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Industry Hangout
Trina's Starlite Lounge
For years, this intimate Inman Square hangout has been a bright beacon summoning service pros to its famous industry brunch on Mondays...
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Bar-Hopping Destination
Union Square
Maybe it sufficed during your fake-ID days, but as a grown-up, tripping o’er the crowded cobblestones of Faneuil Hall gets old fast...
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Beer Bar
The Publick House
There are plenty of new bars in town offering beer lists full of sours, IPAs and Belgian ales that will satisfy any palate...
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Cozy Bar
Anchovies
Spiffier South End spots attract see-and-be-seen crowds. But when you want to slip away to a dimly lit den, sidle up to the dark wooden bar at this neighborhood haunt...
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Dance Club
Royale
Nightclubs come and go, but none have been in the position to steal Royale’s crown...
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Dive Bar
Drinking Fountain
As the glut of luxury condo builds attests, nowhere in Boston is safe from gentrification...
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Dream Living Room
The Hawthorne
Many Boston cocktail bars compete to most accurately resemble a hipster’s idea of his great-grandfather’s favorite speakeasy...
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First-Date Destination
The Gallows
Finding a first-date spot is tricky. You want the place to feel fun but not forced, with reasonable price points lodged between “penny pincher” and “moneybags.”...
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Gay Scene
Club Café
It’s been around for more than 30 years and still attracts a block-long line of gays waiting to get inside...
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Hidden Gem
Harborside Lounge
“Gem” and “airport bar” are rarely seen in the same sentence, but the Hyatt Regency Boston Harbor plays unexpected host to an airy, tall-windowed bar with a killer patio...
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Hotel Bar
Hojoko
This kooky izakaya inside the rock ’n’ roll-themed Verb Hotel is the antithesis of all those unstylish lobby bars where sad traveling salesmen slump and get sauced...
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Irish Pub
The Field
This may start a Dropkick Murphys-scored riot, but we have to say it: Some of the area’s best Irish pubs aren’t even in Southie...
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Jazz Club
Wally's Café
This narrow, easy-to-miss South End bar practically vibrates with a venerable history of nightly jazz performances by hallowed veteran musicians and up-and-coming talents...
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Last-Call Spot
Golden Temple
If there’s any single neighborhood that has last-call hangouts on lock, it’s Chinatown...
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Mocktails
Waypoint
It’s easy to scoff at mocktails. They typically languish in a forgotten corner of the menu, unattended to by any but the pregnant or sober...
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New Addition
The Supper Club at Capo
With a checkered floor and wood paneling on one end, and a stage that hosts live music sets on the other end, there’s a vibe that’s one part grandma’s basement, one part...
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Place to Drink Alone
Brendan Behan Pub
No one’s going to bother you if you bury yourself in a book at this cash-only Jamaica Plain pub...
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Place to Feel Like a Kid
Roxy's Central + A4cade
This joyful joint venture between two local restaurant brands taps into the nostalgic fancies of ’80s babies and translates them for grown-up tastes...
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Pre-/Post-Fenway Park
Eastern Standard
If you want to fight for elbow room with sweaty stadium seat-warmers at a nearby sports bar, feel free...
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Pre-/Post-TD Garden
Ward 8
Heading for the Garden and thirsting for cheap beer? You have plenty of plain-brown-wrapper taverns nearby to serve you...
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Pre-/Post-Theater
Townsman
Before you get your ticket ripped at a nearby theater, know there’s already quite a show going on at the front bar of Townsman...
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Rock Club
The Sinclair
In a region that has seen its live performance venues dwindle in recent years, the Sinclair manages to draw diverse acts that tickle the music-snob sweet spot...
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Rooftop Bar
Legal Harborside
Six years after it first made a splash in the Seaport, the scene at Legal Sea Foods’ massive threefloor flagship remains as fresh as the day’s catch...
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Sake Program
PABU
Downtown Crossing’s swank Millennium Tower houses this high-end izakaya from San Francisco celeb-chef Michael Mina, a posh place to enjoy fancy yakitori, sushi, sashimi...
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Sherry Program
Straight Law at Taberna de Haro
Three years ago, Brookline tapas stalwart Taberna de Haro branded its 13-seat bar as Straight Law, a nod to a classic gin and sherry cocktail...
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Singles Scene—Over 30
W Boston
Once you’ve graduated from Tunnel, the W’s thumping subterranean nightclub, move upstairs to the W Lounge, where veteran DJ Braun Dapper curates sounds...
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Singles Scene—Under 30
Coppersmith
Set in a former copper fabrication plant, Coppersmith now manufactures good times for throngs of 20-somethings...
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Summer Scene
Boston Harbor Hotel
This waterfront property proves it’s the simple pleasures that make summer special...
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Watering Hole for the Well-Heeled
The Langham
Where can you swap digits and stock tips with singles of a certain income bracket? A bar in a bank, naturally...
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Wine Bar
Haley.Henry
In this teensy, winsome, nautical-themed spot in Downtown Crossing, owner Haley Fortier has built a wine-friendly menu around tinned seafood and other grazeable delights...
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Winter Scene
Lookout Rooftop & Bar
Yes, the Envoy Hotel’s rooftop bar buzzes in the summer, but if you want to get sloshed inside a snow globe, Lookout likewise has you covered...
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Worth the Trek
The Baldwin Bar
Self-taught cocktail wunderkind Ran Duan holds court in the same stately, crumbling Colonial manor that houses his family’s excellent traditional Sichuan restaurant...