BOSTON -- Boston Mayor Thomas Menino will be in the hospital for at least four days following knee surgery after a fall at his son's Hyde Park home Sunday night.

Menino, 66, fell while bringing takeout food home to his son's house about 6:30 p.m. Sunday and tore a tendon in his left knee.

He was taken to Brigham and Women's Hospital, where he underwent surgery Monday morning. The surgery, performed by chief of orthopedic surgery Dr. Thomas Thornhill, took about 1 1/2 hours and went well, Thornhill said.

"He ruptured or tore his left quadriceps muscle, which is the muscle that connects the four strong muscles of the thigh to the knee cap," Thornhill said.

The mayor was said to be resting comfortably after the surgery and will be fitted for a brace and begin physical therapy as he recovers.

"The recovery back to his previous level of function will be a few months, but he'll be quite functional during that period of time," Thornhill said.

"It was at his son's home. He was carrying food up the stairs. His grandchildren were waiting, as always. And as he was carrying the tray of food, he had a misstep," said Dot Joyce, the mayor's press secretary.

Menino won re-election last week to his fifth term in office. He has served the city for 16 years as its longest-serving mayor.

The mayor underwent arthroscopic surgery in October 2008 to repair a right knee injury he suffered during a Red Sox World Series victory rally at Fenway Park the previous fall.

In that fall he tore cartilage when he stumbled while carrying the team's trophy off a stage.

Menino has had previous surgeries for Crohn's disease and a rare form of skin cancer in both 2003 and 2004.