When Jahunger opened its doors in Cambridge last year, lovers of fiery-umami flavors and chewy, chili-laced hand-pulled noodles rejoiced. The Uyghur restaurant, which started in Providence, has legions of loyal fans who flock to it for the namesake Jahunger noodles, yes, but also tiny cumin and pepper-coated marinated lamb skewers, and the cold chicken appetizer lacquered in a secret chili sauce topped with onions, slivered black fungus, and scallions.

Mu Lan is the answer to all of your group dining anxieties. Big round tables draped in white tablecloths and crowded with plates from family-style feasts dot the always-bustling dining room. There are even a few cordoned off private rooms, free to reserve if you plan ahead. Start with West Lake soup, a savory and warming broth thickened with egg, and flaky scallion pancakes with sliced beef. Look for house specials marked on the menu, like the braised pork shin in brown sauce.

Harvest has a calm, serene energy, a menu that’s pretty universally appealing (there’s a great chicken breast with mashed potatoes), and it’s exactly where people go to celebrate graduating from one of the several universities in the area. The dark wood makes you feel like you’re stepping into a cozy library or private club, and the outdoor space is equipped with heaters and open year-round. The lamb is always great, or try the rich, creamy ‘nduja and potato gnocchi or the duck breast.

The menu at Dear Annie doubles as a zine with a grainy cover photo of Tina Turner and David Bowie sharing a swig from a bottle of wine. It’s a fitting image for a New American restaurant that encourages mingling both with people you know and those you don't. At the massive 16-seat communal table in the center of the room, taper candles flicker on faces and someone is always just a glass of trousseau away from swiping the deck of Tarot cards on the table and reading your future.

Amba is a downright dreamy all-day cafe from the people behind Puritan and Co., with tufted pink booths and a string of bar seats along the street-level windows. The Mediterranean-ish menu is extremely shareable, so bring a friend or two to cover the most ground. Start with the silken, garlicky hummus topped with a hearty amount of savory lamb and served with warm housemade pita. Follow that up with the arayes, a crunchier, crispy pita with ground spiced lamb smashed into it.

Area Four has been at the heart of the growing food scene in Kendall Square since 2011. They’re best known for serving wood-fired pizzas in an industrial chic dining room, but they’ve also got a cafe with excellent coffee and breakfast pastries. During the week, you’ll find scientists escaping windowless labs to take meetings over briny clam and oregano pizzas, but making a trip to Kendall Square for weekend brunch is really the move. Order the perfect breakfast pizza.

La Royal is the restaurant equivalent of cashmere loungewear. The space, with its low lighting, exposed brick, cozy two-tops, and handsome copper bar serves Peruvian comfort food dressed in party clothes. Stew, stir-fries, and ceviches are the backbone of the menu, along with Chifa cuisine, a mashup of Chinese and Peruvian flavors, including the classic Lomo Saltado, an umami-bomb of steak, tomatoes, onions, and soy sauce.

This Middle Eastern counter-service cafe and bakery in West Cambridge, which comes from the same team behind Oleana and Sarma, is one of those places where you can easily walk in and linger for hours. Snack on mozzarella-stuffed börek and date turmeric rolls for breakfast, and then toss out any other plans you might’ve made for the day in favor of muhammara, whipped feta, and tahini hummus with beef for lunch. Before you know it, you’re getting some spinach falafel and lamb shawarma for dinner.

If you find yourself longing to break out of the work-from-home routine, Gufo, from the team behind SRV, Salty Pig, and Baelia, is a great excuse to put on real pants. The expansive space has two dining areas, and a cheery, pink horseshoe bar canopied with plants. The restaurant is (rightfully) well-known for their dinner menus with wood-fired pizzas and fresh pastas, but here’s the thing: we love a midday, midweek table for one.

Taking over the whole fifth floor of a building on Lafayette Square, Saigon Babylon has a roof deck and a vibey dining room with enormous windows, tons of plants, and chandeliers dangling over mismatched furniture. Beyond the atmosphere, we’re here for dishes like the tender lemongrass beef—rich, barely seared wagyu kissed with a passion fruit sauce and topped with a rice cracker. The Good Dealer, a cocktail that mixes pho spices with yuzu jam and gin, tastes engineered to be enjoyed at sunset.

Japanese izakaya, meet New England ingredients. The menu at this spot goes heavy on shareable seafood plates like monkfish katsu, lobster miso soup, and soy sauce-seasoned scallops that are all great for pairing with a sake flight while sitting by the crackling fireplace. Think about the place like a casual izakaya meets a cocktail bar, which means you can walk in on any weeknight for a post-work bite with colleagues or go for an impromptu date night.

This Inman Square bistro serves peak New England-style food, with some modern remixes. Clam chowder gets a drizzle of chive oil and a sprinkling of sugar-cured bacon, while bluefish is smoked and turned into a creamy pate spread across toasted rye. The restaurant leans heavily on local produce, mostly from the chef’s family farm in nearby Groton. Even the vibes feel very New England—you’ll feel like you’re eating dinner in a renovated farmhouse that just happens to be in Inman Square.

The dining room at Pammy’s, a restaurant located between Harvard and Central Squares, is a little fancy. Maybe that's because of the wood-burning fireplace or the almost-lifesize statue of Demeter, the Greek goddess of the harvest, resting on the back of the bar. But thanks to the easygoing service and buzzing crowd, it’s relaxed enough to make that blind date your aunt set up (and has been talking about for months) a little less awkward.

What we love most about Bar Enza is that it can be anything you want it to be, whether you’re celebrating an anniversary, meeting a client, or having a reunion with your rowdiest friends from college. The menu has things like tomato focaccia served with whipped ricotta, baked pasta brimming with pork shoulder and fontina, and a fish stew with generous portions of monkfish and mussels. The soft lighting and cozy touches like pink velvet upholstery create a fun, laid-back mood.

At Yume Wo Katare in Porter Square, the only decision you have to make is whether you want two or five slices of chashu in your ramen. The only menu item is a giant bowl of thick, chewy noodles swimming in rich pork broth, which is absolutely worth the inevitable wait to get in. After you finish, the staff will ask you if you’d like to stand up and share your dreams out loud with the other 15 to 20 diners in the tiny shop (Yume Wo Katare loosely translates to “tell your dream” in Japanese).

The smoky, sour, fiery-hot food of China’s Hunan province isn’t easy to track down in Boston. Thankfully, Sumiao Hunan Kitchen in Kendall Square exists. All the dishes on the enormous menu are served family-style, and almost everything is spicy, whether it’s braised frog, cumin-y sizzling lamb, or green pepper with century egg. Come here with a group that relishes heat, or that friend with a low spice tolerance who you love to torture.

This Italian restaurant on the edge of Porter Square is consistently booked a couple weeks out, and you’re going to have to deal with that if you want to eat there. And let’s be clear: you do want to eat at Giulia. They have a “pasta table” right by the kitchen that you can book for a big group and eat a bunch of family-style dishes, along with a small selection of tables and a dark bar in a back room that’s always packed.

Once you try this Inman Square restaurant’s namesake hearty Brazilian seafood stew, you’ll want to make this dining room your second home—or at least become a faithful regular, especially on cold winter nights. The dish is impossibly comforting, with generous portions of tender fish, shrimp, and calamari. But the seafood-heavy menu, with must-orders like deep-fried red snapper and shrimp bobo, is a treat year-round.

First impressions are important—just ask Mr. Darcy from Pride & Prejudice—and Gustazo Cuban in Porter Square knows this. You’ll immediately notice the art-house film posters and salsa-heavy playlist coming out of the speakers, which makes it a place for a fun dinner, with dishes highlighting the Spanish, Caribbean, and African influences on Cuban cooking. Get the crispy fried yuca, mussels with a chorizo sauce, and savory-sweet guava-glazed ribs.

Is it a jazz lounge? Is it a sushi restaurant? Mad Monkfish is a combination of both, and one of our favorite group dinner spots in the area. Come on a Friday or Saturday night when you can listen to a trumpet solo while eating a spread of rolls, Thai curries, or seafood fried rice. There’s the Sleeping Beauty with yellowtail and pineapple, not to mention the Gaga’s Monster Roll which has more ingredients than we can count on two hands.

Named after Afghanistan’s longest river, The Helmand in Kendall Square hasn’t changed much over the nearly 30 years it’s been open. Plus, they have consistently good dishes you won’t easily find elsewhere in the Boston area, like mantwo served on a bed of yogurt, the fried-then-baked pumpkin dish kaddo, and leek-filled aushak dumplings. The fireplace and wood-burning oven make the atmosphere extra cozy, so it’s nice that the friendly servers won’t mind if you post up for a while.