653 Beacon St., Brookline. barvlaha.com

Rare Lounge, Everett

A couple minutes drive north of Charlestown, Rare Lounge is the new little sister spot to Rare Steakhouse, Encore Boston Harbor’s signature restaurant. It's a suave, but relaxed alternative for a more casual dinner, or a place to begin or end the night with drinks and a bite. Both are overseen by new executive chef Megan Vaughan, whose resume includes Michael Mina’s Bourbon Steak in Seattle, The Beach Club in Santa Monica and Wolfgang Puck’s CUT in Beverly Hills.

Try: BDF (Best Damn Fries), Maine's Kennebec potatoes doused with black truffle, parmesan and served with a Bearnaise sauce; gluten-free mussel pot, cooked meunière style with leeks and white wine, finished with garlic butter and served with toasted sourdough; and the sharable, incomparable Junk Food Tower, a fluffy ball of cotton candy surrounded by coconut sno-balls, cupcakes, fruity pebble treats (like rice crispy treats but made with Fruity Pebbles), chocolate chip cookies and whoopie pies. It’s meant to serve up to four people, but that is subjective! Open Sunday to Thursday 4 p.m. to 11 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 4 p.m. to midnight at 1 Broadway, Everett. encorebostonharbor.com

Joia Restaurant & Lounge

This Italian-styled restaurant at the boutique Harborside Inn on State Street is steps from Little Italy, just across the Rose Kennedy Greenway. Indeed, owner Gianmarco Rinaldi is a veteran of Trattoria il Panino, a North End institution on Hanover Street. Inside, Joia’s decor is a whimsical, modern rethinking of Gilded Age grandeur; outside, there’s a large sidewalk patio overlooking the Greenway and bustling modern Boston life. The menu pairs traditional Italian dishes with classic modern American ones, spread throughout breakfast, lunch and dinner service. Stop in for eggs Benedict or pancakes, pastas and seafood, or drinks at the bar — Joia becomes a late-night lounge on weekends.

Try: Classic gnocchi in a fresh marinara sauce; cacio e pepe pasta with pecorino Romano; espresso martini, which is making a surprising comeback on cocktail lists. Open daily, 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.; late night lounge, Thursday to Saturday 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. joiaboston.com

Hue, Back Bay

The Copley Square Hotel opened at the corner of Huntington Avenue and Exeter Street on the cusp of Back Bay and the South End in 1891 and, in the 1940s, housed the legendary Storyville Jazz Club, where great jazz artists like Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong performed. From the 1960s into the ‘90s, the dining and club space housed Café Budapest and eventually the nightclub, Saint. Hue continues the nightlife legacy with the lower level Hue supper club dining room, which hosts live music and a DJ spinning nightly after 9 p.m.; and a speakeasy styled backroom lounge. A focal point in the main dining room is a pretty, ethereal jazz influenced mural by local artist ProblaK. Executive chef Barnett Harper, a veteran of the New England Culinary Institute, Seattle’s Tom Douglas Restaurants Group and Boston’s historic Café Marliave, oversees the Asian-influenced comfort food menus served both in the lower-level spaces and in the street-side Huntington Avenue level Rosebar.

Try: Vegetable and tofu chow fun; whole fried fish with a sweet and sour sauce (serves two); crispy tempura taro root and carrot with a ponzu dip; the humorously named Resting Spritz Face, a refreshing sangria-spritz created from pinot grigio, fresh peach puree and strawberries, and topped with soda and a lemon twist. Open — Rosebar: Thursday to Saturday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Tuesday to Sunday 5 p.m.to midnight; Supper Club: Thursday to Saturday 5 p.m. to 2 a.m.; Speakeasy: Thursday to Saturday 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. at 90 Exeter St, Boston. hueboston.com

Josephine, Somerville

Chef Michael Scelfo, owner of Cambridge’s much applauded Alden & Harlow, Waypoint, and The Longfellow Bar, moved east to Somerville for his next venture, Josephine. Set in the newly opened Cambria Hotel, the restaurant pays homage to Scelfo’s Sicilian grandmother and is decorated with personal photos of Scelfo’s family and of their family trips. Those hang alongside playful drawings by close friend, local artist Christopher DeLorenzo, who also illustrated the menu. Carerra marble, penny tile flooring, a long white marble bar and high wooden ceilings are interior visual focal points, while the patio bar adds more seating including around the fire pit. Scelfo’s menu includes deep dish and thin crust pizzas, a selection of suppli (a crisped rice, arancini type snack), meat and fish entrees, and a selection of spaghettis.

Try: the signature Jo’s Classic Deep Dish Pizza, customize at will; broccoli, garlic and anchovy stuffed suppli; spaghetti topped with fried cauliflower, nutritional yeast and hazelnut butter; the house Negroni. Open Sunday to Thursday 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.; Friday to Saturday 5 p.m. to 12:30 p.m. at 515 Somerville Ave., Somerville. josephinepizza.com

Scores, West End

This spring, the sports bar institution that was The Fours became Scores, but sports fans shouldn’t worry: 33 big screen TVs and 50 speakers are newly installed throughout the two floors of this massive 6,300-square-feet spread. Sports memorabilia lines the walls and includes a signed Bobby Orr photo at the entrance, as an homage to The Fours, which was named for the legendary Bruins player: Number four. Magic Johnson’s Team USA jersey hangs alongside a veritable museum of Bruins, Celtics, Red Sox and Patriots memorabilia. The menu is contemporary American casual, from burgers to bao buns and includes selection of six flatbreads, each named for a Boston sports legend, a theme that carries through to cocktails and boozy — or not — milkshakes.

Try: Bam-Bam Cam (yes, named for Cam Neely) flatbread topped with garlic sauce, mozzarella, mushrooms, roasted peppers and onions; Thornton’s Punch, a tiki-style drink named for Bruins’ Shawn Thornton; Black and Gold, a root beer float honoring the Bruins; The Celtic’s Shake, a vanilla milk shake, colored green — add your favorite shot. Open daily, 11:30 a.m. to 2 a.m. at 166 Canal St., Boston. scores-boston.com

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Boston’s post pandemic restaurant boom is hot-hot