Support your Local Dive Bar

A couple of years ago, local writer and twitter superstar Luke O’Niel wrote Boston’s Best Dive Bars: Drinking and Diving in Beantown, a handy and funny guidebook to finding the best worst bars in my city. It’s a good read. It was published two years ago, however, and quite a few of the places he mentions have disappeared, often replaced by places that serve great appletinis.

Are dive bars truly an endangered species? Will the neighborhood dive go the same way as the local video store, travel agent, or bookstore? Will there be no place I can go get a drink without showering first, at ten thirty in the morning, without judgement?

Apparently this is a real trend, even the New York Times says so. I still occasionally hear people talk about how they love dive bars. I guess there is some appeal to the idea of drinking in some gritty, out of the way, hole-in-the-wall joint, it brings a sense of adventure, but maybe people like the idea of drinking in a dive bar better than actually drinking at one.

Today, however, I come  to praise the dive bar, not bury it.

Here, in no particular order, are some great things about dive bars:

What Part Don’t You Understand?

Cash only – There is now an entire generation that has a hard time with the concept of cash only. I find that amusing. If you are too much of a d-bag to stop at an ATM before you come in, you probably don’t belong here anyway.

Unicorn, with shades.

Weird Animal Head – The weirder the better. Finding a spot with a jackelope is like hitting the jackpot. Ideally, said head would be wearing a hat.

Too Much Neon – Nothing and nobody looks good under a neon light, which is kind of the point. You probably don’t want to see the place with good lighting.

Year-round Christmas Lights – Perhaps intended to keep the degenerates inside in a jolly mood. Besides, why take them down when you just have to put them up again in eleven months?

A Bartender That Can Kill You – It’s quite unlikely that the bartender will kill you. I’m just saying the bartender can kill you. Let’s hope it never comes to that.

Sociable People at the Bar – If you wanted to drink quietly, you should have stayed home. Of course, many will be crazy or unintelligible, but they are also social.

Tom Waits Would Be a Fine Choice

Jukebox – There has to be a jukebox. Put on a boy band if you never want to be welcomed there again.

A Colorful History – some patron who has been sitting at the bar since the 70’s will joyfully recount an old murder in the back alley, or the guy with the pinky ring that hasn’t been around in a while. Best not to ask too many questions.

A Bathroom that Makes You Think Twice – How bad to you need to go? What’s your true bladder capacity? Maybe it’s dirty, maybe you have to jiggle the toilet, maybe it’s down a dingy stairwell in an even dingier basement, but no one uses the bathroom at a dive bar unless they really have to.

A List of Banned Patrons – Despite my negligible character, I have never been banned from a dive bar. I have, however, been in dive bars many times where someone has walked in and been told they were banned. Again, not a time where you want to ask too many questions.

Hoping for the Chicken Dinnah

Keno – Because everybody loves Keno! Especially degenerate day drinkers with no particular place to be for the next few hours. Or days. It’s all good.

Bar Pets – A bar with a cat roaming around is a good sign, as they keep less desirable creatures away. Mice? It happens. Rats are kind enough to keep to themselves. As to the other tiny patrons, eh, what are you gonna do?

Better Than Drinking Alone

So grab a pocketful of cash and head down to your local dive bar. They will be happy to see you. Or they won’t care either way. Trust me, you will miss the place when it’s gone.

Where I’m Drinking – Lower Depths Taproom – Kenmore Square

Drinking in a basement bar named the Lower Depths might bring up an image of a dive bar. This would be wrong. True, it does have some of the items on a dive bar checklist, they are cash only and have the required animal-head-with-a-hat, but anyone who calls this is a dive bar really hasn’t been to one. Lower Depths is a small place, but the space is used well. It is bright, the décor is artsy and fun, and the staff is first-rate.

The Lower Depths is a very good beer bar. They only sport a few taps, but they are filled with craft beers, many of them local brews. The taps rotate regularly, which brings beer nerds like me back on a regular basis. Following their twitter feed brings announcements of  tap changes and new selections. I wish other places did this, as I pass through Kenmore Square regularly, and am easily enticed by a new beer. A tweet with a promise of something new is often all it takes for me to stop in for a pint and a bite. I appreciate that The Lower Depths puts in the effort to properly train their staff, bartenders and servers know the beers and their flavor profiles. The staff is helpful with choices and happy to give out samples. If, like me, you enjoy sipping and discussing beer, the Lower Depths is a fine choice.

Taps at the Lower Depths

The kitchen, like the bar, is quite small, but they put out some damn good food. The menu isn’t extensive, but everything comes out fresh and tasty. They are a must-stop on any Tater Tot crawl, the Mexicana, with queso fresco, and pickled jalapeños is my personal favorite. The buffalo mac and cheese has a big following here, but I am always drawn to their foot long hot dogs. They are so good and pair so well with a cold pint.

The Lower Depths has a small front deck, great for people watching on a sunny day. Be warned, however, that it is a small place and fills very quickly, especially when the Red Sox are in town. The crowd is a mixed lot, many students and tourists mix with the beer nerds and construction guys. Please keep in mind that they only take cash here, which perhaps keeps the crowd free of too many hipsters and the intense business types.

Hey, I know that sign!

The Lower Depths is a small, casual place that squeezes a lot into a limited space. It is committed to good pub food and craft beer. A good relaxing spot in the occasional madness of Kenmore Square. If you can find a seat.

A Guide to Bars Around Fenway Park

It’s still hard to believe that spring has come to Boston. I still will not tempt fate by putting my shovel away, and while I have (hopefully) retired the winter coat for the season, I’m still sporting my winter hat. Such is life up here in Boston this year.

It must be spring though, because Opening Day is here for the Red Sox. Yes, I am one of those obnoxious diehards who watch every game I can, who curse at the TV and offer deep insights into batting orders and pitch counts to my barmates. Yes, I’m one of those guys.

Fenway Park is more of a piece of history now than an actual place to go watch a ballgame.   I don’t mind so much that it’s now a place for the tourists and rich people rather than actual Sox fans, but I do sometimes lament the fact that I can’t really afford the place much anymore. The neighborhood itself has gone upscale with the ballpark. This isn’t really a bad thing, since my days of slam dancing at the Rathskeller have been over for a while now anyway.

There are so many good bars around Fenway, a full list would be terribly exhaustive. Instead, here are just a few notes about places I get to often enough. Not ranked, just listed in the order that they popped into my head.

Be warned, however, that on game day every one of these places is likely to be filled to the rafters, often with many inebriated people. If, like me, you are past the point of throwing elbows at drunken bro’s to get a drink, or have no patience for the pinkhats, go on a day when the Sox are out of town. If nothing else, the staff will be happy to see you on those days.

Fenway Bars – My List

Cask ‘n Flagron – One of the oldest places in the neighborhood, with probably one the best location of any bar in the world. They renovated it from a stick-to-the-floor beer place to a more respectable pub a few years ago. The food is pretty good, and the menu is a bit more expansive than you would expect. There are a few good beers on tap, I can always find  a pint Jack’s Abby, which makes me happy enough. A friend of mine says they make good cocktails, which is surprising when you remember what the place used to be.

Cask & Flagon

Loretta’s Last Call – Loretta’s opened last year with a southern food theme and a rather weird accusation of menu stealing. I wrote about Loretta’s when it first opened here. Think barbeque, pulled pork, moonshine cocktails. Try the fried chicken if you are hungry enough. They have live music regularly, and they do a nice job with the southern theme without getting too cutesy about it.

Loretta’s Porch

Game On – Located right on the ground floor of Fenway Park itself, Game On is a big, popular place. It is a fun place, if a bit touristy and generic. If it weren’t actually part of the park itself, you could easily imagine this place being in a suburban industrial park. They have a great TV setup, and enough screens to watch a couple of different games at once. Food is good enough but quite forgettable. Some real hardcore fans show up here, but there are also a good number of Pinkhats. They have a separate ping pong bar in the basement called Blazing Paddles if that’s your thing. I can honestly say it’s the best ping pong bar I’ve ever been to.

Game On

Bleacher Bar –If you only have time for one stop, you should probably go to Bleacher Bar. Like Game On, it’s built right into the stadium. Bleacher Bar has what no other bar has in town, a window to the stadium. A big glass wall opens right onto the outfield of Fenway Park. Any time of year it’s really cool, but when the Red Sox are playing, it’s pretty freakin’ awesome. Bleacher Bar is a small place, so it gets crowded fast, go extra early on game day for the best spots. Menu is bar snacks and sandwiches, but it’s pretty good and portions are large. I like the pretzel sticks and gravy fries myself, but if Beef on Weck is more your style, this is the place to be.

Bleacher Bar

Bleacher Bar window

Boston Beer Works – This place is part of a local chain of brewpubs in the Boston area. A bit pricier than other spots, they serve good fresh beers, styles change with the season. Beer works is a nice place and the food is pretty good. The crowd here skews a bit older and more mellow. Honestly, if you’ve been to a brewpub before, Beer Works is pretty much what you would expect. It’s a good spot, but aside from the location, rather forgettable.

Yard House – Yard House is part of a national chain. It’s a big place, and very nice, if a bit soulless. Yard House has a huge beer selection, good food served in big portions and a really nice outdoor seating area. The service there has always been good, but it does suffer from what I’ve dubbed “Too Many Taps Syndrome” where selection is so huge it’s tough for the staff to stay on top of it. They do have a well-managed rotating tap program though, dubbed the Chalkboard Series. It’s a great place for groups, and it’s a good pre-game option if you have the kids in tow.

Landsdowne Pub – Landsdowne is an Irish-themed pub, with all that entails – dark wood, Guinness on tap, so on. I’ve always liked the food here, the menu is pretty much what you would expect from a casual Irish spot. I’m a big fan of the corned beef and cabbage spring rolls, and the sliders are only a buck on Mondays. They have live music regularly and schedule a lot of special events there, particularly off-season. Landsdowne is a big place, they have a good TV setup and bring out the big screen for games – including the Euro soccer games, if that’s your thing.

Landsdowne Pub – Irish Spring Rolls

Baseball Tavern – The name sounds touristy, but this is much more of a neighborhood bar than anything else. Yes, like other places, it gets packed on game day, but other days you are likely to see a crowd of locals, college sports fans, or BU kids hanging around. Baseball Tavern has some divey aspects to it, like a rickety staircase to the basement bathrooms, but I wouldn’t call it a dive. More of a blue collar spot in a neighborhood that’s losing them. Baseball Tavern also has a kickass roof deck. They food menu is mostly pub snacks, but they do have fried clams. They might not be the best you’ve ever had, but they ain’t bad.

Baseball Tavern

Jerry Remy’s – Last month I wrote that Remy’s had closed, but my reliable sources (internet) have told me that they plan on being open and ready before the first pitch. I guess they changed management or something, so hopefully they will fix a couple of the problems I touched on. Basically, it was a great space and a great place to watch a game, but little else – touristy, overpriced, food a solid meh. I will make it a point to get to the roof top this year. It’s important to have goals in life.

Jerry Remy’s

So enjoy your trip to the old bandbox, but be prepared to defend your choice of bar. And please don’t wear a pink hat.

Where I’m Drinking – Harry’s Bar and Grill – Brighton

Brighton is an area that certainly doesn’t want for drinking spots. Harry’s Bar and Grill, however, is in a bit of a dead spot, about halfway between Cleveland Circle and Allston’s Union Square. Like Brighton itself, the crowd at Harry’s is a nice mix of hipsters, young professionals, working people, and shady quirky locals. Also reflecting the neighborhood, Harry’s is a bit of a hangout for the industry folks, I’ve run into many staff and kitchen folks from other local places while hanging out here. In a way, the crowd at Harry’s is Brighton in a box.

This is a neat little corner bar. Harry’s sells itself as a neighborhood bar, and although it’s owned by one of the bigger restaurant groups in Boston, they get a lot of things right here. Harry’s works pretty well as a typical “neighborhood bar”.

Harry’s is smaller than it looks, but it has a nice big bar. The dining area is raised, and hey, there’s a pool table. It has a nice T.V. setup no matter where you sit, and for a big game they bring down an old-style movie screen behind the bar. There are also enough T.V.’s spread out so they can show a couple of different games at once, which is nice if you want to catch, say, a Euro football match rather than the Red Sox. I always appreciate that in a bar setup.

The menu is somewhat elevated pub food. You can’t go wrong with the pulled pork or Cubano sandwiches, do yourself a favor and upgrade to the sweet potato fries for an extra buck.  The mac and cheese is pretty good and quite filling. The fresh ingredients they use really lift any dish. Some folks love the flatbread pizzas, I’m partial to the veggie quesadilla myself. They also have daily lunch specials, which always is a sign to me that a place lets a chef run a bit. Good things tend to happen when you let a good chef stretch his legs..

I really the food here, but what really keeps drawing me back is the rotating taps. I’m a sucker for rotating taps. There is nothing I enjoy more than walking into a place and spotting a new seasonal beer on tap, and a barman who knows what to recommend.  Many beer bars have tried putting in taps without taking the time to educate the staff about what they are serving. That just doesn’t work. Harry’s does not make this mistake, the barmen always know what they are serving, and will be happy to give a sample or two. Last time I was there, I had an Anderson Valley Winter Warmer, one of my favorite winter ales. Next time I go I will look forward to trying a new spring beer or two, I’m confident I’ll find something.

Harry’s is a place that is comfortable in its skin, a neighborhood spot with good food, good drinks, and the service here has always been great. It’s a very good place to watch a game. There is no place to park there, but maybe, the next time you are riding the B line, you should thing about hopping off for a pint.

Harry’s Bar and Grill – 1430 Commonwealth Ave

Brighton, MA 02135    (617) 738-9990

Farewell, Jerry Remy’s – Fenway

Jerry Remy’s in the Fenway closed this week, and I’m not really surprised. Bars close all the time in Boston, for a million reasons, but I have to say I saw this one coming.

Remy’s was a nice place to visit, but nobody lived there. Whenever my suburban friends come into the city, they would often say “Let’s go to Jerry Remy’s.” I would suggest someplace else.

The Fenway bar area, which is an absolute circus when the Red Sox are playing, can be a real wasteland when the weather turns. It’s actually a nice time to visit the neighborhood spots there. The crowds are gone, you can sit where you like, and the workers are happy to see you. If you like a quiet, relaxed spot to have a beer and a burger, it’s a nice area.

Jerry Remy’s was built and operated as a destination spot. It was a place to go for a game, an out-of-towners place, a place you could plan an event, and it was a pretty good one. Alas, that was not enough to put the asses in the barstools. It was too expensive to visit regularly, the food wasn’t good enough to draw you in. Even when I did visit with my suburban, old white guy crew, we would frequently have a few drinks and move on to a different spot. The Landsdowne, The Baseball Tavern, Cask & Flagon are more our speed. We fit in better there. Remy’s could get us in the door, but it couldn’t keep us. A good TV setup and the coolness of Jerry’s celebrity just wasn’t enough.

I’m sure some other place will open there soon. My guess is that it will be more upscale, and not afraid to appear so. It would fit in more with the rapidly gentrifying neighborhood. Remy’s wanted to be a sports bar and charge tourist prices. That might work in Faneuil Hall, but not in the Fenway, not year-round at least.

Eater.com – Jerry Remy’s Fenway Location Unexpectedly Shutters

Budweiser Takes a Big Swing at the Little Guys

I am old enough to remember when being a New England Patriots fan that was not something to be particularly proud of. So when the Patriots win the Super Bowl, It’s still something I revel in, if just a little.

The day after the Big Game, I was not surprised to see my Twitter feed full of gloats from my fellow Patriots fans. I was, however, surprised to see my feed filled with angry rants about Budweiser.

I actually missed the commercial, but oh boy did it get my fellow beer nerds going. Later, when my heart rate receded after the best Super Bowl I’ve ever seen (PATS WIN!), I went back and watched it. It might have made me angry too, but instead it made me laugh.

Let me summarize the ad for you: Craft beer is sniffed, sipped, and fussed over by urban elite white males with weirdo facial hair and glasses. Budweiser is downed by Real Men in rowdy pubs throughout Real America, drunk straight from the bottle, not from some fancy-schmancy glassware. Oh, and it’s delivered by Lovely Serving Wenches. I guess in Bud world, women serve beer, they don’t drink it. But I digress.

Others out there in the craft beer world (see here, here, and here) have done a fine job of poking holes in the particulars of the commercial, the nonsense of “Beechwood aged,” the fact that Bud is actually owned by a Belgium conglomerate, or that the “Pumpkin Peach Ale” they poke fun at is brewed by a Budweiser subsidiary.

Budweiser has always sold itself as being a legacy beer, a beer that’s been brewed since 1876. It’s the beer Dad and your Grandpa drank on the porch listening to Red Sox games on the radio. Unfortunately, that image doesn’t seem to be working for them so well anymore. They are losing market share, particularly among younger drinkers LINK . Their new pitch is to make craft beer drinkers the nerds in the room, subject to humiliation and ridicule for drinking something a shade darker than amber. Feel free to walk up and steal their chicken wings. They have given up on competing on taste, it seems, and now want to sell beer based on social conformity.

Some might find this ominous. I just think it’s silly.

Which brings me back to being an old-time Patriots fan. In the bad old days, the Pats played in a terrible old craphole that had no seats, just metal benches. In New England. I believe the phrase “Freezing my ass off” began here. It was known as Schaefer Stadium, after another beer that my Dad used to drink. Perhaps, if Budweiser’s “Our beer ain’t made for sipping” angle doesn’t work out, Bud could go back to the old Schaefer slogan:

“The one beer to have when you’re having more than one.”

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Random Notes About Drinking in Vegas

I was in Las Vegas for a few days last week, the reasons why must remain classified.  I will post a bit more about my trip another day, but for now here are my Random Notes About Drinking in Vegas:

I stayed at Bally’s, which is a nice enough hotel in the middle of the strip.  Everything about it was quite satisfactory.  Not stunning, but satisfactory.  No complaints about my stay, and the staff was nice.

My Satisfactory Room at Bally’s

It’s always so weird being in a place where people still smoke at the bars.

Many bartenders like hearing my bad Boston accent. In fact, they always like having people from the East Coast sit down at their bars, because East Coast people tip better. Even when the beer is free, it’s a buck or so a round, people.

Every other bartender in Las Vegas is a “Flair” bartender, which can be reasonably amusing to watch for a while. So long as it doesn’t take them too long to flip their bottles before they bring me my drink.

Las Vegas must be the “Breastaurant” capitol of the US. Hooters, Twin Peaks, Tilted Kilt, and about a dozen casino bars seem to be based on the cheap beer/bad pub food/scantily clad server model. As a single guy with gray in my hair, I find hanging out at these places a bit creepy.

My first night there, I got into a conversation with a barman at Caeser’s Palace sports book. I mentioned I was from Boston. Sure enough, the woman sitting next me was a Vegas local originally from Dorchester. No matter where you go in the world, you will always meet someone from Dorchester.

If you are looking for craft beers on the strip, Tag Sports Bar in the Linq Hotel (used to be Imperial Palace) has a good selection of bottles. The beer menu is pretty long and, for some reason, is divided by state rather than beer style. Perhaps if enough beer nerds protest they will see the error of their ways. Overwhelmed by the choices, I went to an old-but-satisfying standby, the Brooklyn Lager.

Not being much of a cowboy, I had never been to Gilley’s at Treasure Island before, but they bring a new meaning to the phrase “saddle up to the bar.”  And while I may have made a few bad decisions on my trip, I did not decide to ride the mechanical bull.  That would have really been a bad decision.

In a city of cheezy attractions, one of my favorite places to hang out is the first floor bar at Margaritaville in the Flamingo Casino. Very relaxed spot, and one of the few spots where you can sit at a bar that doesn’t have a video poker machine attached to it. Nice porch there too, and Vegas is one of the world-class spots for people watching.

Margaritaville at Flamingo

I also ate breakfast at the Flamingo buffet.  I’m a big fan of breakfast buffets, and never shy about going back for a third plate.  I did, however, notice that I was being watched.

Of course there is a pelican living at a hotel in the middle of the desert.  Because it’s Vegas.

That’s all for now, I’ll write more perhaps, when I get over my  hangover jet lag.

Where I’m Drinking – The Tap Trailhouse – Government Center

An unusual work thingy brought me to Government Center last week, and I decided to take the opportunity to try a new spot. I had heard some good things about both the food and the beer selection at Tap Trailhouse, so I stopped in to sample both.

Given the location right near Fanueil Hall, and its semi-hokey Paul Revere logo, I was a bit afraid that the Tap Trailhouse would be too touristy. When I first walked in, I was greeted by a very friendly gentleman in a suit and tie, so I became afraid that the place might be too upscale. My suspicion of upscalery seemed to be confirmed by the fact that the TV behind the bar was tuned to the Fox business channel, my worries about it being touristy were reinforced by the fake old-timey printing on the menu. Both of these fears were soon put to rest.

The Tap Trailhouse is not a brand new place, but a remodeled, upscaled version of a semi-crappy beer bar named the Tap. I can’t remember a damn thing about the old Tap.  If I ever went in there, it didn’t make much of an impression. The “new” space is quite impressive, however. The bar is not too big and just a wee bit fancy. The theme of the place seems to be local craft beers and modern spins on traditional New England food. The beer list is pretty impressive, they have about twenty-five taps and feature smaller Massachusetts and New England brews. They promised me that they would be rotating the taps regularly, both for seasonal brews and to keep the variety. They don’t serve Bud, Miller, or any other national brand either on tap or in bottles, the closest they have to a “big beer” is Sam Adams. For a place in the heart of tourist country, that’s kind of brave. I chose a Slumbrew Happy Sol Hefeweizen, which was refreshing, light and a bit citrusy.  The bartender was nice enough to offer me samples of a couple of others. I do wish the beer menu would include the location of the brewery and alcohol content, but I’m nitpicking.

I was starving when I walked in, so it took me about two seconds to order the Country Rabbit Sausage, served with pickled cranberries and served on a johnnycake. It was delicious, and much more filling than it looked. Whille that was all I ate there, the appetizers look much more interesting than the rest of the menu – Harpoon venison chili, oyster tacos, blue crab nachos. I don’t see those kinds of things every day.

As to my fears of the place being pretentious and touristy, neither one proved true. The well dressed gentleman who greeted me was the manager covering the hostess station, he stopped by and asked me how my meal was and we talked beer for a few minutes. The Fox business channel soon gave way to football highlights. My neighbors at the bar were, like me, locals who were in the area on some type of business, we talked football and a bit of politics. It wasn’t busy at that time, service was quick, friendly and polite.

As much as I like a routine, and my regular haunts, every now and then it does me a bit of good to get out there and try something new. I don’t know when I’ll end up in Government Center again, but when I do, at least now I know a good place to stop.

pictures from Facebook

The Tap Trailhouse

19 Union Street, Boston, MA. 02108

 (617) 367-0033

 

Last Call Daisy Buchanan’s

I heard last week that Daisy Buchanan’s in the Back Bay was closing up.

I won’t tell you exactly how old I was when I first went to Daisy Buchanan’s, let’s just say I should not have been there. Things were different then, and getting into a bar was based more on who you knew or who your sister was dating than other matters, such as an ID that said you were eight inches taller or had shocking blond hair.

I happened to be around the Back Bay the other day, and, feeling a bit nostalgic, I stopped in. While I admit that my memories of the place are kind of fuzzy, it didn’t seem to have changed much, except that it occurred to me that the last time I was there it was filled with cigarette smoke.

I was from the inner suburbs, and for some reason (other than their liberal ID policy) Daisy’s was a destination for us. I don’t know what the Bostonian translation of “Bridge and Tunnel Crowd” is, but that was us. When my high school buddy came back from the Marines, we headed for Daisy’s. Beer was cheap, there were girls there, what more do you want at that age?

Alas, there were no girls there on my last trip, save the bartender. It was an early crowd, for sure, but I don’t think there was a single person there without gray hair. Men sat at the bar and read the Herald, played Keno, and talked about the World Series. So, yes, many years after my first visit, I felt right at home.

Until I put the coaster over my beer and stepped out for a smoke, and remembered this was Newbury Street. I went out with my friend, who rocked his navy peacoat, I was fighting the cooler weather with my New Balance windbreaker. We stood and watched the beautiful people walk by. More than anything, we looked like a couple of old-school Irish cops.

There are a million stories better than mine about the place, but with dive bars becoming something of an endangered species in my city, I stood there on the corner and wondered how this unpretentious watering hole held onto such a fancy corner for so long. I don’t want to say it was the “good old days” of smoke-filled bars, bouncers with brass knuckles in their pockets, nineteen year old drinkers, and people doing nefarious things in the bathroom stalls, some change is for the good.

I’m not lamenting Daisy’s. She had as good a run as any of us could expect. I’m lamenting a small piece of my misspent youth.

Boston Herald – Daisy Buchanan’s Will Serve its Last This Fall

Where to Watch Hockey in Boston

When the weather turns colder, the days get shorter, and the leaves fall off the trees, hockey comes back to me. I don’t really play anymore (the body doesn’t work like it used to), but I still do love watching the game. I find hockey, like baseball, to be a wonderful social game. I enjoy taking a seat at the bar, talking about lineups, complaining about the referees, all that fun stuff.  Alas, hockey country ain’t what it used to be here in Boston, where half the people come from someplace else, be it Texas or California or India, and are much more interested in watching European soccer (I’m an American, I say soccer, deal with it) than the Rangers/Kings matchup. Therefore, I thought it might be helpful to publish a short list of good spots to sit at the bar, and watch a game with a like-minded few who enjoy a good beverage as well as a good penalty kill.

Sullivan’s Tap – Just steps away from the TD Garden, Sullivan’s has a very long bar. It has a very long bar. It serves beer and has a pool table and dartboard. Any questions?

from twitter

They also have a very honest advertising pitch: “Where Real Fans Meet, Your Grandfather Drank here.” Both are pretty true. Yes, Sullivan’s is divey, but not hipster divey. People come here to drink beer and watch hockey. Just like my Grandfather used to.  And like my Grandpa, they only accept cash.  What to eat: Bring a bag of chips, they don’t serve food here.

168 Canal St. Boston, MA 02114 

www.twitter.com/sullivanstap

The Fours – The Fours is right next to Sullivan’s, but only in terms of geography. It’s everything Sullivan’s isn’t, bright, cheery, with good food and a decent if not terribly creative beer selection. Sports Illustrated says it’s one of the best sports bars in America. The atmosphere can be a bit touristy and pink-hatish, but overall there is a good, somewhat upscale crowd. What to eat: Forgo a bit of your dignity and try the Buffalo Chicken Nachos. They are so good.

166 Canal St Boston, MA 02114

www.thefours.com

McGreevy’s – McGreevy’s is a sports bar that gets just about everything right, good food, good beer, great staff, and a very good TV setup for watching a game. The crowd comes early here, and can get loud at times. Although it’s in the toney Back Bay, McGreevy’s is unpretentious and reasonably priced. And yes, this is the place owned by one of the guys from the Dropkick Murphy’s. What to eat: Try the Guinness Braised Short Rib Poutine, because poutine is good hockey food.

911 Boylston St. Boston, MA 02115

www.mcgreevys.com

The Banshee – I don’t get to the Banshee often enough, but when I do I always have a good time. The Banshee is a well known place to watch European soccer, but they do all sports right there. The crowd gets into it, but the nature of the place keeps the rowdiness down to a minimum. The Banshee is something of an old-school Irish bar, where people talk to their barmates. Tweeting from the bar won’t get you kicked out, but it is bad form. Pretty good beer selection, always includes a couple of small local brews. What to eat: People swear by the Mac and Cheese, I really like the potato skins.

934 Dorchester Ave Dorchester, MA 02125

www.bansheeboston.com/

Jerry Remy’s – Fenway – yes, it’s a bit of a tourist trap, it’s a bit overpriced, and the food is just plain average, but boy did they got the TV setup right. It’s a nice big bar, with a huge screen in the middle and a whole bunch of smaller ones around, so you can keep an eye on every game playing. Beer selection is pretty average, but they do keep the seasonals from Harpoon, Wachusett, and Sam Adams. You will find something you like here, but it’s not a place to test your beer palate. Or your food palate for that matter. Menu is standard pub food served in a standard way. The staff here has always been friendly and fun, and the crowd does bring in a good share of hockey fans. What to eat: Try the Kobe beef sliders, can’t go wrong.

1265 Boylston St Boston, MA 02215

www.jerryremys.com

Avenue – Allston – A smaller place, and a bit hidden away.  Nice TV setup over the bar, and a surprising number of hockey fans find their way here. Given the transient nature of the Allston neighborhood, there are a good number of people who follow teams other than the Bruins, but it’s a pretty good natured crowd. They have a nice beer selection here, and they rotate taps, so it’s a good spot try something new. The staff, like the crowd and the place itself, are unpretentious but not unfriendly, and always willing to help you out with choosing a beer. While they do get a bit of the Allston Hipster crowd, this is not the “cool place to be” in the neighborhood, and it doesn’t particularly try to be. It is, however, a good place to drink a few beers and watch a game with like-minded fans, and isn’t that the point? What to eat: Try the Cry-Baby burger, possibly the best cheap burger in town, and don’t miss the sweet potato tots.

from website

1249 Commonwealth Ave Allston, MA 02134

www.avenuebar.com

What other good spots are out there for watching hockey?  Let me know.  And save me a seat.

@seanbeh3