Massachusetts’ first Latino-owned brewery is in Hyde Park, plus 4 more underrated Boston neighborhoods for dinner

Start at Fornax Bread Company on Corinth Street, Roslindale’s neighborhood bakery since 1997. It bakes every day with no preservatives, and its breads and rolls also go to restaurants all over Boston. It’s open daily from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., with croissants, breakfast sandwiches, quiche, soups and salads. Grab a loaf for the morning on your way out.

For dinner, walk over to Sophia’s Grotto on Birch Street for wood-fired pizza and Mediterranean plates. Boston Magazine named its brick courtyard, hidden from the street, the Best Romantic Patio in Boston, and with heat lamps and string lights it’s a great date. If you’re there on a Saturday through November 21, the Roslindale Village Farmers Market runs from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in Adams Park.

Taquería Jalisco on Bennington Street is family-owned and worth the Blue Line ride on its own. Order a few tamales, chicken with salsa verde or pork with salsa roja, and add the birria tacos. If you’re hungrier, the carnitas torta and the pozole are both the real thing. It’s the kind of place where you end up ordering one more thing.

Jina Kim, her husband Yongsik and their son Alex opened Coreanos on Brighton Avenue in 2016, cooking Korean food in a Mexican format. The tacos come on doubled corn tortillas, the kimchi is made in house, and the double-fried Korean chicken is the order. Add kimchi fries for the table. A second Coreanos opened in Framingham in 2025, but Allston is the original, and it’s been on Brighton Avenue for a decade.

Roundhead Brewing opened in 2022 in the old Powerhouse at Westinghouse Plaza, a building with 35-foot ceilings and century-old brick. Owner and head brewer Luis Espinoza makes Chimú, a Peruvian red ale brewed with purple corn, and the pizza kitchen leans Latin American: the Smoke Belly has smoked pork belly, sweet potato purée and pickled onions. There’s ping-pong, skee-ball and free parking. A 20% fair wage fee goes on every taproom order, so plan for it. It’s open Wednesday through Sunday.

Thanh Le opened Phở Hòa on Dorchester Avenue in 1992, and his son Tam Le is now co-owner. It’s open every day, until 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. In 2022, Victoria Nguyen of the beloved Anh Hồng joined Tam Le after her restaurant closed, and the Globe tells that story. That’s why the menu has both a long list of phở and Anh Hồng’s bò 7 món, seven courses of beef, some cooked at your table. Boston Magazine named it Best Vietnamese in 2023. Bring a group so you can order everything.

Farther up the avenue, Jennifer Nguyen has been running Bánh Mì Ba Lẹ since the 1990s, and in 2025 the city gave it a Legacy Business Award. Nguyen started there in 1994 under her sister, took it over two years later and bought the building in 2017. It’s a sandwich shop and market, so pick up a bánh mì for tomorrow’s lunch. Active and retired military get a free sandwich and coffee.