In a City Devoid of Late-Night Food Options, One Boston Bakery Saves Me From Midnight Cravings

Boston may be known for many things, but its late-night food scene is not one of them. In fact, its late-night anything isn’t one of them. Unlike New York City, just a few hours away, Boston shuts down painfully early in the evening; finding a place to sit down and eat an actual meal after 10 p.m. is a legitimately difficult task. And after midnight? You can pretty much forget it. There are barely a handful of spots in the city that serve anything more substantial than fries and wings past midnight.
Boston’s North End, known as a hub for Italian-American cuisine, isn’t an exception—most of the neighborhood’s food spots close down as early as the other restaurants in the city. But tucked away on a quaint street in the center of the North End sits Bova’s Bakery, a shining beacon of hope for anyone in Boston who’s looking for carbs past 10 p.m.
The first time I ever visited Bova’s, it was an accident. A friend was visiting from out of town, and we’d been drinking at a nearby cocktail bar. Not yet ready for the night to end, we decided to explore the neighborhood, enjoying the architecture that, for a few blocks at least, made us forget we were in the U.S. The streets were quiet, and the small businesses lining the streets were all closed for the night, the occasional server smoking one last cigarette in front of the building before locking up.