Boston for a weekend

[Joffrey]

I will be in Boston for a couple of nights for a business conference in february. I will be staying downtown. Suggestions for some cool bars, clubs, restaurants to check out while I'm there will be greatly appreciated. Also how much colder than DC is the place?


Thanks.

 

[needshoehelp]

I'd say it averages 5-10 degrees colder than DC on any given day.

 

[mrkleen]

Where exactly are you staying?
What nights of the week will you be in town?
How old are you?

Drop a few of those and I can make some recommendations.

 

[itsstillmatt]

Joel_Cairo and Concordia seem to know Boston well, though neither one was much help for the fellow looking for Goth chicks there.

 

[Joffrey]

I'm travelling with my brother to an event called the African Business Conference being helf at Harvard. It starts friday and ends sunday morning, though I'll probably only attend parts of friday and the whole of saturday.

We'll be getting in either really late thursday night or first thing friday (since we'll be driving we still haven't figured out what time we want to get there) and leaving sunday morning. So there will be time friday afternoon for lunch and to check out parts of the city that may be of interest. Then friday night we'll probably want to have dinner and go out. Saturday will be a full day but we'll have a few hours to kill in the evening to possibly grab dinner and maybe a few drinks before the event's closing party.

By the way, we haven't decided where we'll be staying yet so we'd appreciate hotel ideas so far I think we're looking at the Doubletree Hotel Boston. We want to keep it as cheap as possible ($200 for two to three nights with a double-bed room) yet convenient (metro accessible, urban) to our itenerary and not a dump. The place will definately be downtown or worst case cambridge (which seems to be closer to the campus). And if it helps I'm 23 and he's 30.

Where exactly are you staying?
What nights of the week will you be in town?
How old are you?

 

[Huntsman]

My Boston thread was in September. http://www.styleforum.net/showthread.php?t=43919 Oak bar was beautiful, stunning, with great drinks and cuisine, but somehow a little meh. Mistral was great.

 

[voxsartoria]

J., here are my suggestions.

1. Hotel: try The Liberty.

It recently opened, and still has a bit of buzz. There's still a fairly busy lounge scene there. It is right on the Redline, three stops from Harvard. It is at the foot of Charles St., and is accessible by both T and taxi to a many areas of Boston.

2. At Harvard:

a. Quick bite: Cambridge 1.

b. Quick drink: Noir.

c. Dinner/Bar: Chez Henri.

3. In town:

a. Very Boston restaurant: http://www.lockeober.com/. Website s*cks. Amazing fin de siecle interior, great bar...but older crowd.

b. Lots of stuff in the South End. I suggest B&G Oysters for a quick bite: Rocca and the Beehive for food and drink.

4. Clubs: there are no good clubs in Boston. There are a range of cheap collegiate watering holes and a few wannabe clubs. You can try starting out at Gypsy Bar which is adjacent to or near a lot of few other places. It's a short cab ride from the Liberty.

It's not a bad town, but not a spectacular one either for nightlife. The town is mostly about brains and money.

- B

 

[mrkleen]

Originally Posted by voxsartoria

J., here are my suggestions.

1. Hotel: try The Liberty.

It recently opened, and still has a bit of buzz. There's still a fairly busy lounge scene there. It is right on the Redline, three stops from Harvard. It is at the foot of Charles St., and is accessible by both T and taxi to a many areas of Boston.

2. At Harvard:

a. Quick bite: Cambridge 1.

b. Quick drink: Noir.

c. Dinner/Bar: Chez Henri.

3. In town:

a. Very Boston restaurant: http://www.lockeober.com/. Website s*cks. Amazing fin de siecle interior, great bar...but older crowd.

b. Lots of stuff in the South End. I suggest B&G Oysters for a quick bite: Rocca and the Beehive for food and drink.

4. Clubs: there are no good clubs in Boston. There are a range of cheap collegiate watering holes and a few wannabe clubs. You can try starting out at Gypsy Bar which is adjacent to or near a lot of few other places. It's a short cab ride from the Liberty.

It's not a bad town, but not a spectacular one either for nightlife. The town is mostly about brains and money.

- B

Here are some comments based on the above.

#1 - The Liberty Hotel is really nice....set in the old Charles Street Jailhouse. I doubt it will be in your price range, but it is a nice place.

#2 - In Harvard Square...

For Lunch - you need to try Mr. Bartley's Burger Cottage...best burgers around and a long time Harvard tradition.

For Dinner - The Charles Hotel has a couple of good restaurants, you could also try Upstairs at the Pudding (at the Hasty Pudding Theatre), Cambridge 1 has GREAT wood fired pizza. If you really want a great meal, catch a cab up Mass Ave to Porter Square to the Elephant Walk (unreal Cambodian and French cuisine), or take the Redline to Davis and go to Redbones for really good ribs and BBQ.

For entertainment in Harvard, if you like House Music...go to OM, it is a nice posh lounge. If you like Hip hop, Saturdays at Redline are a lot of fun.

#3 - In Boston the restaurant choices are fantastic...just depends what you want.

I would not go to Locke Ober....it is overpriced, stuffy, old school crowd, and mediocre food.

If you like Italian Food...go to the North End and hit up nearly any restaurant you find....Straga, Cafe Artu, Daily Catch for seafood, Massiminos etc.

If you like Steak, try Flemmings or Abe and Louis. If you want to spend some bank, try Mistral or even better, No. 9 Park - near the Boston Common.

#4 - There are plenty of good clubs in Boston. Not on the NYC, Miami level...but you can find whatever you want to hear in Boston

Saturday Night

Hip hip - Go to Saint. Beautiful club, hot girls, good beats in 2 rooms.
House - Underbar - one of the most beautiful room in the city with a soundsystem designed by Angel Moraes from Stereo in Montreal.
Jazz - You can hear locals from Berkley College of Music at Wallys on Mass Ave. You can hear national acts at Scullers and Regetta Bar in Cambridge.
Reggae - Western Front in Cambridge.

Try and hang around and watch the superbowl as well....as after the Pats crush the Giants, the city will be bedlam.

 

[Joffrey]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. My flight's tomorrow so I'll let you all know how the trip went.