Sunday, March 25, 2018

Where to Drink Cocktails in Boston: Central Square

I'll be doing a series of blog posts featuring the best cocktail bars in each of Boston's neighborhoods, starting from the area where I work: Central Square!

While I wish there are more craft cocktail spots here (for all those after-work "happy hours"), there are enough solid spots for the discerning drinkers to hit up for different occasions. Here are where you should be drinking cocktails in Central Square:

Craigie on Main
Craigie on Main

Craigie on Main's bar is always a great spot to grab a drink after work solo or with a close co-worker/friend. The cocktail menu is concise but covers a range of palates. Whether you want a classic champagne cocktail or a Penicillin, or one of bartender Eric Books' latest creations (spicy gin drink, perhaps?), Craigie on Main is a good bet any day. 

A4cade
A4cade

Arcade bar, pinball machines, and fun vessels are the reason A4cade draws a crowd. But these cool looking drinks and those Tardis mugs aren't just for looks, these drinks are actually great. In addition to all the tiki drinks and "grown up sodas", A4cade also has some nice spirit-forward, stirred cocktails.
A4cade

Pagu
Pagu
Find well-executed drinks inspired by Japanese and Spanish flavors at Pagu (including a variety of gin and tonics). There are a number of sake-based cocktails alongside Spanish Negroni (Mahon gin, Aperol, Campari, and Atxa Rojo, a Spanish vermouth). There are plugs under the bar seats and full food menu is available at the bar, which means Pagu is a frequent stop of mine for a solo after-work dinner and drinks or when I feel like working while nursing a cocktail.

Little Donkey
Little Donkey
Little Donkey keeps their drinks fun like the the always-changing (but always in a grapefruit) The One in a Grapefruit and the Apu's Special slushie (that's how we do winter). The seasonal cocktails seem for the most part designed for day drinking but there are a couple of stirred cocktails too, if you're in that kind of mood.

Brick & Mortar
Brick and Mortar
A lively neighborhood favorite with good music that thankfully also has really good cocktails. Whether it's the easy-to-down Disco Nap (mezcal, cucumber, yellow chartreuse, lime) or a flight of Negronis, Brick & Mortar is the place to hit with a group.

Pammy's
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Although Pammy's sits in between Central Square and Harvard Square, it is closer to Central Sq station thus it gets a place here. Pammy's brings drinks from Moe Isaza (formerly Tiger Mama, The Baldwin Bar, among others). There are unique drinks such as a Last Word variation using black olives or Joey's Resolution made with ginger whiskey, vermouth, and Nocino bitters. My favorite part, though, is perhaps the fact that you can get a smaller "aperitivo" size of any of their three Negroni variations (so I can try more!)


Honorary Mentions:
Other places to get a decent cocktail in Central Square include Green Street Tavern, Naco Taco, Viale, and Thelonius Monkfish.

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