Hungry? Options abound in the convention center and beyond

You’ve got your badge and have already thumbed through and marked the scientific sessions and events you want to attend.

But…what’s that noise? It’s like a persistent grumbling…

That’s your tummy — you forgot to figure out where to eat. We can help.

The area in and around the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center offers a range of food and entertainment options. You just have to decide what you want — and maybe go for a little walk.
If you want to stay inside, eating at the convention center is easy.

Just inside the main entrance in the North Lobby and open most days, you’ll find Outtakes Quick Cuisine, offering sandwiches, salads, pastries, coffee and bottled beverages. Outtakes also has daily hot specials.

For those staying in or attending sessions in the Westin Boston Waterfront, which adjoins the convention center, Starbucks in the lobby can satisfy your caffeine needs.

Looking for a hearty lunch? Wicked Good Market, located on Level 1 of the convention center, sells fresh sandwiches, Asian bowls, burritos, brick oven pizzas and specialty pastas. It also features a salad bar. The market is open from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day of the meeting.

Food stations throughout the convention center, including Wicket Good Market and Outtakes, offer gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian and nut-free foods.

For those looking to venture a bit farther afield, the options are many and may afford the option to stretch your legs. Take a walk along Boston Harbor and you’ll pass a bunch of choices. Opposite the convention center along D Street, you’ll find LTK Bar and Kitchen (225 Northern Ave.) offering myriad seafood choices.

In the same neighborhood is Jerry Remy’s Sports Bar & Grille (250 Northern Ave.) and Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse (255 Northern Ave.), as well as many other options. A bit farther down Summer Street (turn left as you exit the convention center's main entrance) is another gaggle of restaurants, including French food at Menton (345 Congress St.) and Papagayo (283 Summer St.), which offers Mexican fare.

To find out about other options, check out this guide (PDF).

Your appetite sated, consider stopping by the Fort Point Channel District, which separates the convention center from downtown Boston. You might know it as the site of the Boston Tea Party, but today it features landmarks including the shops at South Station, Boston Children’s Museum and the Institute of Contemporary Art.

So the options are many, and the meeting is five days long. Pace yourself and you may get to try a little of everything. Enjoy!

— C.T.