Boston wasn't always like this, bursting with chichi restaurants and clubs. It's only in the last two years that see-and-be-seen places such as Radius, Mistral, Aquitaine, and Envy have opened, to great fanfare and lots of elegant attitude.

And now for a word from the nutritionist The rule for junk food? Happily it's never say never, according to one Boston nutritionist. "Our culture is so bent on looking for extremes," says Julie Seed, a registered dietician at the Frances Stern Nutrition Center. "People will declare that they'll no longer eat sugar or fried foods. But I don't agree with that rationale. You don't need to minimize your choices, you just need to minimize the amount of those foods that you eat." Seed classifies junk food as food with "empty calories," or no nutritional value. While greasy fare such as hamburgers and french fries aren't necessarily healthy, they do offer some nutritional value over treats like slush or cotton candy. The trick is limiting your intake of high fat foods and sweets to once or twice a week. "If we tried denying ourselves pizza and chocolate completely, our quality of life would decrease dramatically." Amen. - C.M.

Now that the Armani-wearing crowd can have their pan-seared duck rubbed with seasonings, it's good to remember that for the rest of us, the joints that serve up basic grub are still around.

Sometimes, the only way to turn around a bad day is to bite into a juicy burger or chow down a doughnut. Fortunately, in addition to having its share of places to eat healthy, Boston is filled with greasy spoons, holes-in-the-wall, and even sidewalk carts that are legendary for comfort foods and guilty pleasures - plenty of spots for junk food lovers to take heart and cheat on their diet.

So tie on a plastic bib, grab a roll of paper towels, and check out some of the best places in town to indulge.

Burgers
Bartley's Burger Cottage, Tim's Tavern, Charlie's Kitchen

Candy
Olde Dutch Cottage Candy

Chinese
Hong Kong Restaurant

Doughnuts
Twin Do-Nuts, Lori-Ann's Donut Shop

Fajitas
El Phoenix

Fried chicken
Fontaine's Topsy's Restaurant

Fried dough
Daddy's Fried Dough

Hot dogs/frappes
Simco's Takeout

Nachos
Dixie Kitchen, Fajitas & 'Ritas

Pastry
Cafe Pompeii, Mike's Pastry

Pizza
Santarpio's Pizza, Blue Goose food truck, Harry O's

Ribs
B.B. Wolf, Sunset Grill, Redbones

Roast beef sandwich
Buzzy's Fabulous Roast Beef, Kelly's Roast Beef, Riley's Roast Beef

Wings
Buff's Pub, Wing Kings

Christopher Muther is a freelance writer.