Hey all you New England fans. I’m going to be in Boston, actually Woburn, for two weeks of training for my job. While I’m likely going to be pre-occupied weeknights with studying (and dining on the company expense account!), I’ll be free on the weekend that falls in between – that’s Friday 2/28, Saturday 3/1, and Sunday 3/2. Are there any good pubs in that area that show EPL matches or any soccer at all on the weekends? Any “must see” places (besides the Green Dragon Pub) that I simply must see? What about names of good independent record/CD stores? Any help at all would be appreciated!
Before you go to Woburn, I would check out the book or the movie, "Civil Action." You might bring your own bottled water.
This thread gets 110 views and only one reply, which is actually a semi-sarcastic "don't drink the water" and "watch your ass in Woburn" reply. What gives? Aren't there any friendly people in Boston? Any kind souls willing to offer the littlest bit of sincere advice and guidance to a fellow fan of the beautiful game? Maybe this native New Yorker has been living in the friendly Midwest for too long....
Woburn has pretty convenient rail service into Boston's North Station. There are a few Irish Pubs in the area (Irish Embassy?) that show PL games. Once you're in town, you might find you're way to the Plough and Stars (between Harvard and Central squares) in Cambridge. In the North End (turn left out of North Station) there are cafes that show Italian games live. As for record stores and such, check on boston.com or bostonmagazine.com for "Best of" lists. Not a whole lot to do in Woo'-bin, get yourself into the city!
I'm originally from Chicago. See what Boston does to one? It's the least friendly city I've ever lived in, and I've lived in New York, Wash DC, Boston, and Pittsburgh.
Check out the Harvard Square-area of town: The Plough & Stars shows any number of matches, serves a good pint of Tetley's, and there are any number of good, independent record stores within walking distance. The Irish Embassy also shows Premiership and Cup matches live. They're located down on Friend Street about one block from the Fleet Center. Just cross Causeway Street and look for the Dunkin' Donuts. That's on the corner of Friend Street and Causeway. Walk about 3/4 of the block down and the Embassy will be on your right. Best Irish Breakfast in town. The Plough & Stars http://www.ploughandstars.com/ Cheapo Records http://www.cheaporecords.com 645 Mass. Ave., Cambridge. 617-354-4455. Located right outside the Central Square T-stop on the Red Line. Looney Tunes 1001 Mass. Ave., Cambridge. 617-876-5624 Close to the Harvard Square T-stop, Red Line. Phase Four 1208 Mass. Ave., Cambridge. 617-497-4024 Close to the Harvard Square T-stop, Red Line. Second Coming Records 1105 Mass. Ave., Cambridge. 617-576-6400 Close to the Harvard Square T-stop, Red Line. Stereo Jack's 1686 Mass. Ave., Cambridge. 617-497-9447 Close to the Porter Square T-stop, Red Line. Planet Records 54B (basement) JFK St., Cambridge. 617-492-0693. Close to the Harvard Square T-stop, Red Line. Twisted Village 12B (basement) Eliot St., Cambridge. 617-354-6898 Close to the Harvard Square T-stop, Red Line.
Places to Watch in Boston On weekends, it's wise to call ahead for matches at the Plough & Stars. They've shifted their schedule this year since catering more to the lunch/brunch crowd on weekends and have a fairly elaborate schedule of taped screenings of games. If you're looking to catch a game live in Cambridge, you'll do much better at the Phoenix Landing, which is just down Mass Ave on the other side of Central Square from the Plough. The Phoenix also serves a nice Irish breakfast, which the Plough does not. In fairness, though, you can't go wrong either way.
I'll offer up some advice, but be advised, I'm only a year out of college, so my suggestions may be skewed For record store, you have to hit up Newbury Comics. Very little Top 40, and more indie rock/hip-hop/hardcore/dj stuff. I can't remember the last CD I bought elsewhere while I was in Boston. Not as huge as, say, Amoeba out in Berkeley, but just as quality a selection. The store is, appropriately enough, on Newbury St (which is a great place to spend an afternoon.) Bars...Good God, where to begin? The Purple Shamrock I believe is the big "tourist" bar -- the one people might recognize if you mention, "Hey, I went to a bar in Boston." It is right down by Faneuil Hall, will usually have a $5 cover on the weekends before 10. A good time, but pray for a DJ and not a crappy cover band (though my girlfriend and all her friends love the Bon Jovi covers.) The rest of these next bars are all within walking distance of each other, so hopefully it'll start warming up while you're here (I'm from California...it can never start warming up soon enough; that blizzard nearly killed me this past week!) The Bell in Hand I believe is the oldest bar in the US, and definitely worth checking out. It's kind of a two part thing, with one side being a little more laid back (but still fun), and the other usually having an aforementioned crappy cover band. Good people and tons of fun. Take a left when you see the Purple Shamrock and it's literally on the same street (pretty sure it's Union St.) The Green Dragon is right across the street from Bell in Hand, so you're all set there. If you're up for a Get Drunk Quick night, everytime I've been to The Tap (right next door to Purple Shamrock), everyone is wasted before 11. If you walk down through Quincy Market, you'll see Hong Kong. I mention this place for two reasons: no cover, and scorpion bowls. A good place to start on a Get Drunk Quick night. This is like every college bar you have ever been to before, so keep that in mind (not sure if that is a good or a bad thing.) If you head right around the corner from Hong Kong, you'll find the Black Rose. This might actually be a good place for dinner if you are going to be in this area. A change of pace, and a little more Irish (though still nothing like true small Irish pubs.) I'm a huge Italian fan, and would recommend heading down to the North End for dinner. If you are already in Quincy Market, just keep walking down towards the ocean, and you'll see signs amidst all the construction for the North End. I forget what street you end up on (it might be North), but if you take a left, you'll be on Hanover, the main strip. Everytime down there, I am in for a great meal...the closest to Italy I've had. Some good restaurants to check out: L'Osteria (just went there for Valentine's Day, and it's a great value for the food), Villa Francesca, Limoncello's, Mamma Maria, Monica's, and Dolce Vita. Another option is to drop by Legal Seafood for some of the best Clam Chowder ever. I think that's a good start. If you are interested in any other parts of the town, let me know Later, Charles
If you want to check out the indie music scene, head to Central Sq. in Cambridge where the Middle East night club and TT the Bear's have the best live shows in town. For that weekend, the Middle East has: Fri 2/28 U King Kong (ex: Slint), Reverend Glasseye and His Wooden Leg, Choexperiment 18+ $9 D Sex Mob, Beat Science, The Dresden Dolls, Evan O'Television 18+ $8adv/$10dos C DJ Benny Blanco - Dancehall, Soul, Groove, Reggae $FREE Z Electrolux - Instrumental Surf and Rock & Roll $FREE March Sat 3/1 U Shaun and Suzis 10th Annual Mardi Gras Ball w/ Special Guests: Gary Cherone (Tribe of Judah), Jed Parish (The Gravel Pit), Asa Brebner, Ramona Silver ...and More! 18+ $10 D Meiatic, Lustra (formerly Seventeen), Causeway, The Modifiers 18+ $9 U==Upstairs D==Downstairs C==Corner Z==Zuzu Cafe (basically just different areas of the club) They have mean falafel and hoomis, also. For TT's (right around the corner from the Middle East), they have: <b>Feb 28</b> Aaron Perrino of The Sheila Divine Midnight The Reputation 11:00pm Adam Green of Moldy Peaches 10:00pm The Sea Navy 9:00pm $8 <b>Mar 01</b> Apollo Sunshine Midnight Pilot To Gunner 11:00pm Laguardia 10:00pm Bar Rot 9:00pm $8 Ticketmaster
I spy a fellow Arsenal fan! Come join me for the Charlton match on 3/2. Kickoff is 11:00am, and I always go to the Phoenix Landing in Cambridge (CENTRAL SQUARE on the RED LINE). The Plough n' Stars is nice, but their schedule can be unpredictable sometimes-- Phoenix Landing ALWAYS has the weekend PPV matches. Anyway, I'll be wearing an Arsenal away longsleeve jersey (last season's, not this one) with no sponsor logo. I'm a big portly man, hard to miss. My name is.. well, the same as my login name. Feel free to come and say hello!
I will have to gladly accept the invite. Kinda hard to turn down live Arsenal! I'll have a laptop with me at the hotel, so I'll PM you later and we can exchange email addresses - got to run and tie up some loose ends here at work! Again, thanks everyone for their input!
Woburn eats Can't say a thing about bars or small record stores, but I do have a recommendation for a good meal in Woburn. Head over to On the Border (near the Woburn Mall). Yummy Mexican food and also has a bar. Much like the Chevy's chain that we ate at in both California...we like the fajita platters. Fresh chips and salsa are awesome and they serve Corona. If you need a break from studying, there's a huge movie theatre in Woburn. Also, if you need anything else...hop on 95 south and hop off at Middlesex Turnpike. Nice mall there that has a Legal's Seafood (definitely get the chowder) as well as Macy's, etc. If you go to the mall, stop by Brigham's and get yourself a mocha-chip icecream cone. Now, if you want a little history take a side trip to Lexington center. Right next to the Green is Buckman Tavern...nice take in. Then walk east on Mass. Ave. to Lemon Grass...our absolute favorite Thai restaurant. Okay, now on to Boston. For a real Boston experience consider dinner at the Union Oyster House. It's one of the oldest operating restaurants in the area. Fanuiel Hall/Quincy Market is a must do. Hope you have a great visit to the Boston area! 103FAN
there's tons of good bars in boston its hard to miss, in terms of ones that play EPL matches, i dunno. but basically for my 23 year old perspective there's not so much good "bars" to go to but good "bar areas" to go to. The Faneul Hall area which has already been mentioned with the Purple Shamrock and such, a bit of an older crowd there. The Alley, near Arlington and Boylston, three kinda dancy kinda bar place, if you're looking for a good time some good music and plenty of young chicks, there ya go. The Newbury/ Boylston part, there's like a bar on just about every block but some good ones in the area are Daisy Buchanins, Whiskey's, McCarthy's, Bar Code, Vox, and some others. Also there's the Lansdown St. area which has a bunch of clubs on it with a couple of cool drinking places, the Cask n' Flaggin, and Boston Beer Works. If you're looking for the creme de la creme The Rack and Whiskey Park are the two "known" places to be, places you're most likely to run into the fashionable crowd. some others that i like are the 21st Amendment, a great little pub near the State House
The Plough and Stars - that brings back memories. Is the funeral parlor with the weird plants in the window still across the street? We used to live in Davis square. It's now a trendy area, right?
bravo to the Revs forum: COMMUNITY BUILDING! Boston - not friendly?! Every year I head back to Boston and take in a Revs game (and drag 3-5 non-regulars with me) and one year I wanted to find a spot that has pick up soccer. Where to look? Within hours of starting a thread in the good old Revs forum I had 3 or 4 options. Final word: while it was more difficult to meet people in Boston than in my current location, it was easier to get to know folks more fully than it is here. Given the choice, I prefer (and miss) the latter (OK - so miss going to Revs games too...) One other comment: I used to work in Woburn right near the junction of the 2 major highways. RE getting into all these cool spots: + the train: no parking hassles; - to the train: gotta go on its schedule which doesn't always correspond to what goes down on a good day in/night out on the town (esp. after hours and/or a weekend). - the car: I once heard a blues song called "If you ever drive in Boston..." and one of the verses had the line "If you ever drive in Boston/keep on drivin'/ cuz there ain't no where to park"; - to the car: $$$$$$$ for pay parking. + to the car: leave when you want to...