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Dini's Sea Grill in Boston: A Great Old School Seafood Restaurant

If you loved no frills Boston seafood restaurants, few were better than Dini's Sea Grill on Tremont St. So many state politicians ate there that their offices must have been empty at lunch time -- although that wasn't always the case. The Boston Globe once reported that former Massachusetts governor Edward King once "had $1,200 worth of lobster and crabmeat salad sandwiches delivered from Dini's to his office." (reference: https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-8187359.html).

Dini's not only had a memorable, non-generic short and snappy name, but a real reputation for serving well above average seafood without a need to rip off the public with phony, inflated prices. Yes, Dini's might have only gotten one star from the Mobil Travel Guide, but the locals knew better. After all, so many of us Bostonians knew, and still know our seafood.

Opening in 1926 and closing in 1990, Dini's built a strong reputation on serving excellent schrod and variations of lobster dishes like Lobster Newburg. Although it didn't come from the sea, Dini's tartar sauce (yes, the rare tartar fish species...) always seemed to received high accolades. A lot of really old people seemed to love Dini's. Maybe they wouldn't look so old now, though. If Dini's were around today, I'd be going there all the time. It's really hard to find a straightforward fish restaurant nowadays, eh?

Match cover credit: https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search/commonwealth:9593v614w
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8 comments:

  1. PeterAugust 31, 2016 at 4:55 PM

    The place was packed until the day it closed. As I remember they were going to tear the building down and put up a tower. It never happened, such a loss.

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    1. Eric, the New England travel writerJuly 7, 2017 at 5:21 PM

      I know it, what a shame they closed. Dini's was really one of the true landmark Boston restaurants.

      Delete
  2. Deborah HoltOctober 29, 2018 at 11:42 PM

    In the early ‘80’s I would have dinner at Dini’s before my Suffolk University evening class. I loved the atmosphere and their extensive menu that featured about a half dozen variations on Finnan Haddie.

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  3. SeaSonnedNovember 25, 2018 at 9:44 PM

    I worked there for a while in 1988. I didn’t make a lot of money because I was a bad waiter and I got fired, but the crew meal was so generous. Fish chowder was free, and baker schrod was only $1.85! It was good to be an employee.

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  4. UnknownJuly 14, 2019 at 4:53 AM

    Does anyone know what became of their storefront? Is it Suffolk univ? I didn’t think it was too far from the corner near the hotel? I was there yesterday trying to remember my days from the 1970’s!

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    1. separatechecksOctober 29, 2023 at 5:44 PM

      It was two doors in from the alley off Tremont that led to the Employee entrance of the Parker House. I worked at the Parker House in the 70s so I remember. There was a similar
      Seafood Restaurant on the corner of the alley with a bar in the back named "Chez Freddie"...it was a hangout for restaurant and hotel employees from downtown after their shift...top shelf was a $1.50!! Good Old Days!! Yes, SUFFOLK and its hideous building is on the block where DINI's was...and the alley is actually Bosworth Street which leads to the wonderful old Cafe MARLIAVE...the other seafood resto is now the BEANTOWN PUB...Uggghhhhh..."Beantown"???

      https://maps.app.goo.gl/6QA5v4KtvsxfqLnBA

      Delete
  5. SteveHLSeptember 23, 2019 at 10:29 AM

    When I was a child, Dini's was the place that my family went to for celebratory occasions. I still miss it.

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  6. UnknownMarch 29, 2021 at 8:23 AM

    It's 2021 and I still miss it, nothing really comes close

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