The Paramount Boston has been feeding Beacon Hill from 44 Charles Street since 1937, and nearly nine decades later it remains one of the neighborhood’s best-known brunch stops. The diner-style restaurant serves breakfast, brunch and lunch from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day, then switches to a full dinner menu from 4:30 to 9 p.m., according to its official location page.
For a neighborhood better known for gas lamps, brick sidewalks and townhouse prices, The Paramount is an unusually democratic room: you can order a $8 egg-and-cheese sandwich or an $18 plate of two eggs with meat and coffee, and the people at the next table might be students, tourists or residents who have been coming for decades. This guide covers the menu, how the wait works now, what dinner looks like and the practical details worth knowing before you go.
From 1937 Deli to Charles Street Brunch Institution
The restaurant opened in 1937 as The Paramount Deli, according to a profile in The Heights, Boston College’s student newspaper. In 1995 a new ownership group bought and renovated the space, turning the old deli into the breakfast spot most Bostonians know today. Wikipedia’s entry on the restaurant lists the Beacon Hill dining room at 44 seats and notes that it won Boston Magazine’s Best of Boston award for Best Beacon Hill Restaurant in 2009.
The owners added a second location at 667 East Broadway in South Boston in December 2011, which serves a similar menu and is often a little less crowded. The Charles Street original is the one with the history, though, and its brick walls and long metal counter still give it the feel of an upscale neighborhood diner rather than a polished brunch chain.
The Paramount Menu: Brunch Highlights and Prices
The brunch menu is built on diner staples, with prices posted online. Egg plates come with seasoned home fries and toast: the Paramount Breakfast (two eggs, a choice of meat and coffee) is $18, huevos rancheros with grilled chorizo and avocado is $17, and an eggs Benedict Florentine with horseradish hollandaise is $19. Breakfast sandwiches start at $8 for egg and cheese and run $12 with bacon, ham, sausage, turkey bacon or avocado, with a choice of breads that includes croissant, bagel and Portuguese English muffin.
The sweet side of the menu is where the restaurant has built its reputation. The caramel and banana French toast with house-made granola ($15) is the dish The Heights described as the most popular on the menu, and The Infatuation’s Boston guide singled out the same plate along with the Nutella waffle. Other options include a tiramisu French toast with coffee mascarpone sauce, a s’more pancake with a chocolate Boston cream sauce, and a stack of three buttermilk pancakes for $11. Lighter choices such as a berry parfait and chai oatmeal are $9 each.
Lunch runs alongside breakfast all day. Sandwiches and burgers, including the Paramount Burger with bacon, cheddar and onion rings, a Korean turkey burger with kimchi slaw and a house-made quinoa and black bean burger, are listed at $19 and come with fries or coleslaw. Gluten-free bread is available for an extra $3.
Dinner at The Paramount Beacon Hill
Many visitors only know the morning crowd, but dinner is a full sit-down service with reservations. Starters, including a guacamole bowl, crispy calamari, burrata bruschetta and shrimp ceviche, are $14 each, and tacos are $7 apiece with a choice of fillings. Entrees range from a ragu Bolognese with fresh fusilli ($26) and shrimp scampi ($28) to BBQ tenderloin steak tips ($35) and an 11-ounce grilled ribeye with truffle fries ($37). A teriyaki stir fry and fajitas can be ordered with tofu, chicken, shrimp or beef, and there is a separate kids’ dinner menu. The dinner menu credits Diego Osorno as general manager and executive chef.
The Infatuation summed up the place as a very good diner with a liquor license, and the drinks list backs that up with beer, wine and espresso drinks alongside the coffee refills.
How the Wait Works Now
For years The Paramount was famous for an unusual system: guests ordered at the counter first and were seated as their food came out, a practice The Heights described in detail. That has changed. On its reservations page, the restaurant says it replaced its signature cafeteria-style brunch with table service when COVID-19 arrived, and it does not take brunch reservations. Instead, guests add their names to a waitlist at the door. Dinner reservations are accepted by calling the restaurant.
Weekend mornings are the busiest. The Infatuation notes that the restaurant is typically packed on weekends, and a manager quoted by The Heights recommended weekday afternoons for the shortest line. Because brunch runs seven days a week, a Tuesday or Wednesday visit is the simplest way to skip most of the crowd.
Neighborhood and Practical Info
The Paramount sits on the commercial strip of Charles Street, about a block from Boston Common and a short walk from the Public Garden, which makes it an easy stop before or after a walk through two of the city’s best-known green spaces. Charles Street is lined with antique shops, cafes and small independent stores, and our look at the Boston small business economy this fall explains why neighborhood strips like this one matter to the city.
- Address: 44 Charles Street, Boston, MA 02114
- Phone: 617-720-1152 (also used for pickup orders)
- Breakfast, brunch and lunch: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily
- Dinner: 4:30 to 9 p.m. daily, reservations accepted
- Price range: most brunch plates $11 to $19; dinner entrees $24 to $37
- Dietary notes: the menu marks gluten-free and vegetarian items
Hours and prices can change, so check the restaurant’s site before you go. For more places to eat around the city, browse our Boston restaurants guide, or compare another long-running neighborhood favorite in our review of Mamma Maria in the North End.