Beantown Pub

I had a ticket to the Thievery Corporation / Massive Attack show at the Orpheum in Boston last night. Feeling pretty well recovered I decided to fight through a long day of work and then an evening show. Before the show I headed over to the Beantown Pub on Tremont Street for dinner and a beer. I hadn't been there before and was only going on the reviews I found on the web.

The bar winds it way from the front entrance all the way to the back where it overlooks the pool/games area and an adjacent room with more tables. I found a spot nearly at the end and took a quick look at the draft options. Allagash White. Hell yeah! A tasty Belgian white is food friendly and easy drinking. The bonus is that Allagash does this style really well so there is lots of flavor in a nice light-bodied beer. The bar area is well kept and nice looking but looking around you can tell they see a lot of traffic and do their best to keep things looking fresh and clean.

While I enjoyed my beer I struck up a conversation with Travis, a recent transplant from Seattle who lives in Northern Rhode Island and works as a server at L'Espalier in town. He was also going to the show and killing time before his friends arrived. We talked about all sorts of things and genuinely enjoyed the random meeting. He recommended I check out one of the Wine Monday fixed price dinners at the restaurant. His experience is that the sommeliers go all out to great memorable pairings and explain the wines and pairings in down to earth terms. Maybe I'll put my money where my mouth is sometime soon and book a reservation at L'Espalier. I might just run into him again that way.

For dinner I ordered a Paul Revere pub sandwich which consisted of pastrami, corned beef, Swiss cheese, red onions and a sweet dressing with a side of fries. The meat was warm, tender and juicy and the combination of flavors of everything on the sandwich hit the spot. The fries were very well cooked and hot. I saw reviews that said their New England Fried Chicken is also very good so I'd say stopping in for a bite shouldn't be a nervous choice.

They had multiple Sam Adams selections on tap and several other local (New England) brews that should satisfy a wide range of drinkers. I also saw quite a bit of wine going out so the after-work crowd seemed well lubricated.

The show was fantastic and the groovy music of both bands floated me home to New Hampshire. Having had another new dining experience in the city I am even more sure Margot and I need to spend more time there to see what we can turn up.

Cheers!

--Jason