Some rooms announce their age the second you walk in. Grill 23 does it with dark wood, marble and the steady hum of a dining room that has not lost a step since 1983.
Published June 11, 2026 · By Daniel Okafor
Grill 23 & Bar sits at 161 Berkeley Street in Back Bay, a short walk from the Arlington stop on the Green Line. The dining room opens nightly from 5pm, per the restaurant's own site, and weekend reservations are essential. The bar, set in a former insurance hall, is the better perch for a solo nightcap.
The steakhouse has anchored Back Bay since 1983, and Boston Magazine has handed it Best of Boston honors for its dry-aged beef. The bar holds its own as a serious destination in its own right, built around a classic martini and a wine list that runs deep.
Order a martini, stirred and cold, or pull from one of the city's most-decorated cellars, and pair it with steak tartare from the bar menu. Skip the table if a drink is all you came for. The bar seats put you closer to the action and the bartenders.
The room is a two-story stunner of coffered ceilings, leather banquettes and brass, the kind of grand space that newer steakhouses spend fortunes trying to imitate.
The crowd is suits closing deals early, couples marking occasions, and visitors who read the steakhouse rankings before they booked. It runs quiet at opening and fills once the theater district lets out.
Reviewers on Google Maps and regulars on r/boston agree the bar program matches the kitchen, singling out the martini and the cellar as reasons to skip the dining room entirely on a weeknight.
The wine program is the quiet headline. Grill 23 keeps one of the largest cellars in the city, and the bar staff pour by the glass from bottles most rooms reserve for full-table orders, which makes the bar the smart seat for anyone who wants range without committing to a whole bottle.
The building itself is part of the draw. Soaring ceilings, marble columns and brass give the room a grandeur that reads as old Boston rather than corporate steakhouse, and the staff lean into the formality without tipping into stuffiness. Arrive before the dining room peaks to claim a bar stool with a clear view of the floor.
What keeps Grill 23 on a Boston list is consistency at the top end. Plenty of steakhouses have opened and closed in Back Bay since 1983, and this one set the standard the rest still chase. Our roundup of the best bars in Boston sets the wider field.
For the broader picture, the Back Bay bar guide maps the neighbourhood's most polished rooms within a few blocks of Berkeley Street.
Grill 23 pairs with the city's other grown-up bars. Eastern Standard keeps a grand brasserie tradition alive, while Citizen Public House and No. 9 Park carry the serious-cocktail thread across the city. For the full field, our Boston bar guide sets the scene.
