Boston DataSheet
In 7 years here, I realize I have never dropped a datasheet. Since my time as a regular part of this community has just about come to an end, I feel it is time for me to cross this off the bucket list and speak on a city I’ve become intimately familiar with over the last few years.
Let’s start with some disclaimers for the sake of complete transparency and honesty with regards to where I’m coming from here.
I despise this city. It is difficult for me to completely and effectively put my hatred of this city into words, but I’ll make the effort.
Diversity: The city isn’t terribly diverse and I find it to be rather more firmly segregated than other major cities I’ve lived in. It is easier to find minorities running around a place like NYC or even a city like Buffalo, where I don’t feel lines drawn nearly as clearly. Here, minorities exist in small pockets and most are concentrated in suburbs or far flung corners of Greater Boston that are quite distant from the main entertainment districts. If you have a thing for Latinas, for example, your best bet is to actually make some connections in the community and then make a rather long trek out to some of their main stomping grounds (Chelsea, Lawrence, etc) which aren’t that straightforward to get to. You’ll find some of them in town (I ran into a couple at Royale – more on that spot later), but it’s an uphill battle. At most of the main spots in Boston proper or Cambridge, you’ll be shooting your shots at white girls and others will be more difficult to find. Some folks here may consider this a plus – I don’t. Your mileage may vary.
This next point is actually one that goes for New England generally – something isn’t right with the race relations here. Boston may look extremely liberal and tolerant, but after three years here it really strikes me as more of a place where fake liberalism reigns supreme. If you made me designate a virtue signaling capital of the United States, I’d pick Boston (DC might be in the running, but I’ll leave that for another post). Don’t be fooled by all of the anti-trump protests and marches and what not – people here are not as open minded as they want you to think they are. I’ve long maintained that Hillary Clinton really was the spirit animal of this city – the kind of person who pays lip service to progressive tolerance and all that jazz, but in practice couldn’t care less about the people she’s trying to sell that stuff too and who would instead work discreetly against their interests to benefit herself. If Boston was a politician, it would be Hillary Clinton.
Going off of that last point (and this goes to the black male readers specifically), Boston isn’t the best spot to date interracially, in my view. I’ve known a handful of black men to do reasonably well here, so it’s not impossible. That being said, I’ve known very many other black men, however, who pretty much just echo the same concerns I have about the place with regard to the openness of the women here to being with a black male. There are too many of them echoing this story for me to believe there isn’t something to it, and my understanding of the culture of the city (ex: the rampant virtue signaling mentioned above) lends itself well to the thesis. Again, your mileage may vary – I have seen black men come out here and pull – but my personal view is that it will be an uphill battle. It is not common at all here to see a couple composed of a black male + non-black female (I’ve seen maybe 3 in my entire time out here). There is, in my view, a fairly strong stigma (stronger than what I have seen in some other cities) attached to interracial dating involving black men in this city.
Cost and Infrastructure: The mass transit sucks – its coverage and reliability leave a lot to be desired, and this has consequences for game. If you don’t live right on the Red, Blue, or Orange lines it can be challenging to get around. The Green Line is almost literally a joke – its lack of speed can be at once fascinatingly perplexing and infuriating at the same time. Unfortunately, if you’re someone who lives in the Allston/Brighton area and/or needs to get there, the Green Line is your only choice for rail transit. It is also the only real way to access BU and BC. As someone who lived in the more northern areas of the city, it could often take me 90 minutes or more to get to the BU/Allston area by train (a combination of Red/Orange lines + Green Line). Unless you’re right on the red/orange/blue line and can get to your destination right off of one of those trains, don’t even bother – just get an uber and skip the green line altogether.
I don’t even know what to say about the Silver Line. For me, it really highlighted the bootlegged nature of Boston – I was expecting to see a train, only to learn that the Silver Line is actually just a set of articulated buses. I barely took it.
Also, this isn’t NYC where you can hop on mass transit at 3 AM on the Lower East Side and get almost anywhere within a reasonable time. If you’re leaving after 12:30, you better be ready to pay for that Uber. That’s true in a lot of non-NYC metro areas, sure, but with Boston you get the high cost of living and shitty weather on top of it.
The architecture is ugly and depressing. The weather is bad even by the standards of the Northeastern USA. The cost of living is far too high for what the city brings to the table (the desirable parts of the city command not much less than NY money, but you aren’t getting anything close to NY).
Another big issue with transit in Boston that can impact your game is the closing of streets late at night. This is a very important point for logistics: for some reason or another, Boston Police like to close a decent number of major streets in the city after clubs let out on weekend nights. The police will simply show up at around 1:20AM or so, park their Ford Police Interceptor Utilities square in the center of an intersection, and prevent any traffic from heading down certain streets. This creates problems when you’re leaving a club and you’re trying to get an Uber to come and find you. It is not uncommon to leave a venue and find the Uber unable to get to you because of a blocked street, and if you’re not very familiar with the layout of Downtown Boston it might be difficult to go and find your car. This can be vexing, especially when you’ve left the spot with a girl and you want to hurry up and get home – if you’re not prepared to deal with this logistical issue, it can cockblock you quickly. There are two solutions: 1) become intimately familiar with the layout of the city to maximize your odds of finding a distant Uber and minimize time wasted and 2) just be ready to flag down a cab, as that can be quicker.
Nightlife generally: The nightlife, overall, is weaker than what I am used to in NY – there are enough venues to choose from, but the 2AM closing time (which is often in practice a 1:15-1:30AM closing time – I have been in places and watched lights flick on an bouncers begin ushering folks out as early as 1:12AM) really limits enjoyment by constraining your preparation off the field (time for pregaming and all that) and your time in it (even if you get out relatively early at say 10PM, you’ve got a max of 4 and sometimes as little as 3 hours to work).
All of this makes choosing a venue very important – the limited window of time Boston affords you often means you need to get it right the first time, because you aren’t going to have the time to jump to too many other destinations. As someone who likes to fully vest himself in a spot for a period of time and gauge the nature of the crowd (I find this generally improves the quality and success of my approaches), this is problematic because the time it takes me to do this effectively means I must choose very carefully on a night out – with Boston’s time constraints, I simply cannot afford to do this in multiple spots. Compare this to a place like New York (or even smaller cities like Buffalo and Albany, where closing times are also 4AM) and this puts Boston at a substantial disadvantage.
It’s also just kind of a downer, to be honest – you’ll get out on the town ready to have fun at 10ish and just 3 hours later your night might have ended before you even know it. Do you know that feeling you got as a kid when you were having some fun doing kid things but then your parents sent you to bed early and forced you back to your room? My Boston experience is about as close as I’ve come to this feeling in my adulthood. If you’re the kind of person who tends to take a while to get out the house and are used to how lenient cities all over New York are with this (as I am), then Boston could be a tough adjustment for you – you need to get used to leaving earlier and altering your routine on nights out accordingly.
Finally, I don’t really like the dating scene here generally. I found the women here relatively difficult to build rapport/vibe with, and quality was hard to find and keep. As mentioned earlier, it also doesn’t seem to be a place where dating across racial boundaries is particularly kosher for non-black women to do, so if you’re a relatively dark black male (like myself) and you’re interested in those girls, I don’t think this is the place to be.
Anyway, enough of that. Here are some details about venues and other stuff.
Thursday Nights
Howl at the Moon
I believe there’s like a $10-15 cover. This is a very good spot to hit up on Thursdays. There’s a bar upstairs and a couple of bars downstairs where you’ll find a moderately sized dance floor. You find live entertainment upstairs sometimes too. You will find a lot of college students here on Thursdays – this seems to be a spot HEAVILY frequented by Northeastern students. There are a good number of pretty girls at that school and the ones I’ve met seem to like to have fun, so it’s worth a visit. Probably the best Thursday-night venue I’ve seen so far in the city, and I know a couple of guys who’ve had a lot of success here.
Tavern in the Square Allston (aka TITS)
Usually there’s no cover here. TITS Allston is mainly a Boston University (BU) hangout. Tons of BU kids show up here to turn up on Thursdays. It tends to be a little cliquish, however, as kids have a habit of coming together in groups to socialize and they’re not always that keen to meet new folks. I don’t know anyone who has had much luck here (all of us were beyond undergraduate age and none of us went to BU or knew many/any BU kids) – it is not an easy spot to crack without some social proof and well executive social circle game.
That being said, there are a lot of very attractive BU seniors and juniors who show up here. If you just want some eye candy on a Thursday night, TITS is good for that.
There are other spots nearby TITS that get some traffic on Thursdays like White House Tavern (which is right down the road), but they’re largely side shows. Common Ground, which is like a block or two away, is a decent alternative. TITS is almost always going to be the center of the action, though.
It is worth noting that TITS gets slightly more diverse on weekends with local Allston/Brighton residents (more of whom are minorities than your typical BU population) coming out. I can’t say much on that, though, as I really only showed on Thursdays. There are better spots to be on a Friday/Saturday night.
It is also worth noting that there is more than one “TITS” in Boston, but I only ever went to the one in Allston so I can’t speak much to those.
Friday and Saturday Nights
Ned Devines
Probably one of my favorite spots in Boston. It is a large venue on a single floor with 3 parts – at the entrance is a bar/restauraunt, in the middle is an open space with a bar that sort of doubles as a standing lounge, and at the end is a big open space with a bar and a stage where the music is loudest and you find a live band on most weekends. The bands aren’t bad, usually they’re just local rock groups who do some 90’s/early 2000s hits and rock covers of current mainstream music. It’s a bit of a fratty scene, but the talent here is solid. Mostly young white American girls here – this isn’t the best spot to chase minorities or foreigners in boston although you will find a few here. The scene here is more mixed than a spot like Tavern in the Square – you’ll get a lot of college girls since the place is a well known go-to on weekends, but you also get a lot of young graduates in their mid/late 20’s who usually went to school in the region. I’ve met girls from Tufts, Providence College, Emerson, Bentley, Colby, Suffolk, and pretty much most other spots. The quality is good. Cover is usually about $10, but if you beat the rush and get there before 10 you can usually avoid that. The place doesn’t really get going until around 10:30-ish though.
Royale
This was my best spot in Boston, and looking back now I realize that this was due to its status as a top hangout for the minority/foreign chicks who come here. It is a night club with 2 levels, the second being sort of a large balcony ringing the main area with several bars up top. There are a good number of Latinas (Brazilians, Colombians, a few Uruguayans, plenty of Dominicanas) on any given weekend and a lot of Europeans too (Russians, Belarussians, Germans). You’ll even run into Turks and, of course, there’s a solid Asian contingent. Plenty of run of the mill white American girls come through as well if that’s your thing. My best results came in this venue, and I generally like it. On a big weekend, cover can be exorbitant so buy tickets for those well ahead of time (St. Patty’s day tickets this year were running up to $75).
As I’ve said, I really like this venue. The central dance floor on the main level is a good spot to shoot your shots and make some moves, and the upstairs level (which is slightly quieter) is a solid place for movement with a good amount of seating too.
Bijou
I’ve only been here a couple of times, so can’t say much. Not as good a spot as Royale, imo, but pretty solid. Cover will be similar as it is also a night club.
Storyville
I really didn’t get out here enough. It’s a good spot – reasonably diverse (good selection/variety of girls) and popular among both coeds and graduates. Can get very turnt on a weekend.
Hong Kong in Harvard Square
Underrated spot. There are three levels, the first being a restaurant, the second a bar, and the third a dance floor. It can be pretty good on the right weekends as a lot of the Harvard kids come out to turn up. And when I say Harvard kids, I don’t mean just undergrads – I mean ALL of the Harvard kids, including the more mature graduate students (of which there are tens of thousands at Harvard). The talent can be nicer than you’d expect, and the restaurant downstairs (which is Chinese) has some great selections (some of the best calamari I’ve ever had in the city). If you want to shoot your shot at some of the Harvard talent, this is a good place to start. I don’t recall if there’s a cover here or not; its pretty small if there is.
Middle East
Not too far from Hong Kong, closer to the MIT area but still in Cambridge. Small cover to get in on busy nights. Its really just a bar with a decent open dance floor. There’s some decent talent here. MIT and Harvard folks most common, but you’ll run into the occasional Lesley or Tufts girl as well as some recent grads who live in Cambridge or Somerville.
Society on High
Small spot, more upscale. It’s right in the center of the financial district to relatively easy to get to by train. The scene here is definitely more mature – not many students, but more of the local consultant/lawyer/business professional scene. They like to network here. I only ended up going because my friend (who was, surprise surprise, a consultant in the city) liked the spot and often threw little parties here with his co-workers. There can be decent talent, but the nature of the clientele and the size of the spot makes it a little cliquish relative to others. Good venue to organize a party for a co-worker or something, but not really the best spot to head out as a single dude or with a friend or two just to shoot shots. Much better places in town for that.
The Point
Small spot not far from Ned Devines. Decent alternative, but a little cramped. Worth a quick look, maybe, but I wouldn’t waste a ton of time here.
Mijas
Little latin-flavored spot right next to Ned Devines. Decent place to get a pregame meal if you’re not feeling the food selection at Ned Devines. Not much dancing or anything but there’s a pretty sizable bar and a decent amount of girls come through on their way to Neds or one of the other spots nearby. Worth a walk through on any night out if you come early and want something to do before things get going after 10.
The W Hotel
Here be cougars. Hotel scene, so what do you expect? Upscale, more professionals, but a bit more fertile ground for shot-shooters than a place like Society on High. Not really my scene, but worth a look at least once or twice if you live here.
The Liberty Hotel
Here be more cougars. Same story as the W, really.
Lincoln Tavern and Restaurant
Make sure to get here if you’re ever anywhere close to Southie. Even if you’re far off, you should hit this spot up for Sunday brunch at least. If you live in Southie, become a regular. As the name suggests, this is pretty much just a standard bar/tavern. It’s a big space on a single floor with the first area being the restauraunt/bar and the second further back being the open space with the stage for live music and dancing. I’ve never seen more talent in my life as I saw at Sunday brunch on a random weekend in Spring at this spot. Me and my boys were snapping our necks on the regular. The talent is not diverse at all (it’s about 90%+ American white girls), but it looks VERY good. A lot of young women live in the area and work in the city, so that partially explains it (Southie is gentrifying pretty substantially and has some of the better prices in the city). I only got here for Sunday brunch during my time in the city so I can’t say much for the night scene on Friday/Saturday, but if I could go back in time I’d have stopped in there more.
Also, the food is quite good. The Lincoln Burger is an absolute must have – best burger I ever got in the city by far.
Brahmin
Standard bar/club. Notable for the lack of cover. Lots of internationals, probably more here than anywhere else save Royale. Good talent, lots of university kids (owing in large part to the low cover). Theres a large upstairs space with a bar and open floor, plus a small area downstairs that is a bit of a bar/lounge type of deal. There’s usually a bouncer controlling access to the downstairs space, so you can’t always come and go as you please. My boys and I often just defaulted to this spot when we couldn’t figure out where to go. If you run out of ideas, its not a bad choice to maximize the odds of a decent night and avoid paying cover.
Cleary’s
A spot in Back Bay with two levels, the first a bar/restauraunt and the basement a bar with limited open space and very loud music (no live bands). I like this spot – there is never a cover (at least there never was when I went, even when I went late) and you can find some decent talent. Even shot a shot at a runway model here once. A lot of the educated professionals (think of the kind of girls who went to Ivies or elite New England liberal arts schools) that live around the area like to show up here. You’ll also find a lot of the well-off, Boston Blue-blood types who tend to inhabit the nicer parts of Back Bay and like to come out with their friend groups. As you can imagine, it isn’t diverse at all – 95% white or more usually, and most of the time my boys and I were the only black dudes in the spot. That can play to your advantage, though – I feel I got a pretty good reception here. Also, this was a preferred date spot for me on weekdays and weekends, as the upstairs restauraunt/bar is pretty lively and there are nice drinks. You’re also not a long walk from some of the other spots in Boston, like Brahmin.
Beware that Cleary’s is a spot you want to hit early – it is popular but small, and there are not one, but two lines – the first to get into the spot, the second to go down the stairs to the music/dancing. If you’re late (especially on a bigger weekend), you’ll be there for an hour. I learned this the hard way.
Food
There are obviously a lot of food options in a city like Boston and a few are actually covered above (Tavern in the Square, Clearys, Lincoln, and Hong Kong all serve food, for example). But here are a couple of special mentions:
Chow Chow City
This is a classic chinese spot located downtown on Essex Street. It is close to many of the downtown nightspots and is one of the few places open beyond closing (it shuts down at about 4AM). I think the food here is great (excellent calamari and beef) and the prices are reasonable, so if you are out on the town and need a go-to food spot late at night, give this place a thought.
Earl’s Kitchen + Bar
I like this as a brunch spot. It’s in Assembly Square, a brand new development in Somerville. It is kind of out of the way, but there’s upside: the talent here is quality. All of the employees here seem to be beautiful, and they are open to conversation if you are interesting enough. They’re young and they go out, so you can get tips on what’s hot in the city on any given night too if you approach them. Not saying go out of your way to get here, but if you happen to be in or near Somerville and you’re looking for brunch, this is a good place to start.
St. Patty’s Day Weekend
The city is a great place to be on this weekend, but to get the most out of it I highly recommend you ignore the standard “lets go to the parade!” approach. Spend Thursday, Friday, and Saturday hitting the major clubs/bars. For me, the most lit spot on this weekend was Ned Devines but you definitely have options – my recommendations on any big weekend would be Storyville and Neds. Network and make sure you find a house party in southie the day of the parade. Don’t even bother going to the parade – the house parties are where it’s at. Get a couple of wings, get your invite, and go in.
Conclusion
That’s all I have. The datasheet is not perfectly complete. Fenway, for example, is a decent spot to be but I rarely went there and can’t say much about it. I also didn’t spend enough time at some of the better venues like Storyville. That being said, I got to know the city well enough and, honestly, I’m not a fan. For a certain kind of guy, though (young, professional with a decent income, preferably white, politically democratic or center right [think Romney, not Trump], and highly educated), Boston can offer a pretty sweet niche. The guys I know who are happiest here are in that demographic and tend to do well – they pull decent talent (they get locked down pretty quick – the night scene is annoying enough to make that pretty appealing for a lot of dudes who just can’t be bothered) and have a good time. There’s more than enough to do here if you know your way around and like the vibe. As someone who isn’t a big fan of the general vibe/aura of the city, you’d have to pay me a lot of money to actually live here. I’ll take NYC all day and every day, no question.
But hey, to each their own - try the city out for yourself and see. Maybe Boston will be the right fit for you.
In 7 years here, I realize I have never dropped a datasheet. Since my time as a regular part of this community has just about come to an end, I feel it is time for me to cross this off the bucket list and speak on a city I’ve become intimately familiar with over the last few years.
Let’s start with some disclaimers for the sake of complete transparency and honesty with regards to where I’m coming from here.
I despise this city. It is difficult for me to completely and effectively put my hatred of this city into words, but I’ll make the effort.
Diversity: The city isn’t terribly diverse and I find it to be rather more firmly segregated than other major cities I’ve lived in. It is easier to find minorities running around a place like NYC or even a city like Buffalo, where I don’t feel lines drawn nearly as clearly. Here, minorities exist in small pockets and most are concentrated in suburbs or far flung corners of Greater Boston that are quite distant from the main entertainment districts. If you have a thing for Latinas, for example, your best bet is to actually make some connections in the community and then make a rather long trek out to some of their main stomping grounds (Chelsea, Lawrence, etc) which aren’t that straightforward to get to. You’ll find some of them in town (I ran into a couple at Royale – more on that spot later), but it’s an uphill battle. At most of the main spots in Boston proper or Cambridge, you’ll be shooting your shots at white girls and others will be more difficult to find. Some folks here may consider this a plus – I don’t. Your mileage may vary.
This next point is actually one that goes for New England generally – something isn’t right with the race relations here. Boston may look extremely liberal and tolerant, but after three years here it really strikes me as more of a place where fake liberalism reigns supreme. If you made me designate a virtue signaling capital of the United States, I’d pick Boston (DC might be in the running, but I’ll leave that for another post). Don’t be fooled by all of the anti-trump protests and marches and what not – people here are not as open minded as they want you to think they are. I’ve long maintained that Hillary Clinton really was the spirit animal of this city – the kind of person who pays lip service to progressive tolerance and all that jazz, but in practice couldn’t care less about the people she’s trying to sell that stuff too and who would instead work discreetly against their interests to benefit herself. If Boston was a politician, it would be Hillary Clinton.
Going off of that last point (and this goes to the black male readers specifically), Boston isn’t the best spot to date interracially, in my view. I’ve known a handful of black men to do reasonably well here, so it’s not impossible. That being said, I’ve known very many other black men, however, who pretty much just echo the same concerns I have about the place with regard to the openness of the women here to being with a black male. There are too many of them echoing this story for me to believe there isn’t something to it, and my understanding of the culture of the city (ex: the rampant virtue signaling mentioned above) lends itself well to the thesis. Again, your mileage may vary – I have seen black men come out here and pull – but my personal view is that it will be an uphill battle. It is not common at all here to see a couple composed of a black male + non-black female (I’ve seen maybe 3 in my entire time out here). There is, in my view, a fairly strong stigma (stronger than what I have seen in some other cities) attached to interracial dating involving black men in this city.
Cost and Infrastructure: The mass transit sucks – its coverage and reliability leave a lot to be desired, and this has consequences for game. If you don’t live right on the Red, Blue, or Orange lines it can be challenging to get around. The Green Line is almost literally a joke – its lack of speed can be at once fascinatingly perplexing and infuriating at the same time. Unfortunately, if you’re someone who lives in the Allston/Brighton area and/or needs to get there, the Green Line is your only choice for rail transit. It is also the only real way to access BU and BC. As someone who lived in the more northern areas of the city, it could often take me 90 minutes or more to get to the BU/Allston area by train (a combination of Red/Orange lines + Green Line). Unless you’re right on the red/orange/blue line and can get to your destination right off of one of those trains, don’t even bother – just get an uber and skip the green line altogether.
I don’t even know what to say about the Silver Line. For me, it really highlighted the bootlegged nature of Boston – I was expecting to see a train, only to learn that the Silver Line is actually just a set of articulated buses. I barely took it.
Also, this isn’t NYC where you can hop on mass transit at 3 AM on the Lower East Side and get almost anywhere within a reasonable time. If you’re leaving after 12:30, you better be ready to pay for that Uber. That’s true in a lot of non-NYC metro areas, sure, but with Boston you get the high cost of living and shitty weather on top of it.
The architecture is ugly and depressing. The weather is bad even by the standards of the Northeastern USA. The cost of living is far too high for what the city brings to the table (the desirable parts of the city command not much less than NY money, but you aren’t getting anything close to NY).
Another big issue with transit in Boston that can impact your game is the closing of streets late at night. This is a very important point for logistics: for some reason or another, Boston Police like to close a decent number of major streets in the city after clubs let out on weekend nights. The police will simply show up at around 1:20AM or so, park their Ford Police Interceptor Utilities square in the center of an intersection, and prevent any traffic from heading down certain streets. This creates problems when you’re leaving a club and you’re trying to get an Uber to come and find you. It is not uncommon to leave a venue and find the Uber unable to get to you because of a blocked street, and if you’re not very familiar with the layout of Downtown Boston it might be difficult to go and find your car. This can be vexing, especially when you’ve left the spot with a girl and you want to hurry up and get home – if you’re not prepared to deal with this logistical issue, it can cockblock you quickly. There are two solutions: 1) become intimately familiar with the layout of the city to maximize your odds of finding a distant Uber and minimize time wasted and 2) just be ready to flag down a cab, as that can be quicker.
Nightlife generally: The nightlife, overall, is weaker than what I am used to in NY – there are enough venues to choose from, but the 2AM closing time (which is often in practice a 1:15-1:30AM closing time – I have been in places and watched lights flick on an bouncers begin ushering folks out as early as 1:12AM) really limits enjoyment by constraining your preparation off the field (time for pregaming and all that) and your time in it (even if you get out relatively early at say 10PM, you’ve got a max of 4 and sometimes as little as 3 hours to work).
All of this makes choosing a venue very important – the limited window of time Boston affords you often means you need to get it right the first time, because you aren’t going to have the time to jump to too many other destinations. As someone who likes to fully vest himself in a spot for a period of time and gauge the nature of the crowd (I find this generally improves the quality and success of my approaches), this is problematic because the time it takes me to do this effectively means I must choose very carefully on a night out – with Boston’s time constraints, I simply cannot afford to do this in multiple spots. Compare this to a place like New York (or even smaller cities like Buffalo and Albany, where closing times are also 4AM) and this puts Boston at a substantial disadvantage.
It’s also just kind of a downer, to be honest – you’ll get out on the town ready to have fun at 10ish and just 3 hours later your night might have ended before you even know it. Do you know that feeling you got as a kid when you were having some fun doing kid things but then your parents sent you to bed early and forced you back to your room? My Boston experience is about as close as I’ve come to this feeling in my adulthood. If you’re the kind of person who tends to take a while to get out the house and are used to how lenient cities all over New York are with this (as I am), then Boston could be a tough adjustment for you – you need to get used to leaving earlier and altering your routine on nights out accordingly.
Finally, I don’t really like the dating scene here generally. I found the women here relatively difficult to build rapport/vibe with, and quality was hard to find and keep. As mentioned earlier, it also doesn’t seem to be a place where dating across racial boundaries is particularly kosher for non-black women to do, so if you’re a relatively dark black male (like myself) and you’re interested in those girls, I don’t think this is the place to be.
Anyway, enough of that. Here are some details about venues and other stuff.
Thursday Nights
Howl at the Moon
I believe there’s like a $10-15 cover. This is a very good spot to hit up on Thursdays. There’s a bar upstairs and a couple of bars downstairs where you’ll find a moderately sized dance floor. You find live entertainment upstairs sometimes too. You will find a lot of college students here on Thursdays – this seems to be a spot HEAVILY frequented by Northeastern students. There are a good number of pretty girls at that school and the ones I’ve met seem to like to have fun, so it’s worth a visit. Probably the best Thursday-night venue I’ve seen so far in the city, and I know a couple of guys who’ve had a lot of success here.
Tavern in the Square Allston (aka TITS)
Usually there’s no cover here. TITS Allston is mainly a Boston University (BU) hangout. Tons of BU kids show up here to turn up on Thursdays. It tends to be a little cliquish, however, as kids have a habit of coming together in groups to socialize and they’re not always that keen to meet new folks. I don’t know anyone who has had much luck here (all of us were beyond undergraduate age and none of us went to BU or knew many/any BU kids) – it is not an easy spot to crack without some social proof and well executive social circle game.
That being said, there are a lot of very attractive BU seniors and juniors who show up here. If you just want some eye candy on a Thursday night, TITS is good for that.
There are other spots nearby TITS that get some traffic on Thursdays like White House Tavern (which is right down the road), but they’re largely side shows. Common Ground, which is like a block or two away, is a decent alternative. TITS is almost always going to be the center of the action, though.
It is worth noting that TITS gets slightly more diverse on weekends with local Allston/Brighton residents (more of whom are minorities than your typical BU population) coming out. I can’t say much on that, though, as I really only showed on Thursdays. There are better spots to be on a Friday/Saturday night.
It is also worth noting that there is more than one “TITS” in Boston, but I only ever went to the one in Allston so I can’t speak much to those.
Friday and Saturday Nights
Ned Devines
Probably one of my favorite spots in Boston. It is a large venue on a single floor with 3 parts – at the entrance is a bar/restauraunt, in the middle is an open space with a bar that sort of doubles as a standing lounge, and at the end is a big open space with a bar and a stage where the music is loudest and you find a live band on most weekends. The bands aren’t bad, usually they’re just local rock groups who do some 90’s/early 2000s hits and rock covers of current mainstream music. It’s a bit of a fratty scene, but the talent here is solid. Mostly young white American girls here – this isn’t the best spot to chase minorities or foreigners in boston although you will find a few here. The scene here is more mixed than a spot like Tavern in the Square – you’ll get a lot of college girls since the place is a well known go-to on weekends, but you also get a lot of young graduates in their mid/late 20’s who usually went to school in the region. I’ve met girls from Tufts, Providence College, Emerson, Bentley, Colby, Suffolk, and pretty much most other spots. The quality is good. Cover is usually about $10, but if you beat the rush and get there before 10 you can usually avoid that. The place doesn’t really get going until around 10:30-ish though.
Royale
This was my best spot in Boston, and looking back now I realize that this was due to its status as a top hangout for the minority/foreign chicks who come here. It is a night club with 2 levels, the second being sort of a large balcony ringing the main area with several bars up top. There are a good number of Latinas (Brazilians, Colombians, a few Uruguayans, plenty of Dominicanas) on any given weekend and a lot of Europeans too (Russians, Belarussians, Germans). You’ll even run into Turks and, of course, there’s a solid Asian contingent. Plenty of run of the mill white American girls come through as well if that’s your thing. My best results came in this venue, and I generally like it. On a big weekend, cover can be exorbitant so buy tickets for those well ahead of time (St. Patty’s day tickets this year were running up to $75).
As I’ve said, I really like this venue. The central dance floor on the main level is a good spot to shoot your shots and make some moves, and the upstairs level (which is slightly quieter) is a solid place for movement with a good amount of seating too.
Bijou
I’ve only been here a couple of times, so can’t say much. Not as good a spot as Royale, imo, but pretty solid. Cover will be similar as it is also a night club.
Storyville
I really didn’t get out here enough. It’s a good spot – reasonably diverse (good selection/variety of girls) and popular among both coeds and graduates. Can get very turnt on a weekend.
Hong Kong in Harvard Square
Underrated spot. There are three levels, the first being a restaurant, the second a bar, and the third a dance floor. It can be pretty good on the right weekends as a lot of the Harvard kids come out to turn up. And when I say Harvard kids, I don’t mean just undergrads – I mean ALL of the Harvard kids, including the more mature graduate students (of which there are tens of thousands at Harvard). The talent can be nicer than you’d expect, and the restaurant downstairs (which is Chinese) has some great selections (some of the best calamari I’ve ever had in the city). If you want to shoot your shot at some of the Harvard talent, this is a good place to start. I don’t recall if there’s a cover here or not; its pretty small if there is.
Middle East
Not too far from Hong Kong, closer to the MIT area but still in Cambridge. Small cover to get in on busy nights. Its really just a bar with a decent open dance floor. There’s some decent talent here. MIT and Harvard folks most common, but you’ll run into the occasional Lesley or Tufts girl as well as some recent grads who live in Cambridge or Somerville.
Society on High
Small spot, more upscale. It’s right in the center of the financial district to relatively easy to get to by train. The scene here is definitely more mature – not many students, but more of the local consultant/lawyer/business professional scene. They like to network here. I only ended up going because my friend (who was, surprise surprise, a consultant in the city) liked the spot and often threw little parties here with his co-workers. There can be decent talent, but the nature of the clientele and the size of the spot makes it a little cliquish relative to others. Good venue to organize a party for a co-worker or something, but not really the best spot to head out as a single dude or with a friend or two just to shoot shots. Much better places in town for that.
The Point
Small spot not far from Ned Devines. Decent alternative, but a little cramped. Worth a quick look, maybe, but I wouldn’t waste a ton of time here.
Mijas
Little latin-flavored spot right next to Ned Devines. Decent place to get a pregame meal if you’re not feeling the food selection at Ned Devines. Not much dancing or anything but there’s a pretty sizable bar and a decent amount of girls come through on their way to Neds or one of the other spots nearby. Worth a walk through on any night out if you come early and want something to do before things get going after 10.
The W Hotel
Here be cougars. Hotel scene, so what do you expect? Upscale, more professionals, but a bit more fertile ground for shot-shooters than a place like Society on High. Not really my scene, but worth a look at least once or twice if you live here.
The Liberty Hotel
Here be more cougars. Same story as the W, really.
Lincoln Tavern and Restaurant
Make sure to get here if you’re ever anywhere close to Southie. Even if you’re far off, you should hit this spot up for Sunday brunch at least. If you live in Southie, become a regular. As the name suggests, this is pretty much just a standard bar/tavern. It’s a big space on a single floor with the first area being the restauraunt/bar and the second further back being the open space with the stage for live music and dancing. I’ve never seen more talent in my life as I saw at Sunday brunch on a random weekend in Spring at this spot. Me and my boys were snapping our necks on the regular. The talent is not diverse at all (it’s about 90%+ American white girls), but it looks VERY good. A lot of young women live in the area and work in the city, so that partially explains it (Southie is gentrifying pretty substantially and has some of the better prices in the city). I only got here for Sunday brunch during my time in the city so I can’t say much for the night scene on Friday/Saturday, but if I could go back in time I’d have stopped in there more.
Also, the food is quite good. The Lincoln Burger is an absolute must have – best burger I ever got in the city by far.
Brahmin
Standard bar/club. Notable for the lack of cover. Lots of internationals, probably more here than anywhere else save Royale. Good talent, lots of university kids (owing in large part to the low cover). Theres a large upstairs space with a bar and open floor, plus a small area downstairs that is a bit of a bar/lounge type of deal. There’s usually a bouncer controlling access to the downstairs space, so you can’t always come and go as you please. My boys and I often just defaulted to this spot when we couldn’t figure out where to go. If you run out of ideas, its not a bad choice to maximize the odds of a decent night and avoid paying cover.
Cleary’s
A spot in Back Bay with two levels, the first a bar/restauraunt and the basement a bar with limited open space and very loud music (no live bands). I like this spot – there is never a cover (at least there never was when I went, even when I went late) and you can find some decent talent. Even shot a shot at a runway model here once. A lot of the educated professionals (think of the kind of girls who went to Ivies or elite New England liberal arts schools) that live around the area like to show up here. You’ll also find a lot of the well-off, Boston Blue-blood types who tend to inhabit the nicer parts of Back Bay and like to come out with their friend groups. As you can imagine, it isn’t diverse at all – 95% white or more usually, and most of the time my boys and I were the only black dudes in the spot. That can play to your advantage, though – I feel I got a pretty good reception here. Also, this was a preferred date spot for me on weekdays and weekends, as the upstairs restauraunt/bar is pretty lively and there are nice drinks. You’re also not a long walk from some of the other spots in Boston, like Brahmin.
Beware that Cleary’s is a spot you want to hit early – it is popular but small, and there are not one, but two lines – the first to get into the spot, the second to go down the stairs to the music/dancing. If you’re late (especially on a bigger weekend), you’ll be there for an hour. I learned this the hard way.
Food
There are obviously a lot of food options in a city like Boston and a few are actually covered above (Tavern in the Square, Clearys, Lincoln, and Hong Kong all serve food, for example). But here are a couple of special mentions:
Chow Chow City
This is a classic chinese spot located downtown on Essex Street. It is close to many of the downtown nightspots and is one of the few places open beyond closing (it shuts down at about 4AM). I think the food here is great (excellent calamari and beef) and the prices are reasonable, so if you are out on the town and need a go-to food spot late at night, give this place a thought.
Earl’s Kitchen + Bar
I like this as a brunch spot. It’s in Assembly Square, a brand new development in Somerville. It is kind of out of the way, but there’s upside: the talent here is quality. All of the employees here seem to be beautiful, and they are open to conversation if you are interesting enough. They’re young and they go out, so you can get tips on what’s hot in the city on any given night too if you approach them. Not saying go out of your way to get here, but if you happen to be in or near Somerville and you’re looking for brunch, this is a good place to start.
St. Patty’s Day Weekend
The city is a great place to be on this weekend, but to get the most out of it I highly recommend you ignore the standard “lets go to the parade!” approach. Spend Thursday, Friday, and Saturday hitting the major clubs/bars. For me, the most lit spot on this weekend was Ned Devines but you definitely have options – my recommendations on any big weekend would be Storyville and Neds. Network and make sure you find a house party in southie the day of the parade. Don’t even bother going to the parade – the house parties are where it’s at. Get a couple of wings, get your invite, and go in.
Conclusion
That’s all I have. The datasheet is not perfectly complete. Fenway, for example, is a decent spot to be but I rarely went there and can’t say much about it. I also didn’t spend enough time at some of the better venues like Storyville. That being said, I got to know the city well enough and, honestly, I’m not a fan. For a certain kind of guy, though (young, professional with a decent income, preferably white, politically democratic or center right [think Romney, not Trump], and highly educated), Boston can offer a pretty sweet niche. The guys I know who are happiest here are in that demographic and tend to do well – they pull decent talent (they get locked down pretty quick – the night scene is annoying enough to make that pretty appealing for a lot of dudes who just can’t be bothered) and have a good time. There’s more than enough to do here if you know your way around and like the vibe. As someone who isn’t a big fan of the general vibe/aura of the city, you’d have to pay me a lot of money to actually live here. I’ll take NYC all day and every day, no question.
But hey, to each their own - try the city out for yourself and see. Maybe Boston will be the right fit for you.
Know your enemy and know yourself, find naught in fear for 100 battles. Know yourself but not your enemy, find level of loss and victory. Know thy enemy but not yourself, wallow in defeat every time.