Welcome to Part II of my farewell address to my old drinking holes. Did you read Part I? No? Well go here and do it, so you’re not starting in the middle of the story! I think it’s fitting that this entry about beer bars falls on St. Patrick’s Day. So, where did I spend most of my time quaffing barley and hops?
American Craft / The Publick House
And it’s not even close. Hands down, my favorite place to drink in Boston will always be one of David Ciccolo’s incredible beer bars. The Publick House caters to the beer drinker looking for something domestic or imported that one just can’t find anywhere else. The selection of imported European (with a heavy tilt towards Belgian) beers on tap is almost as staggering as the enormous bottle list. The Publick House also features a host of domestic craft beers with many selections from various New England breweries. And the food; oh, the food! European-influenced pub dishes populate The Publick House’s menu like the Stoemp Saucisse with sausage cakes and mashed potatoes. Without a doubt the best food item is the mac-and-cheese. This magical dish can be ordered with a litany of toppings from smoked sausage to truffle cream and is rumored to have life-giving powers.
American Craft is just what it says on the tin: a bar dedicated to only American craft beers and cocktails (with a heavy tilt towards whiskey and bourbon). Opening in 2009, American Craft (or “AmCraft” as it’s informally known) features a large and varied selection of beers from breweries from New England to California. Upscale American bar food is found at AmCraft. Both places do a mean burger, and AmCraft ups the pub grub ante with dishes like Duck Two Ways (confit leg & roasted breast) and a short rib melt. But I would be remiss to not remember in passing the chicken skin club sandwich—a sublime melding of crispy chicken skin, lettuce, tomato, and toasty bread—which has passed from this life into the next, ne’er to be seen again and replaced with the chicken confit sandwich.
First time story: I moved to Boston on June 1, 2004. That afternoon, after returning the truck, I went across the street with the future Ms. Beer Snob to a bar she had heard of called the Anam Cara. I remember seeing the stained glass and booths made of pews and thinking I could get to like this place. I saw the beer list and menu and stayed in that neighborhood until moving to NY three months ago. It’s that good of a place.
The Corrib
Every neighborhood has one of these. That place a short walk or drive away with the little guy behind the wooden bar, pulling five beers from ten taps. The place you go when you want to catch the game with some friends. The place you affectionately refer to as “the old man bar.” You know, that place. That’s The Corrib. Nestled around the corner from my old place in Coolidge Corner, The Corrib became the de facto place to start any weekend when I was hosting friends from out of town due to its reasonable beer prices and close proximity to where we needed to sleep that night. The food is always good, and while it lacks a lot of the panache that some of the other places exude on this list, it’s consistent. The burger is always good. The scallop pie is always buttery with Ritz cracker topping. And Pat the bartender is always ready to pour you a Bud or a Sam.
First time story: It took a year or so living around the corner from this place for me to find it. On entering it was pointed out to me that one of the taps was Sam Adams Boston Ale (instead of the Boston Lager found everywhere else). I’ll take the ale over the lager any day of the week and twice on Sunday, and I found my Old Man Bar.
Lower Depths
The Lower Depths is another place in which I wish I had spent more time warming the seats. In addition to a great rotating craft beer selection, Lower Depths offers what has to be one the greatest food deals in Boston: a hot dog topped with mac-n-cheese for three bucks. Want your cheese on something else? Try the tater tots with blue cheese and caramelized onions on top. The beers run the spectrum from imports like Aventinus to hometown favorites Narragensett and Harpoon. The place is small, so getting a seat is tough after the sun goes down. But hitting this place up for beers and some drinkin food after a few cocktails down the street at Eastern Standard makes for a good Saturday afternoon.
First time story: Well technically this was my second time, but it goes like this. Two friends from high school were up visiting and I was taking them around the bars by Fenway Park. We stopped in at Lower Depths and after talking to the bartender came to realize that his fiancee was from Long Island. After a few more questions it turned out that the guy was engaged to the sister of someone we knew back in high school. Small world, indeed.
Sunset Grill & Tap
Any readers in the greater Boston area have been asking themselves when I was going to get around to talking about this bar. No conversation about Boston beer bars is complete without a mention of the Sunset Grill & Tap. Sunset lays claim to the largest draught beer selection in the Northeast, and it’s not a groundless claim. The beer menu is larger than most new car brochures in content, with all draughts listed on the back page and bottled beer listed everywhere else. Breweries from across the country and around the world are always pouring, and those looking for variety can choose from a list of “flights”: a predetermined grouping of four beers served together in 4-ounce glasses. The menu is updated every few months as new beers come in and new bottles are procured. The food menu is as weighty and packed as any Long Island diner menu, with everything from cheeseburger pizza to a blackened chicken quesedilla and all the staple bar food in between. The place is expansive as well, owing to the fact that once upon a time it was a bank.
First time story: I was coerced into going to Sunset by a BC alumnus friend during a visit to Boston in 2003. The first thing I noticed were all the tap handles covering the walls. The next thing I noticed was the beer menu. The future Ms. Beer Snob decided to try a Lindeman’s Peche lambic. The beer was so different, so sweet, and so delicious that it has become associated with us as a couple among family and friends. We’ve introduced both sets of our parents to this beer (which they now always have on hand for us). Lindeman’s Peche was one of the six beers we served at our wedding. Everyone we introduce to this beer loves it. And to think, none of that would have happened without deciding on a whim to go to Sunset those years ago.
Cornwalls
At first glance, Cornwalls looks like any other bar in the city: long wooden bar, dart boards in the corner, pool tables in the next room, beer mirrors on the walls. Then you grab a stool and take a look at the tap list and something looks amiss. Sure, the usual domestic upscale beers are there like Harpoon, Sam, maybe Victory or Magic Hat or Geary’s. The rest of the list reads odd: Old Speckled Hen, Boddington’s, Fullers. And then you realize that sitting in the middle of what has to be the biggest Irish bar city in America is a bona-fide English pub, with all the requisite British beers. The bartender is always happy to offer selections to you if you can’t decide between a Fuller’s Porter or a silky cream ale, and there is a decent craft beer bottle list to go along with the draughts. Cornwalls also boasts a small outdoor seating area. Here’s an insider tip: during Sox home games despite being within earshot of Fenway Park the place is practically empty, only getting crowded after the game lets out.
First time story: I was told to stop by the place by a few friends because they would be playing darts. That was all I needed to hear. I was pleasantly surprised to find Victory’s Storm King stout on tap when I got there. That completely made up for me getting my arse handed to me in darts.
So there you have it. Eight places I’ll miss in the city I called home for almost ten years. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t excited about the plethora of beer bars that NYC is home to, but you always remember the places where you did your explorations and discovery of the ever-expansive world of craft beers and cocktails.
That dirty water makes some great beer.
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