Harvard Square Stores Win Boston's Best

Ten favorite Harvard Square locations, from Jasmine/Sola to Up Stairs at the Pudding, have been named "Boston's Best" by The Improper Bostonian in an issue of the magazine released this month.

Three restaurants--Up Stairs at the Pudding, The Wrap and John Harvard's Brewhouse--were given awards in the restaurant categories.

Pudding proprietor Mary-Catherine Deibel--whose Holyoke Street restaurant was awarded the prize for best romantic dinner--said that of all the awards her restaurant has won, this honor has attracted the most attention.

"More and more people are reading The Improper Bostonian," Deibel said. "And there is always a market for romance."

John Harvard's Brewhouse earned a very different accolade, as its large selection of eight beers brewed on the premises won it the title of best brew pub.

But Bridget Kelly, the restaurant's manager, said there's more to the Brewhouse than just beer.

"I see John Harvard's as a great restaurant first and a good bar second," Kelly said. The management has been focusing on changing the menu in order to accommodate customers' requests to offer more vegetarian options.

And for the second consecutive year, The Wrap restaurant on Mount Auburn Street was the winner of the award for best wraps in Boston.

Sal Farulla, a managing partner of The Wrap, believes that while winning the award has helped to attract more customers, more of the store's success should be attributed to the quality of the wraps and smoothies they offer.

Since its opening in January 1998, Farulla said, the store has been successful in attracting a mix of customers, mostly professionals, students and tourists.

Harvard Square winners in other categories were Jasmine for trendy women's clothing and women's shoestore and Alpha Omega for watch store.

Chains with branches in the Square also earned honors, with City Sports taking the prize for athletic clothing and equipment, Crate & Barrel winning for all-purpose home store and Tweeter earning accolades for stereo and video equipment.

The American Repertory Theater's production of Don DeLillo's play Valparaiso also earned a prize for best theater production, while the annual Head of the Charles boat races were named the best spectator sport.

The Improper Bostonian has published their Boston's Best list for the past eight years.

At a dinner sponsored by the magazine, the judges--a group of Boston personalities from D.J.s to politicians--nominated their top picks for several hundred categories. The magazine's editorial staff made the final decisions.

The Improper Bostonian won the right to publish this year's list after a legal battle with Boston Magazine last year. Boston Magazine, whose own Best of Boston list has been published for 26 years, sued the Improper Bostonian over their use of the phrase "Best of Boston."

According to John Strahinich, the executive editor of Boston Magazine, the Improper Bostonian had violated an agreement between the two magazines, which stated that The Improper Bostonian would not use the term "Best of Boston" in reference to its list.

Boston Magazine won the case, and its own list will be published in August.