🍕 The one thing Connecticut has over Mass.

🚨 PSA: Starting today, da LaPosta’s in Newton, a.k.a., the official crowd favorite of last year’s Boston Pizza Festival, is offering a $10 Margherita pizza deal on Mondays through March (it’s normally $20). Make a res here!

👀 What’s on tap today:

Up first…

Boston’s food scene is starting 2024 with a bang. And there’s an unexpected, yet welcome, theme this month: Comfort food. 

From bagels, to milkshakes, to noodles, here’s Boston.com’s list of five restaurant openings they’re most excited about for January: 

🍕 Sally’s Apizza, Woburn. It’s easy to dunk on Connecticut for … basically everything. But when it comes to their pizza, we must give credit where credit is due. Connecticuters go crazy for Sally’s Apizza (pronounced “ah-BEETZ,”), serving up New Haven-style pies (think: thin, coal-fired pizza with a chewy, crispy crust), and classic Italian apps and entrees like bruschetta and chicken parm. My two cents? Grab a res ASAP. It’s been packed ever since it opened. 

Things to try:

🦐 Baleia, South End. A little slice of Portugal is coming to the South End later this month. The folks behind SRV, The Salty Pig, and Gufo, are set to open Baleia (meaning “whale” in Portuguese), serving up modern and classic Portuguese cuisine with a seafood-forward menu. Thirsty, too? Those flavors continue on their wine list, featuring a slew of Portuguese labels, plus a cocktail program with Iberian influence. Keep an eye out for the opening date here. 

Things to try:

🥯 Rebelle Bagels, Kendall Square. Boston’s bagel scene certainly had a glow-up over the last few years and this soon-to-be Cambridge bagel spot from James Beard Finalist Milena Pagán is only helping the cause. And these aren’t just any bagels. Pagán’s undergo a two-day fermentation, including 24 hours of cold-proofing to slow down the fermentation process, giving the crust a crispier look and more depth of flavor. Seriously, just how good they look.

Things to try:

🍜 Yume Ga Arukara, Seaport. Perhaps the most elite iteration of soup season is udon, and lucky for you, Cambridge’s Yume Ga Arukara in bringing its award-winning noodles to the Seaport this month. Their menu features both hot and cold udon dishes, and will be open for lunch and dinner (dinner will have a few more apps and drink options, making it a cozy winter date night spot). You can see the full menu here.

Things to try:

🍨 Sugar Factory, Faneuil Hall. The most Instagrammed restaurant in the U.S. has aptly made a new home in Boston’s tourist epicenter. The Sugar Factory chain is best known for its celebrity endorsed mega-candy drinks (see: Snoop Dogg’s lemonade smash) and offering 50 ways to get a sugar rush. Not to be outdone, the Boston locale is serving up local faves like a Boston Cream Pie and fried Ipswich clams. You can see the full sugar-laden menu here. 

Things to try:

☃️ This snow storm was a boom and a bust. It just depends where you were. Even if Bostonians missed out on the worst of Sunday’s nor'easter (we got about one and a half inches), enough snow fell across the state to seriously shake things up, with some parts of Mass. getting over a foot. As a result of the weather, more than 13,000 people lost power, 149 flights were canceled, with another 121 delayed out of Logan, and several major highways were in a white-out. And although everything should be more or less back on track today, word to the wise: If you’re commuting, be careful, and take it slow.

😬 Welp. State budget cuts are coming … Gov. Healey plans to unveil $375 million in budget cuts today, including slashing 50% from a range of local earmarks (think: funding for nonprofits, local projects, and economic development programs for certain districts) and hundreds of millions from other programs (think: health and human services). And while not exactly good news, it’s not exactly surprising: We’re halfway through the fiscal year, and tax revenues are running $769 million (about 4%) behind projections.

🏈 A terrible last game fit for a terrible season. There were a few big reasons for the Pats to give it their all for their last game of the season on Sunday: This potentially being the last ever game for both coach Bill Belichick and team captain Matthew Slater, and a face off against their sorta-rivals the Jets, who hadn’t beaten them in eight years. But they came up short once again, losing 17-3, and closing the books on the worst record in Belichick’s career. At least now we can turn our full attention to the season’s real drama: Is this the end for Belichick?

🚂 Have a Polar Express moment now, get a free summer vacay later. Amtrak is holding a buy three, get one free deal on round trip tickets. If you’re an Amtrak Guest Rewards member (it’s free to sign up), and buy three round trip (or six one way) tickets on either their Northeast Regional or Acela lines between now and Feb. 29, you can get a free roundtrip ticket for a summer trip in July or August. TBH, if you’re a frequent Amtrak rider anyway, it’d almost be a waste to not take advantage. Check out the details here.

Pssst! To celebrate Dry January, all our things to do listings this month will be alcohol-free. Cheers! 

🛼 Enjoy all the fun of ice skating, sans cold. On Wednesdays, we go roller skating at Chez-Vous Roller Skating Rink in Dorchester. Their adult night is from 7 to 10 p.m. with a live DJ!

🎻 Celebrate Celtic music (not basketball). Beginning Thursday, Club Passim, Crystal Ballroom, The Burren, and The Rockwell will become the hosts of the weekend’s Boston Celtic Music Festival. See the schedule here!

🧠 Test your anime knowledge. Think you know your Pokemon, Sailor Moon, and Naruto? Find out on Thursday at Trident Booksellers’ anime trivia.

🍝 Go for Italian, but hold the gluten. Capo has done the thing: Every Tuesday, their entire menu goes gluten free. Pizza, pasta, risotto, bread, all the works — sans pain and suffering! 

🤲 Manifest your 2024 visions. We’re only eight days into 2024, so it’s not too late for a vision board sesh. Head to Short Path on Thursday to make yours. 

— Written by Claire Nicholas

🎉 Want more things to do recommendations? Refer five friends to unlock four bonus items. For those who already have, enjoy below.

Some people shred, others sled (we are said others).

Before you roll your eyes, it’s true: You don’t have to be a child (or a ski buff) to appreciate the outdoor opportunities of a snow day. So Boston.com assembled a list of Greater Boston’s five best sledding spots, according to a dad who visited 350 area parks. And it's a perfect guide to taking advantage of the year’s first snow. 

Besides, as the old saying goes, when it comes to snow, we Bostonians better use it, or lose it, because who knows how many weeks we’ll have to wait for a few more inches. So check out the list here.

— Written by Gia Orsino and Emily Schario

🛷 Thanks for reading! If you see me posting on Instagram in my sledding gear pretending I just went skiing, no you didn’t. 

❄️ The results are in: B-Siders were cautiously optimistic about Boston’s chances for snow yesterday, with 46% of you voting that Boston would get one to three inches, and you were right on the money! 

💃 Keep up with us @BostonBSide on IG, TikTok, and Twitter. Send comments and suggestions to [email protected] or [email protected].