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Best Local Gift Card Ideas For Boston Area Shoppers

By Mark G. McLaughlin, SpeakEasy

A gift card that anyone can grab from a grocery or drug store display may be a welcome gift, but it doesn't take much thought or creativity. Fortunately for those buying gifts for someone special in and around Boston, there is another equally easy but much more creative option: local gift cards. Individual restaurants, unique clothing stores, beauty spas and more in the Boston area offer gift card options of varying amounts (and packages). Here are just five of the best local gift card ideas in Boston.

Phantom Gourmet
www.phantomgourmetcard.com
Phantom Gourmet doesn't just share great local restaurants with you on myTV38 each week. He offers gift cards accepted at more than 200 local restaurants, all of which have been vetted by the Phantom himself. The choice of fine and family dining establishments has recently been expanded to include restaurants a bit farther afield in New Hampshire, Rhode Island and eastern Massachusetts, but the majority of the 200 (and counting) are in the Greater Boston Area. The website lists the restaurants by area and type, and provides links to their webpages. The cards are good at all of the restaurants and start at $25. Note that Phantom Gourmet airs on myTV38 and WBZ-TV, which are both affiliated with CBSBoston.com.

Grill 23 and Bar
161 Berkeley St.
Boston, MA
(617) 542-2255
grill23.com
Grill 23 and Bar on the corner of Stuart and Berkeley Street in downtown Boston is one of the city's finest steakhouses. This award-winning restaurant features Brandt family beef and local seafood, as well as some of the most decadent desserts in the city (and that says a lot). The atmosphere is elegant old-school gentleman's club, complete with cigar service and private dining rooms if desired. Their gift cards, which are also good for two other Boston restaurants (Harvest and Post 390), are available in denominations ranging from $10 to $1,000. They are available at the restaurant and at its website, and can be sent either as physical cards or as e-cards.

Beauty Suite Boston
15 Cypress St.
Newtown, MA 02459
(617) 678-7151
beautysuiteboston.com
Beauty Suite Boston offers gift cards at its location and through Giftbar. Famed for its eyelash extensions and available by appointment only, Beauty Suite Boston has four varieties of gift cards: "Refill your lashes" at $60; "The Brow Treatment" at $115; "The Flirt" (for a full set of eyelashes) at $195 and, for those who want a really special eye makeover package, "The Vixen" at $295. Other denominations are available, but those four are the most popular and cover the treatments noted.

Kenzie
Linden Square
200 Linden St.
Wellesley, MA 02482
(781) 237-3666
kenzieboston.com
Offering unique, specialty and trendy clothing for tweens, teens and women, Kenzie in Linden Square in Wellesley is high up on every magazine, television station and clothing shopper's best of Boston list. They are known for everything from jackets and skirts to shirts and fuzzy pajamas – the last of which come in a delightful assortment of prints. A gift card from Kenzie will make any holiday stocking or envelope that much more welcome for any young girl or woman.

Alton Lane Boston
91 Newbury St.
2nd Floor
Boston, MA 02116
(888) 800-8616
altonlane.com
Alton Lane is one of the finest men's clothing stores in Boston, and their gift cards, just like their suits and shirts, are unique: for every $50 gift card someone buys for a friend, they also get $50 off a purchase at Alton Lane. That makes the shop's Saville Row suits, custom shirts and blazers a bit more affordable for both the giver and the receiver, both of which will receive truly personal service – including the scotch or bourbon of their choice to sip while being measured and fitted.
Related: Online Consignment Shops Clothing Sale

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