Savor Scout › Cities › Massachusetts › Lowell, MA
Where to eat in Lowell, MA
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A few places to eat in Lowell
- Wee Thai Food Thai · 0.2 miles
249 Chelmsford St, Lowell - Tepthida Khmer Restaurant Asian · 0.2 miles
115 Chelmsford St, Lowell - Simply Khmer Restaurant Cambodian · 0.2 miles
26 Lincoln St, Lowell - Queens Pizza Pizza · 0.2 miles
287 Chelmsford St, Lowell - Jade Lowell Restaurant Asian Fusion · 0.2 miles
165 Thorndike St, Lowell
The closest few by distance from central Lowell, not a ranking — local places listed ahead of chains. Listings from Overture Maps open data (September 2026); hours and openings change, so check before you go. Want one picked for what you're craving instead? Ask Savor Scout in Lowell.
The food scene in Lowell
Open listings put 270 places to eat within 2 miles of central Lowell, 32 within a ten-minute walk (half a mile). The most common: pizza (39), donuts (15) and Cambodian (13). 10 are fast-food counters; the rest are sit-down restaurants, cafés, bakeries and takeaway spots.
What stands out in Lowell is Brazilian, Colombian and Dominican — types that are listed here at 12 to 16 times the national rate.
By type of food — tap one for what to order and how to spot a good one:
Pizza 39 Donuts 15 Cambodian 13 Chinese 12 Coffee 12 Asian fusion 7 Asian 7 Vietnamese 6 Breakfast & brunch 6 Bakery 6
The food in Lowell
Lowell has more than enough places to eat — the trouble is choosing between them without spending longer deciding than eating.
Savor Scout picks one restaurant in Lowell and tells you why it picked it. Say what you're craving and it reads menus and reviews for that specific dish, rather than sorting places by overall star rating. Free, runs in the browser, and one search needs no account.
Eating out in Lowell
Lowell has a population of about 108,861. A city this size has real range, and range is what makes the decision slow. Savor Scout searches up to 35 miles around Lowell, so places just outside the city are still on the table when they are worth the drive.
How many places to eat are there in Lowell?
Lowell sits in Middlesex County, where the Census counts 1,381 full-service restaurants, 1,238 limited-service places, 560 cafés and snack bars and 81 bars — 3,260 places to eat or drink in all. Lowell makes up about 7% of the county's population.
That works out at 20.1 per 10,000 residents, which is about level with the national median of 19.4 — a normal amount of choice, and a normal amount of indecision. Sit-down and counter-service places are close to balanced, with the edge to sit-down.
Those county figures also cover Cambridge, Newton, Somerville, Waltham, Malden, Medford, Everett, Marlborough and 1 more, all within Savor Scout's search radius from Lowell.
County-level counts from the US Census (2022) — how we got these numbers.
What are you craving in Lowell?
- tacos in Lowell — what separates a good one from an average one
- pizza in Lowell — what separates a good one from an average one
- sushi in Lowell — what separates a good one from an average one
- burgers in Lowell — what separates a good one from an average one
- ramen in Lowell — what separates a good one from an average one
- wings in Lowell — what separates a good one from an average one
- chinese food in Lowell — what separates a good one from an average one
- italian food in Lowell — what separates a good one from an average one
- thai food in Lowell — what separates a good one from an average one
- mexican food in Lowell — what separates a good one from an average one
- barbecue in Lowell — what separates a good one from an average one
- seafood in Lowell — what separates a good one from an average one
- brunch in Lowell — what separates a good one from an average one
- indian food in Lowell — what separates a good one from an average one
- sandwiches in Lowell — what separates a good one from an average one
- noodles in Lowell — what separates a good one from an average one
Near Lowell
- Methuen, MA — about 9 miles away
- Lawrence, MA — about 9 miles away
- Nashua, NH — about 12 miles away
- Woburn, MA — about 14 miles away
- Haverhill, MA — about 16 miles away
- Waltham, MA — about 18 miles away
Campuses in and near Lowell
Each has its own page: what is within walking distance and a few places to start with.
- University of Massachusetts-Lowell
- Middlesex Community College
- Merrimack College
- Bentley University
- North Shore Community College
- Tufts University
- Brandeis University
How this differs from Google Maps and Yelp
Maps and Yelp are directories: they rank everything nearby and leave the deciding to you. Savor Scout makes the call and shows its reasoning — the match score, what it beat, and the evidence behind the pick. The underlying place data comes from the same public sources, so the difference is the selection, not the data.
Guides
- What to eat when… — 30 guides by situation, from a first date to a hangover to a group of twelve.
- Food guides — what separates a good taco, ramen or pizza from an average one.
- Eating out with a restriction — allergies, halal, kosher, vegan and more.
- Near a campus? — food around 637 US universities.