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Boston is a Cinderella city, aglow with delights that for some end all too soon. With the T (subway and bus) making its final runs between midnight and 1 am and taxis sometimes scarce, most nightspots follow accordingly, with "last call" typically by 2 am. Though night owls may be disappointed by the meager late-night options, except in Chinatown, visitors find plenty of possibilities for stepping out on the early side. The martini set may stroll Newbury and Boylston streets in the Back Bay or Downtown, selecting from swank restaurants, lounges, and clubs. Coffee- and tea drinkers can find numerous cafés in Cambridge and Somerville, particularly Harvard and Davis squares. Microbrew enthusiasts find viable options at sports bars and brewpubs, especially near campuses and sports arenas. For dancing, Lansdowne and Boylston streets near Fenway Park have a stretch of student-friendly hangs, DJ rooms, and techno clubs. The thriving "lounge" scene in Downtown’s cooler hybrid bar-restaurant-clubs provides a mellower, more mature alternative to the collegiate indie clubs. Tourists crowd Faneuil Hall for its pubs, comedy spots, and dance scenes. The South and North ends, as well as Cambridge and Somerville, cater to the "dinner-and-drinks" set, while those seeking rock clubs should explore Allston and Cambridge, especially Central Square. College-owned concert halls regularly host homegrown and visiting ensembles. Prominent among these are Harvard University’s Sanders Theatre, New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall, Berklee College of Music’s Performance Center, MIT's Kresge Auditorium, and Agganis Arena at Boston University.
Open-windowed, multiroomed Clerys can be your neighborhood bar, Irish pub, dance hall, sports hub, trivia game spot, or even the home for local Georgia Bulldogs sports fans. Expect long lines on weekend nights in this high-traffic club near Copley Square; its several rooms bustle with young professionals. Food is limited to bar snacks, such as nachos, wings, and sliders.
Grab a seat by the windows overlooking Faneuil Hall on hot summer days, or cozy up to a coal fireplace in winter, and enjoy your pint (or a pick from one of the largest selections of single malt whiskies in Boston). There's live music at Hennessy's most nights of the week, as well as plenty of rowdy crowds that overrun the yellow-and-black confines for Top 40 cover bands mixed with DJs on weekends from 9 pm to 1 am at Upstairs at Hennessy's.
America's oldest continuously operating pub (founded 1795) is named after its original owner, town crier Jimmy Wilson, whose bell-ringing wooden sign still hangs on the wall. On the edge of the Freedom Trail, this glassed-in flatiron pub serves fried haddock sandwiches, burgers, and New England's favorite entrées, against a background of live music. Bands (and the occasional comedian) play each night downstairs, and DJs spin Top 40 for dancers Thursday through Saturday upstairs; there's karaoke every Tuesday. Expect long lines of twentysomethings on the weekends.
Hung with 20 bright county banners, decorated with pictures of Ireland and portraits of Samuel Beckett, Lady Gregory, and James Joyce, The Rose draws as many tourists as Ireland-loving locals. Friendly Irish bartenders serve up pints, blarney, and far more Irish whiskeys (28) than Scotches (12). Nightly shows by traditional Irish and contemporary musicians confirm its abiding Gaelic good cheer, or craic. Dine on Guinness beef stew and fish-and-chips—all served by staffers with authentic brogues.
Less rowdy than its Faneuil Hall neighbors, this now-Irish bar claims to have housed the "Headquarters of the Revolution" and was the inn where silversmith Paul Revere overheard plans for a British assault on Lexington and Concord, prompting his famous ride. While yesteryear found John Hancock (whose brother lived next door) strolling past its doors, today The Green Dragon is known for a great Guinness pour and Irish music—soloists play in the evenings from 5 to 9 Wednesday through Friday, and bands bring it on nightly beginning at 9. There's comedy night every Monday and a selection of Top 40 cover bands playing Tuesday through Sunday. College kids and young professionals tend to crowd the bar in the evenings.
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