With these subfreezing temps upon us, hot meals matter. One place to get your internal warmth in yummy fashion is ChoCho’s, the Korean eatery with its boiling crocks of soondubu tofu soup into which you drop a raw egg and let cook – like your own Sterno stove to warm your hands over.

The Painted Burro, an upscale Mexican restaurant in Somerville’s Davis Square, is adding its fourth location in a place familiar to fans of the cuisine: the former home of the Border Cafe in Harvard Square.

The Deconstructed Grilled Cheese & Tomato on the brunch menu at Source is a flat, lightly breaded mozzarella patty, fried and served in a tangy, slightly spicy tomato purée – and it’s quite brilliant.

The specialty at Vinal Bakery in Union Square is English muffins by founder Sarah Murphy – moister, spongier and more pleasing to the bite than the typical, and piled with eggs, cheese and other toppings that will satisfy any lover of good, rib-sticking breakfast sandwiches.

Though hours Thursday and Friday were announced as a soft opening for a Toscanini’s grand opening expected New Year’s Day, that ribbon-cutting is canceled and the shop – selling what The New York Times has called “the best ice cream in the world” – is just, well, open.

This classic neighborhood pub has a cozy, intimate layout, reasonably priced cocktails and a wide-ranging menu of sports bar comforts. Among them: The Cali Club Wrap, a pleasing blend of grilled chicken, smoked bacon, lettuce, tomato, guacamole and Sriracha mayo.

The move of Pini’s Pizzeria from Somerville’s Magoun Square to Medford after a quarter-century may be mainly an inconvenience to diners, but its effects range from funny to scary.

A visit to the Longfellow Bar is an intimate affair with a drink list that is ever-evolving and a short, small-plate menu with spins on familiar victuals. The Crab Rangoon “Nachos,” a change-up surprise, but my favorites are hickory-smoked wing flats that take almost two days to prepare.

The Commonwealth restaurant is among restaurants reeling from pressures of the pandemic, and the Kendall Square Association is trying to help. One way to help local eateries is to celebrate New Year’s by stopping in for a meal or getting a meal to-go. There are plenty of options.

Maybe frozen yogurt is just not meant for a starring role. A BerryLine has closed near Porter Square, leaving just one business in Cambridge or Somerville devoted to it – another BerryLine in Harvard Square.