A Bartender’s Guide to Boston

The Verb Hotel. Photo: Courtesy of The Verb Hotel

“The Verb Hotel (1271 Boylston St.; 617-566-4500) is my favorite hotel. It’s a very interesting and intimate music-themed boutique hotel. It has a little pool, and the entire hotel wraps around it. It’s not super-expensive, and it’s right near Fenway Park. You can see a game, head to the hotel for a drink, then go up to your room. I think of the design as 1960s California dropped in the middle of Boston. The rooms are modernist with bright colors, record players, and rock-and-roll-themed artwork. The Godfrey Hotel (505 Washington St.; 617-804-2000) downtown is beautiful. When you walk in, there’s a little lobby bar that’s connected to the amazing George Howell Coffee Shop. The rooms are super-elegant. It’s modern and sleek without being overly pretentious, so dark colors, warm grays. You’re in the middle of the city, and you’re right next to the park. If I stay in a hotel in Boston, that’s the one I go to.”

Clockwise from top: The patio at Oleana, octopus carpaccio at Menton, and a pastrami sandwich and matzah ball soup at Mamaleh’s. Photo: Kristin Teig.

Clockwise from top: The patio at Oleana, octopus carpaccio at Menton, and a pastrami sandwich and matzah ball soup at Mamaleh’s. Photo: Kristin Teig.

“One of my favorite places to start the day is this modern Jewish deli called Mamaleh’s (15 Hampshire St., Cambridge; 617-958-3354) that puts a spin on classic dishes, like a PLT, with pastrami bacon. I’ll go there and have some matzo-ball soup. My favorite restaurant of all time is a super-classic one in Boston, Oleana (134 Hampshire St., Cambridge; 617-661-0505). The menu is inspired by the cuisine of Turkey and the Middle East, and they have the best patio of anyone in the city. It feels like you’re sitting in somebody’s garden to have dinner. They have a lot of specials, and their food rotates quite a bit. It’s all smaller plates. They have a tamarind-glazed beef dish that’s out of this world, but I usually go for the vegetarian meze, like chickpea fritters, eggplant moussaka, or apple-radish-and-pomegranate fattoush. Menton (354 Congress St.; 617-737-0099) is absolutely amazing for special occasions. Chef Barbara Lynch made this restaurant inspired by Menton, which is the last little town on the French Riviera before you enter Italy. It’s this weird pocket of Italian culture in a French style. The restaurant is trying to capture that same feeling. I usually get a pasta dish — right now they have smoked potato agnolotti, spaghetti with duck confit, and veal ravioli — or something from the raw bar and pair it with a nice glass of wine. It’s my way of treating myself.”

Oysters at Row 34 (left) and a lobster roll at Yankee Lobster. Photo: Courtesy of Row 34; Henry E.Hernandez (Yankee).

Oysters at Row 34 (left) and a lobster roll at Yankee Lobster. Photo: Courtesy of Row 34; Henry E.Hernandez (Yankee).

“Row 34 (383 Congress St.; 617-553-5900) is unbelievable. It’s a beer bar–slash–oyster bar, and they grow their own oysters. They harvest in Duxbury Bay, so they grow throughout the whole year. Everything is super-fresh. It’s right by the ocean. When you’re in it, you smell the ocean. The beer menu has more than 70 different beers and ciders. The wine program is also really good. I like to go there for lunch early in the week to avoid the rush. The food is definitely modern New England. They’ll have a clam chowder, but they’ll have their take on a clam chowder, like a carrot chowder or something you might not expect. They have these lobster tacos that are to die for, hard shell with guacamole and lobster. They also own Island Creek Oyster Bar (500 Commonwealth Ave.; 617-532-5300), which is a great seafood restaurant. There’s a great little place in the North End, which is our Little Italy, called Neptune Oyster (63 Salem St; 617-742-3474). I love sneaking in there, having a glass a wine and some oysters, and sitting by the ocean. They have the best warm lobster roll in Boston. For the best cold lobster roll, go to Yankee Lobster (300 Northern Ave.; 617-345-9799). This is the problem with lobster rolls in Boston. You have to decide if you want a hot buttered lobster roll or a cold lobster roll. People who live in Boston will tend to go for the warm one. They warm up the lobster, mix it with butter, and serve it on a brioche bun. The cold one has lobster, celery, and mayonnaise.”

Lone Star Taco Bar's "el cruncho supremo" and a spread at Hojoko. Photo: Brian Samuels; Courtesy of Lone Star Taco Bar.

Lone Star Taco Bar's "el cruncho supremo" and a spread at Hojoko. Photo: Brian Samuels; Courtesy of Lone Star Taco Bar.

“For late night, I almost always go to Eastern Standard (528 Commonwealth Ave.; 617-532-9100). It’s a modern brasserie right next to Fenway Park. It’s huge inside. They have amazing cocktails, amazing wine, and every night they do a little late-night menu that they draw up on their mirror in addition to the regular food items. I get the cacio e pepe. Hojoko (1271 Boylston St.; 617-670-0507) in the Verb Hotel is this very beautiful, ’70s-inspired izakaya, and they serve really great late-night food. I really like their burgers. It’s the sloppy late-night burger you always dreamed of. There’s a taco place here, Lone Star Taco Bar (635 Cambridge St., Cambridge; 857- 285-6179), that for late-night does a high-end version of the Crunchwrap Supreme from Taco Bell. It’s so good. They have two locations, one in Boston’s Allston neighborhood and another in Cambridge. The Allston location (479 Cambridge St.) is completely full of college kids, so I like to go to the one in Cambridge. They serve food until 1:30 a.m.”

Rebel Rebel (left) and Haley.Henry. Photo: Ella Rinaldo (Rebel Rebel); Courtesy of haley.henry .

Rebel Rebel (left) and Haley.Henry. Photo: Ella Rinaldo (Rebel Rebel); Courtesy of haley.henry .

“We have an amazingly beautiful burgeoning natural wine scene that’s happening with some incredible bars that are some of my favorite in the country. My absolute favorite little darling bar is called Rebel Rebel (1 Bow Market Way, Somerville). It’s a small little bar in Somerville, which is kind of the Brooklyn of Boston. Everything that’s happening up there is super-interesting. In Boston, our liquor licenses are extremely expensive. So if you’re a young person trying to open up a bar or restaurant, it’s really prohibitive. However, laws in Somerville, which is basically a suburb, are much more lenient. They have a list, but everything is so obscure it’s better to just say, ‘Hey, I like this kind of thing,’ and they find it for you. The list is literally as big as the walls can hold. I think the capacity inside is about 15, but they also have a heated patio. You can bring in food from nearby restaurants. It’s a very fun experience. I go there all the time. In downtown Boston, there’s Haley.Henry (45 Province St.; 617-208-6000). It’s a small space, maybe 20 seats total. They can open any bottle on their list as long as you order two glasses. This bar is for food nerds. Their menu has lots of tinned fish — my favorites are cockles, tuna, and sardines. Order a bottle of natural wine and eat that with your friends. They have two bars now. The other one, called Nathálie (186 Brookline Ave.; 857-317-3884), is focused on natural and female produced wines. It’s a bigger space than Haley.Henry.”

Cheers. Photo: Matt Willett/The ADK Group

“You have to go out early. We start drinking here at four or five. On the weekends, we’ll start drinking at noon. Being day drunk in Boston is not a no-no. My favorite dive bar of all time is Biddy Early’s (141 Pearl St.; 617-654-9944). The seats are kind of broken. Things don’t really work. You get shots and beer. You go there after drinking, which is what I think dive bars should be. The Tam (222 Tremont St.; 617-482-9182 ) is another great one. Honestly, one of my other favorite dive bars is Cheers (84 Beacon St.; 617-227-9605). It used to be called the Bull & Finch Pub, and it inspired the TV show. I think a lot of tourists go thinking it’s going to be just like the show, but it’s a ridiculously fun little dive. I try to go there whenever I have people in town. Locals tend to think it’s a tourist trap, but actually it’s really fun. The people who work there are a good time.”

The Paul Revere House. Photo: MBH/Flickr

“If you like American history, the Freedom Trail is fun. I like walking through the North End on it because you can see the Paul Revere House (19 N. Square; 617-523-2338) and the church where they put up the signal. It’s a really great excuse to tour the city. I love the Boston Symphony Orchestra. They’ve got two seasons, one with all the classics, and in the summer, they turn into the Boston Pops Orchestra and they play pop music in Tanglewood like Star Wars theme songs or the Beatles. The Symphony Hall (301 Massachusetts Ave.) is very old. It opened in 1900. It’s a little small and cozy but still grandiose at the same time. Acoustically, it’s considered among the best concert halls in the world. When you hear a performance there, you’re right in the middle of the sound.”

The garden at Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Photo: Irene de la Torre/Flickr

“Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (25 Evans Way; 617-566-1401) is incredible. She was a well-off eccentric woman and a huge art collector, paintings, sculptures, tapestries, ceramics, and objects. She wanted to be surrounded by art and artists all the time, so she designed this house to feel like a museum and eventually gave it to the city. They have an artist-in-residence program, where artists come live and work at the museum, so they have a lot of new and interesting shows pop up. My favorite thing to do though is actually just hang out in the garden, which is the centerpiece of the whole museum. It’s designed like an Italian garden with a beautiful skylight and chairs.”