My spouse and I and two family members visited the Top of
the Hub (TOTH) for drinks on a Saturday evening in late May 2017. If you plan
to dine for a full lunch/brunch or dinner, you can reserve a table via
telephone or by using the online Open Table system (at which time you can
request a window seat). However, if you arrive for only dessert or drinks (as
we did), the restaurant accommodates walk-ins in its bar/lounge on a
first-come, first-serve basis. Initially we sat/stood at the bar (where the
view is a bit obscured by the see-through back bar) while we waited for a table
in the lounge area. (As an alternative, you can also enjoy the view from the
building’s 50th floor SkyWalk Observatory for $17 per adult
admission if you do not wish to dine or drink at TOTH.) Both the Top of the Hub and Skywalk Observatory have
been mentioned on the Food Network, Travel Channel, Discovery Channel, and BBC.
The Select Restaurants group owns and operates the Top of the Hub, as well as
restaurants in Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, California, New Jersey, and
Maryland.
The Top of the Hub is located on the 52nd floor
of the Prudential Building in the Back Bay neighborhood. We stayed nearby at
the Hilton, but the building is easily accessible from Hynes Convention Center and
Back Bay hotels. Parking is available at a discounted rate in the Prudential
Center garage. The elegant restaurant offers amazing 360-degree views of the
Boston skyline to approximately 145 diners while they enjoy upscale American
cuisine; in fact, the restaurant holds a DiRoNA award (Distinguished
Restaurants of North America). The bar/lounge seats approximately 190 patrons,
and guests are treated to live music on certain nights. (A lively Jazz trio was
playing/singing on the Saturday night that we visited.) As the evening
progresses, the restaurant suggests a minimum spending requirement per guest
(although we are not sure how they regulate this if guests move from the bar to
a table as we did, closing our original tab and then opening a new one).
Enjoying drinks at
the Top of the Hub was a pleasant way to end our evening.
