Best restaurant service
In the restaurant industry, good service is a notorious catch-22. One diner's detached professionalism is another's snobbery; one diner's hearty cheer, another's sycophancy. Meanwhile, even as they're walking the tightrope of cordial conduct, waiters have to prove knowledgeable, alert, and flexible. At UpStairs on the Square and Radius, they do just that - and make it look easy to boot. In the case of the former, at least one Soiree Room staffer has been known to get downright conspiratorial in the quest to secure the last remaining special for a customer, while a mixologist at the Monday Club Bar can not only pour the very Vouvray your mouth is watering for but also recommend an excellent restaurant in Halifax, should you need one. But suppose something, no matter how minor, does mar your meal? Consummate restaurateurs Mary-Catherine Deibel and Deborah Hughes will (as we can attest) more than compensate, respectfully and in earnest. Indeed, Deibel and Hughes's only rivals on that score are Michael Schlow and Christopher Myers, but formidable rivals they are - above all because "formidable" is the last word you'd apply to their staff. In a dining space that's the utmost in sleek chic, everyone from the hostesses to the bartenders to the servers proves unexpectedly obliging and on-the-ball. No would-be divas or haughty hipsters here, just gracious contributors to what many still consider the best dining experience in town.

UpStairs on the Square, 91 Winthrop Street, Cambridge, (617) 864-1933, www.upstairsonthesquare.com; Radius, 8 High Street, Boston, (617) 426-1234, www.radiusrestaurant.com.