Best walkable area for beer in Boston?

http://beeradvocate.com/community/t...r-bars-bottle-shops-boston.11013/#post-126735

I would go Cambridge- CBC, Hobo and Meadhalll

 

Here are some of the more quality craft beer bars in Boston.

Cambridge: You have Lord Hobo, Meadhall, Cambridge brewing and some other good bars in a smallish residential area. Easy walk.

Fenway/Allston: Bukowskis --> Lower Depths --> Yard House in Fenway take a $8 cab to Allston for Sunset or Deep Ellum if you're feeling adventuresome. There's more going on in these parts if you are looking for citylife kinda vibe.

Edit: What he said above. Haha.

 

Both CBC and Lord Hobo are on Hampshire street about a half mile apart, Meadhall is the opposite way down the street from CBC about a mile and around the corner.

 

what lucas said, these establishments are all really close to each other but if you are expecting some drag that is covered in bars and nightlife dont think this is it, the area is a little desolate but these 3 places are some of the best in the boston area. All three places have great menus too.

 

Davis Square.
Eats & Drinks: Foundry on Elm, Red Bones, The Burren (it is The Burren after all)
Buying Bottles: Downtown Wine & Spirits and Liquor World (bombers are all the way in the back) should have anything available in the Boston/Cambridge area.

 

Add Five Horses tavern and Flatbread to the Davis list.

 

Even with those and the bars tacosandbeer mentioned I would choose Kendall/Central Square. Sure the bars in Davis are over a quarter mile stretch, but CBC, Meadhall, and Lord Hobo are only a half mile to 3/4 mile apart from one another. It's a little bit more walking, but CBC and Lord Hobo at least, are in the top five beer bars in the Boston area in my opinion.

Also, they will be FAR less crowded than any of those Davis bars. Redbones and Five Horse are WALL to WALL packed on a weekend night, oh and they're more expensive than their Cambridge counterparts. In the case of Meadhall, you'll have tons of space, and CBC beats the hell out of all of them in terms of price.

 

Also, to the OP, how many people will be in your group? I've planned multiple "craft-beer-centric" birthdays in Boston, and the size of your group will largely determine which direction you go. For example, if you have 30 people, Deep Ellum probably isn't going to work out on a Saturday night.

 

Yeah, there's not much of a "scene" over in that Kendall Sq-ish area. The Allston, Davis Sq, Central Sq, or Harvard Sq areas are all more busy, and all have decent-to-excellent craft beer places, but I'd still take CBC/LH if I had the choice. As you may have noticed, much of Cambridge/Boston is organized around squares, so it's hard to find a main drag that doesn't peter out after a couple blocks.

If you're looking for local beers, Flatbread in Davis and Atwood's Tavern (a 7-ish minute walk from LH) both tend to have a good selection.

Any preferences on food? If you're doing the Kendall area, you might want to check out Area Four, Mulan, Hungry Mother, or in the opposite direction, East Coast Grill, depending on how much you want to spend, what type of cuisine you like, and how important beer is during dinner.

 

I'll add my vote for Kendall Square. From the Kendall Square T stop, you could:
--Start at Meadhall (I know it gets iffy reviews, but it's an option for a beer or two)
--Go to Area Four (great pizza and a smallish-but-good beer list)
--Wander over to the Cambridge Brewing Company (unbeatable)
--Proceed to Lord Hobo
--End up at Atwood's Tavern (which has a well-curated beer list, and usually has a band on Friday nights)

 

If you do CBC/Lord Hobo/Meadhall you can also add in Central Square or Inman Square if you want an area with more action that is within walking distance. For good beer Central Sq has Green Street and The Asgard. Inman has Bukowskis. Meadhall is also by the Kendall stop on the red line so its only 2 stops from downtown Boston(or a short cab ride).

If you end up downtown I would suggest The Kinsale, Stoddards, Jacob Wirth, Scholars(in my order of preference).

 

This would be my recommendation, too. I've only been to Meadhall once, shortly after they opened, so I might leave that one off, but if you've got time and others who have been more recently recommend it, why not stop there.

Area Four does have great food, especially the pizza, and the beer list is short, but all local if that's something you're interested in. The CBC and Lord Hobo speak for themselves, and Atwood's is really flying under the radar with good beer.

As others have said, they are all off the main drag, even by Cambridge standards, and the areas between are quiet with not much going on. It's not going to be Boylston Street or Harvard Square, but I don't think that's a bad thing. If you want an area with more people on the streets and more stuff going on between bars, you could consider working some of the places above in with Inman. Bukowski's (good beer list) and the Druid (average beer list, but nice little spot) are very close to one another with tons of good restaurants (especially East Coast Grill, in my mind) in the area, and Atwood's is a short walk away down Cambridge Street. The other places listed are all a little further.

 

I agree completely, I live in Somerville but go to CBC/Lord Hobo all the time. I personally don't care for Meadhall, they just have a lot of beers.

 

Has anyone been to Meadhall recently (there's only a couple reviews from the past few months, and maybe one from an Area Man)? Are they still hawking the $10 thimbles of Belgian beer? I gotta say, after Jason commented about some of their comical prices, I was pretty surprised to see all these BA events hosted there.

I'd check their website, but it's been "coming soon" for about a year.

 

I've been there a few times since it's opened, the most recent being twice in March. I don't remember being shocked by any prices and saying, "Fuck this" and walking out after one beer. This has happened twice in the last few months, at Five Horse Tavern, and Bukowskis in Cambridge. I don't exactly recall too many specific prices. On St. Patrick's Day I think the Donnybrook Stout on draft was $6 and two weeks prior I ordered my buddy a Rochefort 10 for his birthday, I believe that was $10. Prima Pils was maybe $6.50 on draft. Nothing great in terms of price, but also nothing too ridiculous. If you're a beer geek and looking for a beer list that's been carefully put together (Deep Ellum and Lord Hobo), Meadhall isn't for you. It's greatest asset is it's size, and I usually head there with a larger group. There MAY be one or two interesting things for an uber beer geek, otherwise it's one of those 1000-taps-but-there-might-as-well-be-none type of beer bars for me.

 

Lord Hobo's kitchen is open until close.