The home of America's first university, its first public school, and its first public library, the Boston area now hosts more than two hundred thousand students. From 1630, when John Winthrop said Boston should be “a city on a hill,” through the McGuffey readers of the nineteenth century, the city has been a beacon of learning. Its politics have been long and colorful: Massachusetts boasts the oldest continuously used, written Constitution in the world, John Adams's 1780 state constitution; the gerrymander was named after Governor Elbridge Gerry's plan for redrawing North Shore districts; the early years of this century saw fierce Yankee-Irish battles for the State House. Massachusetts produced and remains transfixed by the Kennedys, was the only state to vote for George McGovern, and has another interesting gubernatorial race this year. (Keep an eye peeled for people standing with election signs at busy intersections, a local political tradition.) In short, Boston holds much allure for the political scientist.

For the tourist, too, Boston is an appealing destination. It is a compact city and, in the words of the old travel cliché, a city best appreciated on foot (or by public transportation). Most sites of interest in the historic downtown and nearby nineteenth-century neighborhoods are within walking distance of each other. There are restaurants, shops, book-stores, and a certain European vitality of city life—perhaps the result of narrow streets and ample green space. For walkers, the Freedom Trail organizes most of the major Revolution-era sites, and plenty of other spots are marked in the historic core. The same history, though, means Boston's streets were laid out on seventeenth-century cowpaths.

Welcome to Boston, the Athens of America. Many of you are new to town, or haven't been back since long-ago grad school days, so this is a good opportunity to dispell some misconceptions you probably have about dining out in the Hub of the Universe.

First of all, Boston-area cuisine is far more than clam chowda (with cream, and no tomato, thank you), pot roast, and baked beans with brown bread. You certainly can enjoy these fine regional delicacies, especially in places catering to tourists, but Boston's restaurant scene simply has exploded in the past decade to encompass a wide variety of foods and dining experiences. Indeed, Boston's reputation as insular and hidebound, while well-deserved in matters like sex, politics, and the Red Sox, no longer extends to food. You want nouvelle cuisine? Regional American? Japanese? Malaysian? Ethiopian? Mexican?! You got it—though, remember, this is Boston, not Austin.

And don't worry about service. Despite what you've heard, we Bostonians aren't really rude to strangers—except when we drive. Besides, most of the restaurant staff you'll encounter are transplanted New Yorkers enrolled at the Berklee School of Music, so any lousy service isn't our fault. Just sit back and enjoy the attitude. We do.

Above all, dining out in Boston these days is an exciting and pleasurable experience, especially if on someone else's expense account. If not, there still are plenty of reasonably-priced places to suit your fancy, though what strikes us East Coast city folks as “reasonable” may not exactly meet your definition.