Need recommendations for vacation (Boston, Cambridge: houses, neighborhood, theater)

[Provelkative]

Hello all. My girlfriend and I are coming to see a friend in the area and hope to spend as much time as possible in Boston. I'm hoping to get the scoop on the must-go local places. We're not really interested in historical sightseeing stuff, but more like restaurants, music venues, attractions...etc that are high quality, representative of Boston, and not outrageously priced. I'm not looking for the 5 star restaurant that's top in the country and $50 a plate, but I am hoping to find, i.e. some great quality seafood that I can't get in St. Louis.

Where do you guys frequent when you're wanting to indulge a bit but not clean out your bank account? What are some activities/places every "real" Bostonian would know? We're in our mid/late twenties and love a drink (or 10) in a chill environment. Thanks in advance and I look forward to being a guest in your city.

[Provelkative]

Nothing?

[sobo16]

Try Faneuil Hall and some of the bars and restaurants just north of there on Union Street.

If it's nice out, go down to the Seaport District. You'll find a lot of people at Jerry Remy's Seaport. There are multiple restaurants to choose from down there, including Legal Test Kitchen for seafood.

[edwardsyzzurphands]

For Seafood:

Neptune Oyster (North End): Neptune Oyster | 63 Salem Street, Boston, MA 02113
Island Creek Oyster Bar (Kenmore): Island Creek Oyster Bar
Courthouse Seafood (East Cambridge): Courthouse Seafood
Yankee Lobster (Seaport): Yankee Lobster |
Peach Farm (Chinatown): Peach Farm
Rincon Limeno (East Boston): http://www.elrinconlimeno.com/

Cocktail Bars:

Drink (Fort Point): Drink
Hawthorne (Kenmore): The Hawthorne. Craft cocktails and fine wines. Boston, Massachusetts
Back Bar (Union Square Somerville): backbar | by journeyman
Eastern Standard (Kenmore): Eastern Standard Kitchen & Drinks :: Al Fresco Dining in Kenmore Square, Boston :: American Brasserie Restaurant
Brick n Mortar (Central Square Cambridge): https://www.facebook.com/BrickandMortarBar

Pubs:

Mr. Dooley's (Financial District): Boston's Premier Irish Pubs

Low End bars that I love:

The Tam (Theater District): https://twitter.com/TamBoston
Corner Pub (Chinatown): https://www.facebook.com/Cornerpubbo...29193413801287

Live Music:

Middle East (Central Square Cambridge): THE MIDDLE EAST RESTAURANT & NIGHTCLUB
The Sinclair (Harvard Square Cambridge): Sinclair Cambridge Mobile
Brighton Music Hall (Brighton): Brighton Music Hall - Boston Events, Boston Music, Boston Concerts
Wally's Cafe (South End)- A MUST if you love Jazz: Wally's Cafe Jazz Club Boston Massachusetts Live Music

There are also tons of other mid range places that are tough to narrow down. What in particular do you like to eat?

[Cliff Clavin]

Originally Posted by Provelkative

We're in our mid/late twenties and love a drink (or 10) in a chill environment.

I liked this comment. I'm not much of a foodie so I'll add some of my favorite watering holes/entertainment venues. None of which will damage the wallet.

Drink: JJ Foley's (Kingston St), The Tam, The Hub Pub, The Phoenix Landing, Charlie's Kitchen, Whitey's/Croke Park, Clock Tavern.

Music (bands/DJs): Middle East, TT The Bears, The Phoenix Landing, Middlesex Lounge, Good Life, Arc.

If you're looking places "real" Bostonians go, I'd avoid anything in or near Faneuil Hall. It's where the out-of-towners go.

[Provelkative]

Excellent, thanks everyone!

To answer the question of what we like to eat, we're pretty open I would like to think and our goal is to eat whatever the specialties of the region. To give an example, if someone were to come to St. Louis with similar intentions I would tell them to try some local pizza (unique in that it's thin crust and uses provel cheese), try to find a BBQ'd porksteak, maybe a toasted ravioli appetizer before a meal in the Hill neighborhood since that's a StL thing, and Ted Drew's custard. Love it or hate it, that's St. Louis. I don't want to be one of those people that travels across the country and then eats at Applebee's .

That said, I definitely want to try some good seafood. Neptune seemed a little pricey and with long wait times from what I read on Yelp, but it does sound like a fantastic place. StL definitely is not known for their fresh seafood so we're wanting to take advantage of that while we have the opportunity. If there are any other Boston-specific things that come to mind, please share. I'll enjoy looking through the suggestions you all have already made. Cheers.

Edit: Also any local beers/wines/spirits to try would be appreciated.

[Cliff Clavin]

Assuming you're going to be in town sometime between now and October, I'd recommend the Barking Crab for your seafood fix. Probably doesn't match Neptune as far as quality goes, but more than makes up for it as far as atmosphere goes IMO. Seafood in buckets. Pitchers of beer. All served to you while seated harbor side on a picknic table. The have a small bar area and live music on the weekends too. It gets busy too in the evenings so might be a good afternoon visit.

Harpoon is our biggest local brewery. Forget Sam Adams. Harpoon has a brewery in the Seaport (15 min walk from the Crab) and I believe they do free tours every 30 minutes on weekends. They just opened a new beer hall a few months ago too.

[edwardsyzzurphands]

Originally Posted by Provelkative

Excellent, thanks everyone!

To answer the question of what we like to eat, we're pretty open I would like to think and our goal is to eat whatever the specialties of the region. To give an example, if someone were to come to St. Louis with similar intentions I would tell them to try some local pizza (unique in that it's thin crust and uses provel cheese), try to find a BBQ'd porksteak, maybe a toasted ravioli appetizer before a meal in the Hill neighborhood since that's a StL thing, and Ted Drew's custard. Love it or hate it, that's St. Louis. I don't want to be one of those people that travels across the country and then eats at Applebee's .

That said, I definitely want to try some good seafood. Neptune seemed a little pricey and with long wait times from what I read on Yelp, but it does sound like a fantastic place. StL definitely is not known for their fresh seafood so we're wanting to take advantage of that while we have the opportunity. If there are any other Boston-specific things that come to mind, please share. I'll enjoy looking through the suggestions you all have already made. Cheers.

Edit: Also any local beers/wines/spirits to try would be appreciated.

We would never allow you to eat at Applebees, the good thing is that I dont even think there is one in Boston

As far as specialties are concerned Seafood obviously comes first with a few others that come to mind:

- Warm buttered Lobster roll from Neptune. The lines are long and it is pricy but I think a good way to get around the cost is to go for a late or very early lunch and miss the lines. Split the Lobster Roll between the two of you (It comes with a healthy helping of fries also) and then if you are still hungry go to Maria's around the corner for a Cannoli which is also a great treat because IMHO its the best Cannoli I have had in the country.

- Fried whole belly clams. This is what comes to mind first when I think of New England Seafood. Quite a few places do it well in the city but my favorite in Courthouse Seafood in East Cambridge.

- Local Oysters. Island Creek Oysters are a personal favorite but anything local will give you a nice impression of our Oyster selection. Marliave offers a $1 Oyster Happy Hour from 4-6pm and then 9-10pm. They are perfectly shucked and the setting is in a historic fully restored dining area which gives you great food in a very local setting.

- Old School Boston Pizza. Reginas in the North End and Santarpios in East Boston are the usual contenders in this discussion. Regina's is my pick but people go back and forth between the two. Also Regina's is set in a better location for site seeing as well.

- Chacarero Sandwich. This place started out as a little pushcart in Downtown Crossing and become a local favorite. Its a Chilean Sandwich served with Beef, Chicken, Greenbeans, Cheese and Hotsauce. Excellent sandwich. They have a few locations around the city, my favorite is the one in Downtown Crossing.

- Portuguese Food. One community well represented here that is not as well represented in other parts of the country are the Portuguese speaking nations. For Brazilian I suggest Muqueca in East Cambridge/Inman Square; Portuguese Casa Portugal in East Cambridge/Inman Square or Portugualia in East Cambridge; Azorean Snack Bar in East Cambridge and for Cape Verdean Ceseria's in Dorchester.

- Taiwanese Food. I have spent some time in Taiwan and the Taiwanese food in Boston is as close as I have tasted to the real deal. Taiwan Cafe and Gourmet Dumpling House in Chinatown are my favorites.

- Also not a local institution or anything but I wanted to plug my favorite casual place to eat and grab a drink now and that is JM Curley (http://jmcurleyboston.com/) Just a great casual spot. Great bartenders, chefs are always whipping up something playful and interesting. Just a real chill spot with great food and drink for not alot of money. Its a favorite spot of local chefs to hang out when they are not working at their own restaurants.

For local beers some names to look out for in restaurants are Pretty Things, Harpoon, Berkshire Brewing Company and Cambridge Brewing Company. The best places to check this out:

- Lord Hobo Cambridge: Lord Hobo The food is also very good.
- Meadhall in Kendall Square Cambridge: Meadhall
- Area Four in Kendall Square Cambridge: AREA FOUR | COFFEE | BAKERY | BAR | OVEN - Coming Soon Food is also excellent, they have an only local beer list
- Cambridge Brewing Company in Kendall Square also: Cambridge Brewing Co. | Kendall Square, Cambridge MA
- I also second CC's recommendation above to tour the Harpoon Brewery. Then after the tour check out the new beer hall attached, great spot on the water.

For local Spirits there is one distillery that is putting out a really great product and that is Bully Boy in South Boston. Their site tells you which liquor stores around town carry it. Also many bars are stocking their spirits as well, Area Four mentioned above for example makes a great spin on a Manhattan using Bully Boy White Whiskey.
http://www.bullyboydistillers.com/


Enjoy your visit hope this helps!

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by Cliff Clavin

Harpoon is our biggest local brewery. Forget Sam Adams. Harpoon has a brewery in the Seaport (15 min walk from the Crab) and I believe they do free tours every 30 minutes on weekends. They just opened a new beer hall a few months ago too.

The Harpoon Brewery is much more conveniently located than the Sam Adams Brewery but I would definitely rate the SA Brewery Tour as a significantly more fun and entertaining experience. The beer doesn't flow as freely but the tour itself is far better. I haven't been there since they opened the new beer hall at Harpoon though so I'm not sure if they've expanded their tour.