Boston’s Top 10 : Bars – Top 10 Locally-Brewed Beers

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Beer selection

Unless otherwise specified, locally-brewed beers listed here are available citywide



  1. La Grande Dame Bar

    Bearing
    the nickname of the orange-labeled Veuve Clicquot champagne house, this
    bar is the first branded venue the Reims producer has launched in the
    US. Views of the Liberty Hotel grand rotunda overhead are magnificent.
    Multiple vintages of Veuve Clicquot are menu highlights.

    • 215 Charles St

    • 617 224 4000

  2. The Oak Bar

    Exuding
    class from every polished wooden fiber, the Copley Plaza hotel bar
    exists in a sumptuous Edwardian fantasy world. Refreshingly, its patrons
    would just as well be seen in jeans as in Galliano. Most glasses at the
    bar are filled with the house’s signature martini.

    • 138 St James Ave

  3. Miracle of Science

    MIT
    students’ favorite watering hole boasts one of the city’s most original
    decorative concepts. How many bars display the day’s menu items and
    on-tap beers on a periodic table, serve salad dressing in a test tube,
    or claim Einstein as a patron saint?

    • 321 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge




    Miracle of Science

  4. Delux Café

    The
    kind of place that is so unique, you want to keep it a secret. The
    South End’s intimate Delux Café attracts a refreshing, one-of-a-kind mix
    of professionals, bike messengers, and gay boys and girls, all suckers
    for the bar’s kitschy Elvis motif, extensive on-tap beers, and perpetual
    broadcast of the Cartoon Network .

  5. Good Life Downtown

    A
    favorite after-work spot for the Financial District’s young executives,
    the Good Life feels like the kind of place the Rat Pack would have
    spent many a very happy, laidback hour in. Dim lighting, red vinyl
    booths, be-bop on the hi-fi, and a long cocktail menu round out the
    swingin’, chilled scene .

  6. Les Zygomates

    The
    dinner crowd at Les Zygomates (the French term for the facial muscles
    that make you smile) is lured by reasonably priced French bistro fare.
    Come 9pm, the sleek, whimsically designed bar area comes alive with
    young professionals intent on flexing and making the most of their smile
    muscles and appreciating the nightly live jazz performances .




    Les Zygomates

  7. Whiskey Park

    Anchoring
    the Park Plaza Hotel, Whiskey Park more closely approximates the trendy
    Manhattan cocktail-lounge concept than any bar in Boston. The gorgeous,
    black-clad wait staff serves all the classics – sidecars, mai tais,
    cosmopolitans, et al. The bar is owned by “Mr Cindy Crawford”, nightlife mogul Rande Gerber.

    • 64 Arlington St

  8. Regattabar

    The
    giants of jazz frequently stop at this nautical-theme lounge in
    Cambridge’s Charles Hotel. Drinks may not be extraordinary but the
    talent is; recent visitors have included McCoy Tyner, Ron Carter, and
    local favorite the Charlie Kolhase Quintet. A popular place, its shows
    sell out quickly .

  9. Noir

    Sophisticated
    bar food such as flatbread pizzas, or chicken and shrimp skewers with
    dipping sauces, complement equally sophisticated variants on the
    martini. The all-black decor with high-backed banquettes creates a
    perfect atmosphere for private carrying-on. Waitresses carry flashlights
    to help read the menu.

    • Charles Hotel, 1 Bennet St, Cambridge

    • 617 661 8010

  10. Porters Bar and Grill

    There
    are a dozen taps pouring a variety of local, British, and Irish beers
    here. Porters is a favorite before and after hockey and basketball games
    played in the TD Banknorth Garden. Parking is not great, but the North
    Station T is handy.

    • 173 Portland St


Top 10 Locally-Brewed Beers

  1. Tremont Ale

    An English-style pale ale with the delicious, malty middle of its forbearers.

  2. Harpoon IPA

    Ranked among the top domestic and imported India pale ales by Beer Connoisseur Magazine.

  3. John Harvard’s Coffee Stout

    Try this novel, rich stout at John Harvard’s Brewhouse (

    33 Dunster St, Cambridge

    ).

  4. Samuel Adams Octoberfest

    Sam’s finest – available only during the autumn – with deep amber coloring and a warm, spicy smoothness.

  5. Boston Beer Works Fenway Pale Ale

    Don your Red Sox cap and sip a light Fenway Pale at Beer Works.

  6. Samuel Adams Boston Lager

    The beer that put Sam back on the brewing map after a 200-year hiatus.

  7. Buzzards Bay Old Buzzards Lager

    A sweet, fruity, Export-style lager; available in bottles at most agency liquor stores.

  8. Samuel Adams Cherry Wheat Ale

    Like a hybrid between champagne and cherry soda; available at most liquor stores.

  9. Harpoon UFO Hefeweizen

    Unfiltered, Belgian-style brew, with fruity undertones.

  10. Tremont Winter Ale

    Robust, strong ale for those cold winter nights (on tap October to April).