Full Version: Boston,MA.
I have a frIend who's moving to Boston this Spring.I've been looking at photos on the web(what a gorgeous city!) I "hope" to be taking a trip there towards the end of May.Does anyone have any favorite restaurants or hangouts in Boston they could tell me about? Thanks.
I moved to Boston from NYC about 15 years ago and can't imagine living anywhere else right now. Winters can be tough, but Boston is very very cool.
Though fairly it's a fairly compact city and has a small-town feeling at times, Boston is a pretty diverse place. Depending on which piece of US census data you pay attention to, Boston is either the 5th or 6th largest metro area in the US.
Needless to say, there is a wide variety of restaurants, neighborhoods, cultural activities and attractions, bars and clubs, organizations, etc.
How old is your friend? Is this a man or woman? Gay or straight? What are his/her interests?
The South End: I find the South End the most interesting neighborhood. It's one of the largest historically protected Victorian neighborhoods in the US -- lots of brick-fronted townhouses, small gardens, schools converted to condos, really good restaurants. It's also the most gay neighborhood in the city. Club Cafe (a video bar), Fritz (gay sports bar), and the Eagle (of former leather fame, now really just a late night bar) are the main gay places. 28 Degrees is a very post-gay martini lounge and restaurant -- very hip, with lots of gay boys glamming it up among the straight urban crowd. There's a growing arts scene and condos are going up a dozen at a time.
Back Bay: probably the ritziest neighborhood in the city, built on landfill that filled the tidal bay that sat behind Beacon Hill back in the 1800s. Commonwealth Ave is a large Paris-type boulevard that runs through the neighborhood. Newbury St. is the main shopping strip, starting with Chanel at one end and Urban Outfitters at the other and everything in between. Boylston St. is the main commercial street in the neighborhood (office buildings, hotels, etc.). BB has pretty good restaurants, lots of hair salons and galleries, several office buildings, some condo towers and hotels (the new Mandarin Oriental is going up on Boylston St.), LOTS of upscale shopping, and a few bars but not much hardcore nightlife.
Beacon Hill: one of the oldest neighborhoods, settled in the early 1700s once the steep tops of the three hills were lopped off making it more navigable. Lots of charming buildings, old gas street lamps, stately homes (Louisburg Square), old carriage houses and churches, etc. At the top of Beacon Hill is the Massachusetts State House.
The North End: the mostly Italian section of town and the oldest neighborhood in terms of settlemement (early 1600s). Paul Revere's very English-looking (almost Elizabethan-looking) home still stands here. Fantastic Italian restaurants. On a warm summer evening, nothing's better than strolling along Salem Street, eating dinner in a small family-owned restaurant with open cafe doors, then wandering among the crowds and stopping off at Mike's or Modern Pastry or Cafe Vittoria for a latte and tiramisu.
The Fenway: the neighborhood that houses more college kids than just about anywhere is slowly being gentrified and upscaled. Landsdowne Street, which forms the back wall of Fenway Park, is a block of clubs, bars, billiard places. Avalon is an enormous club, gay night is Sunday night. Also nearby is the gay Machine/Ramrod complex. Also in the Fenway are the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Both are internationally renowned for their collections. Symphony Hall is located in this area as well.
Dorchester/JP/Southie: all are making space for the new gay neighbors. "Dot" (the thickest Boston accents pronounce Dorchester "Dotchestah", shortened to just "Dot", pronounced "dawt") and South Boston ("Southie"... watch Goodwill Hunting) were mostly working class and run-down Irish neighborhoods. Things started to change about 30 years ago, new blood came in and they are the new fronteir for gay folks looking to snatch up real estate bargains. Now all three are homes to diverse populations (Haitians, Cape Verdeans, Puerto Ricans, gays, Irish, Polish, etc.). dbar (lower case letters) is the coolest gay bar in the city, IMO, and is on Dorchester Ave. It's in a former Irish Pub -- at 10pm each night, the tables get whisked away and the DJ starts spinning. I was there last night -- lots of fun!
Cambridge: across the Charles River and a different city, but still "Boston" in my mind, kind of like what Berkeley is to San Francisco. Home to Harvard and MIT -- lots of "smaht" people. Great book stores, funky shopping, yoga studios, more futon and organic food stores per square mile than just about anywhere. Paradise is a skanky little gay bar, but has a good DJ on Saturdays and there are strippers each night. Cambridge has a lot of interesting ethnicities, Africans, Asians, Brazilians, Indians, and each has brought their cuisine with them. There are also a number of top notch modern American type restaurants, some Irish pubs, college taverns, etc. sprinkled throughout Cambridge.
Outside the city, there's plenty to do all four seasons. Salem, Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard/Nantucket, Provincetown (a two hour ferry from the financial district to PT, or two hour drive if you need a car), NH and Vermont for skiing and summer lakes, coastal Maine, lobster, the Berkshires, whitewater rafting on the Kennebec and Penobscott rivers, boating, hiking, fall foliage, and plenty of pretty little towns with that proverbial New England white church and town green (yes, they both still exist in abundance).
Needless to say from this novel, I really love it here.
Though fairly it's a fairly compact city and has a small-town feeling at times, Boston is a pretty diverse place. Depending on which piece of US census data you pay attention to, Boston is either the 5th or 6th largest metro area in the US.
Needless to say, there is a wide variety of restaurants, neighborhoods, cultural activities and attractions, bars and clubs, organizations, etc.
How old is your friend? Is this a man or woman? Gay or straight? What are his/her interests?
The South End: I find the South End the most interesting neighborhood. It's one of the largest historically protected Victorian neighborhoods in the US -- lots of brick-fronted townhouses, small gardens, schools converted to condos, really good restaurants. It's also the most gay neighborhood in the city. Club Cafe (a video bar), Fritz (gay sports bar), and the Eagle (of former leather fame, now really just a late night bar) are the main gay places. 28 Degrees is a very post-gay martini lounge and restaurant -- very hip, with lots of gay boys glamming it up among the straight urban crowd. There's a growing arts scene and condos are going up a dozen at a time.
Back Bay: probably the ritziest neighborhood in the city, built on landfill that filled the tidal bay that sat behind Beacon Hill back in the 1800s. Commonwealth Ave is a large Paris-type boulevard that runs through the neighborhood. Newbury St. is the main shopping strip, starting with Chanel at one end and Urban Outfitters at the other and everything in between. Boylston St. is the main commercial street in the neighborhood (office buildings, hotels, etc.). BB has pretty good restaurants, lots of hair salons and galleries, several office buildings, some condo towers and hotels (the new Mandarin Oriental is going up on Boylston St.), LOTS of upscale shopping, and a few bars but not much hardcore nightlife.
Beacon Hill: one of the oldest neighborhoods, settled in the early 1700s once the steep tops of the three hills were lopped off making it more navigable. Lots of charming buildings, old gas street lamps, stately homes (Louisburg Square), old carriage houses and churches, etc. At the top of Beacon Hill is the Massachusetts State House.
The North End: the mostly Italian section of town and the oldest neighborhood in terms of settlemement (early 1600s). Paul Revere's very English-looking (almost Elizabethan-looking) home still stands here. Fantastic Italian restaurants. On a warm summer evening, nothing's better than strolling along Salem Street, eating dinner in a small family-owned restaurant with open cafe doors, then wandering among the crowds and stopping off at Mike's or Modern Pastry or Cafe Vittoria for a latte and tiramisu.
The Fenway: the neighborhood that houses more college kids than just about anywhere is slowly being gentrified and upscaled. Landsdowne Street, which forms the back wall of Fenway Park, is a block of clubs, bars, billiard places. Avalon is an enormous club, gay night is Sunday night. Also nearby is the gay Machine/Ramrod complex. Also in the Fenway are the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Both are internationally renowned for their collections. Symphony Hall is located in this area as well.
Dorchester/JP/Southie: all are making space for the new gay neighbors. "Dot" (the thickest Boston accents pronounce Dorchester "Dotchestah", shortened to just "Dot", pronounced "dawt") and South Boston ("Southie"... watch Goodwill Hunting) were mostly working class and run-down Irish neighborhoods. Things started to change about 30 years ago, new blood came in and they are the new fronteir for gay folks looking to snatch up real estate bargains. Now all three are homes to diverse populations (Haitians, Cape Verdeans, Puerto Ricans, gays, Irish, Polish, etc.). dbar (lower case letters) is the coolest gay bar in the city, IMO, and is on Dorchester Ave. It's in a former Irish Pub -- at 10pm each night, the tables get whisked away and the DJ starts spinning. I was there last night -- lots of fun!
Cambridge: across the Charles River and a different city, but still "Boston" in my mind, kind of like what Berkeley is to San Francisco. Home to Harvard and MIT -- lots of "smaht" people. Great book stores, funky shopping, yoga studios, more futon and organic food stores per square mile than just about anywhere. Paradise is a skanky little gay bar, but has a good DJ on Saturdays and there are strippers each night. Cambridge has a lot of interesting ethnicities, Africans, Asians, Brazilians, Indians, and each has brought their cuisine with them. There are also a number of top notch modern American type restaurants, some Irish pubs, college taverns, etc. sprinkled throughout Cambridge.
Outside the city, there's plenty to do all four seasons. Salem, Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard/Nantucket, Provincetown (a two hour ferry from the financial district to PT, or two hour drive if you need a car), NH and Vermont for skiing and summer lakes, coastal Maine, lobster, the Berkshires, whitewater rafting on the Kennebec and Penobscott rivers, boating, hiking, fall foliage, and plenty of pretty little towns with that proverbial New England white church and town green (yes, they both still exist in abundance).
Needless to say from this novel, I really love it here.
We go to Boston every summer to visit my sister's family.
Cambridge is always a fun hangout....
You can also jump on a boat and be in Provincetown in an hour and a half...
Cambridge is always a fun hangout....
You can also jump on a boat and be in Provincetown in an hour and a half...
QUOTE(aquaman @ Jan 14 2007, 08:05 PM) 
I moved to Boston from NYC about 15 years ago and can't imagine living anywhere else right now. Winters can be tough, but Boston is very very cool.
Though fairly it's a fairly compact city and has a small-town feeling at times, Boston is a pretty diverse place. Depending on which piece of US census data you pay attention to, Boston is either the 5th or 6th largest metro area in the US.
How old is your friend? Is this a man or woman? Gay or straight? What are his/her interests?
My friend is gay and he has already been to Boston several times and the way he speaks so fondly of it makes me envious.Thank you so much for the information.I have never been there and I wanted to get an overview.I'm sure my friend will give me a royal tour as he will already be settled in by the time I visit.I am truly looking forward to it.
goin' to boston this sunday myself.
enjoy eddie.
enjoy eddie.
QUOTE(just eddie @ Jan 14 2007, 05:48 PM)
Does anyone have any favorite restaurants or hangouts in Boston they could tell me about? Thanks.
Boston is cold in the winter. The perpetual Atlantic breeze is raw and chills to the bone. Good idea to have something warm to snuggle with in winter.
My great grandfather originally hailed from Boston. Travelled down under as a merchant sailor, jumped ship in Sydney after nearly being marooned on an island in the Fijian group of islands for causing a near mutiny on board ship. Worked his way up Australia on a mission ship destined for Papua New Guinea, but jumped ship again when he met and married my great grand mother. In the 70's, the then mayor of Boston extended an invitation and the key of the city to my family, but as far as I'm aware, no-one took up the offer. Maybe I should see if the offer is still available.
Oh yeah, Mistuh Mayuh would like to present you with the city's official honorary Mooninite. (Careful with that thing!)
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