jcroach Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Going to Boston in the spring. Have been since 1998. Any recommendations for bars, clubs, site seeing, etc? How's public transit in Boston? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
u2roolz Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 This wasn't the Wilco coming to Boston in the spring thread that I had hoped for.... Will you be in town for baseball season? Try to catch a game at Fenway Park, if you haven't before. Then, of course, there are night clubs/music venues right next to there. The T is pretty great. It pretty much goes anywhere that you can think of in terms of sight seeing. Let us know where you went in 1998 and I'll try to think of different places. When you live around here it's kind of tough to think of what someone should checkout if they're coming in for a short period of time. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
u2roolz Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Newbury Street In the Back Bay of Boston. Take the Hynes Convention Center stop on the T to get to one end of the long street. Arlington T stop gets you out at the other end. Copley T stop gets you somewhere in the middle. Some places of interest: the original Newbury Comics and JP Licks (the Oreo soft serve is to die for). Of course, there are a ton more interesting stores than that. If you take the Arlington T stop for Newbury St, you will be close to Public Garden. Taking the T to Park Street is also a very good option. It's the hub of quite a few places. You'll be near the Boston Common, Beacon Hill, Theater District and Government Center. Government Center houses Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market which is nice to hit for lunch. A more proper link for Quincy Market with list of restaurants and shops. Bars & clubs near Fenway: Boston Beer Works, Canestaros Pizzeria, Cask N Flagon, An Tua Nua, Lucky Strike Lanes, Jerry Remy's Sports Bar & Grill, House Of Blues. Green Line T stop - D line Fenway/B, C Kenmore. Sounds confusing, but either gets you within good walking distance to the park. Down by Boston University you can find the Paradise where lots of now famous bands played. Take the Green Line (B- Boston College, Government Center) to Pleasant St. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jcroach Posted January 24, 2011 Author Share Posted January 24, 2011 Will you be in town for baseball season? Try to catch a game at Fenway Park, if you haven't before. Then, of course, there are night clubs/music venues right next to there. The T is pretty great. It pretty much goes anywhere that you can think of in terms of sight seeing. Let us know where you went in 1998 and I'll try to think of different places. When you live around here it's kind of tough to think of what someone should checkout if they're coming in for a short period of time. I was a stone broke graduate student in 1998! I didn't go many places. We stayed by the convention center (that's where I'm staying again). I remember wandering Boston Common and Back Bay, we made it to Old North Church, Granary Cemetery, City Hall Farmer's Market area, the Museum of Science, and whatever cheep beer joints we found along the way. And a quick trip to Cambridge to see Harvard Yard. Didn't stay long. A couple of the guys I'll be with will probably want to go to Fenway. We'll probably make it out that way. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jcroach Posted January 24, 2011 Author Share Posted January 24, 2011 Newbury Street In the Back Bay of Boston. Take the Hynes Convention Center stop on the T to get to one end of the long street. Arlington T stop gets you out at the other end. Copley T stop gets you somewhere in the middle. Some places of interest: the original Newbury Comics and JP Licks (the Oreo soft serve is to die for). Of course, there are a ton more interesting stores than that. If you take the Arlington T stop for Newbury St, you will be close to Public Garden. Taking the T to Park Street is also a very good option. It's the hub of quite a few places. You'll be near the Boston Common, Beacon Hill, Theater District and Government Center. Government Center houses Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market which is nice to hit for lunch. A more proper link for Quincy Market with list of restaurants and shops. Thanks! It's all starting to look familiar to me now. Anywhere special for live music? Maybe I'll get lucky and Buffalo tom will be playing in town in support of their new album. Is the Samuel Adams brewery tour worthwhile? How about other local beers? John Harvard's Brew House, Cambridge Brewing Company or Beer Works? Any good? Does Harpoon have a tap room or give tours? Is Cheers Beacon Hill/Bull and Finch a decent place or an overpriced tourist trap? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
u2roolz Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Thanks! It's all starting to look familiar to me now. Anywhere special for live music? Maybe I'll get lucky and Buffalo tom will be playing in town in support of their new album. Is the Samuel Adams brewery tour worthwhile? How about other local beers? John Harvard's Brew House, Cambridge Brewing Company or Beer Works? Any good? Does Harpoon have a tap room or give tours? Is Cheers Beacon Hill/Bull and Finch a decent place or an overpriced tourist trap? Damn. My Safari crashed. Oh well. Other music venues: well, House Of Blues and the Paradise are great. Midway Cafe, T.T. The Bears (Arcade Fire played their first Boston show here), Great Scott, Plough & Stars. Sadly, Harper's Ferry and Avalon are no longer running. I'm not a beer drinker, but I know fellow locals (friends) who are into the local beer scene. Edit: DUH! I totally forgot about Sunset Grille & Tap. There's like 400 beers on tap from all over the place. Take the Green Line B train to Harvard Ave (not Harvard Square). A 9 page .PDF beer menu... I'd say Cheers is somewhat stuck in the middle of being a decent place and tourist trap. It's decent, but nothing truly great. LOL. I didn't even get into the North End yet... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tinnitus photography Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 Harpers is reborn as Brighton Music Hall. Don't forget The Middle East either...right next to TT's, decent mideastern food, good bar, and two rooms of music. my favorite bar is Bukowski, and Redbones also has a good beer selection. Deep Ellum is a solid pick too. haven't been to the Publick House but it's supposed to be good. oh, Lord Hobo is also got a pretty diverse selection and their food is reckoned to be excellent. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
u2roolz Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 Harpers is reborn as Brighton Music Hall. Don't forget The Middle East either...right next to TT's, decent mideastern food, good bar, and two rooms of music. Brighton Music HallThat's cool about Harper's. My friend played there for the Alt Country Extravaganza Benefit a few years ago. Beautiful spacious room with awesome sound. One of the best places to see live music. It was one of the best places that I filmed one of his live shows. How could I forget The Middle East?! That's where I saw The Autumn Defense. Edit: My friend and his band also played Redbones. I forgot about that place. My other best friend used to live a few minutes from there (now he moved to the North End which makes visiting him pretty sweet). That is in Davis Square in Somerville. I remember that that place serves Hushpuppies which is tough to find around this area. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jcroach Posted January 25, 2011 Author Share Posted January 25, 2011 Thanks again guys! I'll look up those clubs. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jcroach Posted January 31, 2011 Author Share Posted January 31, 2011 Is the Bunker Hill Monument worth the trip? How about the USS Constitution tour? Is the "Union Oyster House" good or a tourist trap? I've heard good things about Mike's Pastry Shop in the North End. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RaspberryJam Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Bunker Hill and the USS Constitution is a nice little stop, the walk across to Charlestown is nice, the sights interesting, and the Charlestown is an interesting neighborhood. I enjoy the Union Oyster House, it is a tourist trap, but a good one. There are some lesser known old taverns around there too, Mikes is the best known pastry shop in the North End, but I prefer Maria's. I love love love The Franklin in the South End for dinner. Not as "hot" as it was 10 years ago, but that's better because there isn't as much of a wait. Great food, not expensive, no reservations. No sign outside. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jcroach Posted January 31, 2011 Author Share Posted January 31, 2011 I love love love The Franklin in the South End for dinner. Not as "hot" as it was 10 years ago, but that's better because there isn't as much of a wait. Great food, not expensive, no reservations. No sign outside. This the place? http://www.franklincafe.com/ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tinnitus photography Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 This the place? http://www.franklincafe.com/ that place is awesome. best food per $ value in town. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tinnitus photography Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 other great restuarants: MasaMetropolisTremont 647AnchoviesAquitaine Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RaspberryJam Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 This the place? http://www.franklincafe.com/That's the place. Aquataine is great too, terrific brunch there. Is the Delux Cafe still there? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tinnitus photography Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 Delux is still there, but if it's crowded it's a PITA. i used to live in the South End, and I do miss it periodically. walking distance to a lot of good places, and some truly excellent restaurants. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CortezTheKiller Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 my favorite bar is Bukowski Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RaspberryJam Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 Delux is still there, but if it's crowded it's a PITA. i used to live in the South End, and I do miss it periodically. walking distance to a lot of good places, and some truly excellent restaurants. I had to look up PITA in the Urban Dictionary. How sad is that? I used to live in Beacon Hill ( the dodgy side ), it was great to leave the car and walk everywhere all weekend. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
u2roolz Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 Delux is still there, but if it's crowded it's a PITA. Nice. I came up with this on my own about a year ago. I had no knowledge of it and I didn't even bother looking it up on Urban Dictionary.I'm surprised that it hasn't caught on more. Did you also come up with that by yourself? It's actually quite easy. JCroach, I will talk to my best friend who lives in the North End for some more bakeries, Italian restaurants, & some places for gelato. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jcroach Posted February 11, 2011 Author Share Posted February 11, 2011 Anyone know if it's easy to cross the Charles River from the North End to Charlestown/Bunker Hill area on foot? What's the best route? Any parts of town to avoid? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Oil Can Boyd Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 Anyone know if it's easy to cross the Charles River from the North End to Charlestown/Bunker Hill area on foot? What's the best route? It's about a 20 minute walk from the North End to Charlestown/Bunker Hill, and there is pretty much only one way to go - take North Washington Street to the Charlestown Bridge. Turn right on the other side of the bridge to go to the USS Constitution or take a slightly less sharp right turn and go up the hill to the Bunker Hill Monument. The walk is OK. There are nice views from the bridge but there can also be lots of traffic. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
u2roolz Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 Any parts of town to avoid? Roxbury. It has a pretty high crime rate and seems to always end up on the local news. Although, people seem to think that they are cleaning up the place and that the local news still likes to give them a bad rap. But yeah, I'd stay away. If you're in Charlestown, please try to avoid the banks. The marketing team behind The Town would leave anyone to believe that even bank managers were bank robbers because it was "the bank robbery capital of the world." I think that this was debunked pretty early on. I'll try to post some North End places on here, when I finally talk to my best friend. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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