"Lydia Shire's border-blurring Italian inside a converted Beacon Hill jail — reserve for the lobster pizza and the hand-pulled mozzarella bar."
Lydia Shire put a tandoori oven in an Italian kitchen and dared Boston to object. Two decades on, the naan and anchovy butter at Scampo are still the argument that won. Shire opened the restaurant in 2008 inside The Liberty Hotel at 215 Charles Street — the building was the Charles Street Jail — and built a menu that treats borders as suggestions. Pizzas start around $30, pastas $30 to $40, and mains run $40 to $65.
Lydia Shire is one of the defining figures of Boston cooking, the James Beard Best Chef: Northeast in 1992 and a chef who ran serious kitchens when few women were given the chance. At Scampo, with executive chef Simon Restrepo alongside her, she cooks Italian unrestrained by the Italian rulebook. The wood-fired lobster pizza is the signature, the hand-pulled mozzarella bar turns out burrata and stracciatella to order, and the tandoori oven bakes naan finished with an umami anchovy butter that has no business working and entirely does.
Beyond the headline dishes the menu wanders with intent: butter-poached lobster with charred radicchio and truffled Camembert beignets, tagliata of Nebraska prime sirloin, handmade pastas from aglio e olio to carbonara. It is maximalist, occasionally excessive, and unmistakably one chef's voice rather than a template. That point of view is what keeps Scampo distinct from the city's many capable Italian rooms.
Scampo occupies a corner of The Liberty Hotel, and the room carries the building's history: soaring brick, exposed beams, a long marble mozzarella bar as the centrepiece. It runs energetic and can get loud when the hotel is full, lighting low and flattering, tables a comfortable distance apart. Dress is smart-casual leaning dressy; this is a see-and-be-seen Beacon Hill room. Service is polished and the bar program is strong, so an aperitivo at the counter is a good way to start.
Reserve Scampo to impress a client or mark a birthday because it delivers a sense of occasion the moment you walk into the old jail: a striking room, a chef with a real name behind the menu, and showpiece dishes like the lobster pizza that give the table something to talk about. It is confident without being stuffy. For more see the Boston dining guide and our best Italian restaurants worldwide.
Not for purists who want their Italian by the book — Shire's menu detours to Mumbai and the Levant, and the room runs loud on busy hotel nights.
Yes — Scampo is one of the few Boston Italian rooms with a genuine authorial voice, and Lydia Shire's border-crossing cooking is worth the premium. The lobster pizza and the mozzarella bar are the dishes to come for, and the converted-jail setting is unlike anywhere else in the city. It is not cheap, but it earns the bill.
Moderately — weekend dinners and prime evening slots book out a week or two ahead, especially when The Liberty Hotel is busy. Reserve through OpenTable and aim for an earlier or later seating if your date is fixed. Walk-ins can usually find space at the bar. The address is 215 Charles Street, Beacon Hill.
Smart-casual, leaning dressy. It is a hotel restaurant on Beacon Hill with a fashionable crowd, so a blazer or a nice dress fits the room, though neat denim passes. There is no jacket requirement. Most guests dress for an evening out rather than a casual bite.
Pizzas start around $30, pastas run $30 to $40, and main courses $40 to $65. Expect roughly $80 to $130 per person with a drink and a shared starter. The lobster pizza and butter-poached lobster sit at the top of the range. Wine and the mozzarella bar add up quickly.
The wood-fired lobster pizza is the signature and a must. Add hand-pulled mozzarella from the bar, the tandoori naan with anchovy butter, and a handmade pasta. For a main, the butter-poached lobster or the Nebraska prime tagliata. See more in our best Italian restaurants worldwide.
Via OpenTable · The Liberty Hotel
Affiliate disclosure: Restaurants for Kings may earn a commission when you book through our reservation links, at no cost to you. Our scores are editorial and never paid for.
Alden & Harlow sits on our Boston first-date shortlist — the relaxed, shared-plate rooms where the format keeps the conversation moving and the night flexible.
See the first-date list →