Best Italian Restaurant In Massachusetts Revealed: Daily Meal

BOSTON, MA — It's almost Valentine's Day (Wednesday, people, Wednesday!) While there's nothing wrong with staying home and making your loved one a PB&J, perhaps consider a night at one of the finer Italian restaurants in the country.

Fortunately you need not be a food critic to identify the cream of the crop in Massachusetts. The Daily Meal has done that for you, coming up with a list of the best Italian restaurants in every state.

In Massachusetts, said restaurant is of course found in Boston. But check the address before setting your GPS to the North End.

Scampo, located in the jailhouse-turned-swanky Liberty Hotel just outside Beacon Hill, is "one of the best Italianish restaurants you'll ever dine at," according to the Daily Meal. Why? It could be the handmade bread that comes in seven varieties, as the food website raves. Or the full "mozzarella bar." Or the pizza topped with white clam and bacon. Maybe, just maybe, it's the special Valentine's Day menu.

The regular menu not be for everyone. If the prices don't deter you - $24 for an appetizer - then maybe the exotic offerings will - that $24 appetizer is tandoori-fired large sea scallops on whipped white eggplant.

But if you like good food and want to make a night of it (literally - just book a room at the Liberty,) check out Scampo. Those folks at the Daily Meal usually know what they are talking about.

About the Liberty: It's a luxury hotel that now stands where the Charles Street Jail once did. Don't worry, the jail closed in 1990.

Why The Daily Meal loves Scampo: Entrées include brick chicken with black garlic purée and Meyer lemon risotto, cotechino sausage ravioli with truffle foam and purple kale, and braised short rib with whipped celeriac. It’s one of those menus where literally everything looks delicious… but we’ll be waiting for Friday night, when the special is roast suckling pig. Read more.

Where to find it: 215 Charles St., Boston. Take the Red Line to Charles/MGH and walk across the street.

Phone number: 617-536-2100.

Hours: Lunch: Monday - Friday 11:30am - 2:30pm; Dinner: Sunday - Wednesday 5:30pm - 10:00pm; Dinner: Thursday - Saturday 5:30pm - 11:00pm; Brunch: Saturday and Sunday 11:30am - 2:30pm

Website: scampoboston.com

Tell us: Do you agree? Where do you go when you want scrumptious, authentic Italian food in Massachusetts? Let us know what you think in the comments.

Image via shutterstock