Boston Nightlife

Jouhou said:
What's the dining options like in there? I'm interested in the being able to grab something 24 hours a day if I stay there but that doesn't seem so great if the options are underwhelming or extremely overpriced. Once the food court shows up I'm sure it won't be 24 hours, like most of Boston. When I'm staying in town I'm always frustrated by the lack of dining options late at night because Boston is weird for a major city by just shutting down at night. I always pick hotels based on nearby 24 hour options, which usually ends up being confined to a 7-11.
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South street diner near south station open 24/7
 
But yes I would agree that Boston shuts down at night, especially for such a major city. I spent almost 5 years in tampa and despite being a significantly smaller city there seemed to be way more nightlife happening.
 
Jrubbs said:
But yes I would agree that Boston shuts down at night, especially for such a major city. I spent almost 5 years in tampa and despite being a significantly smaller city there seemed to be way more nightlife happening.
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I think if liquor licenses weren't $410,000 it would be a different story
 
Most cities in the US shut down after about 10pm, even here in NYC. Aside from crappy diners and bodegas, almost nothing stays open late besides bars - and that is in Manhattan. In the outer boroughs, it is crickets at night.
 
Czervik.Construction said:
Most cities in the US shut down after about 10pm, even here in NYC. Aside from crappy diners and bodegas, almost nothing stays open late besides bars - and that is in Manhattan. In the outer boroughs, it is crickets at night.
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That's still a vastly better situation than in Boston. Even core Boston is a food desert by 10pm. I'm glad I live hear because I would fucking hate being a traveler here and looking for food in the later evening... something I routinely do in other cities without issue.
 
i think the "boston closes so early" thing is way overplayed. i'm often in SF, frankfurt, LA, NYC, nashville, and shanghai -- it's a challenge even in nyc and nashville to get anything beyond a slice of pizza or a hot dog (or equivalent) past midnight, public transportation anywhere other than NYC shuts down earlier than the MBTA, and it's a total myth that every big city other than boston is some 24-hour dance party: clubs and bars close around the same time (other than NYC and even there, the "scene" past 2am is exactly what you'd expect -- mostly non existent).
 
Czervik.Construction said:
Most cities in the US shut down after about 10pm, even here in NYC. Aside from crappy diners and bodegas, almost nothing stays open late besides bars - and that is in Manhattan. In the outer boroughs, it is crickets at night.
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Theres a paradox where auto-dominated suburbs have more late night options. Not good options, mind you, but options.

IE, if you need 24-hour food, you can chose between Dennys, Taco Bell, Ihop, McDonalds, Del Taco, Wendys etc etc

All unhealthy fast food, but theyre always open.

It blew my mind when I was in Harlem and the Taco Bell closed at 10pm and the Wendys at 11pm. Not because I wanted either one, but how on earth can they not justify staying open when suburban ones can?

chrisbrat said:
clubs and bars close around the same time (other than NYC and even there, the "scene" past 2am is exactly what you'd expect -- mostly non existent).
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Ths is simply untrue. Walk around Manhattan at 3am and the streets are CROWDED.

Boston its only you at that hour.
 
jass said:
Ths is simply untrue. Walk around Manhattan at 3am and the streets are CROWDED.

Boston its only you at that hour.
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Last sentence doesn't make sense to me. So if NYC has stuff going on, then so does every other city? I know a lot of cities that feel dead after 5 pm, let alone 2 am.
 
DZH22 said:
Last sentence doesn't make sense to me. So if NYC has stuff going on, then so does every other city? I know a lot of cities that feel dead after 5 pm, let alone 2 am.
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Im pushing back at the statement that even in NYC, activity after 2am is "mostly non existent".

Im not saying anything about other (US) cities.
 
there are areas in NYC that are active after 2am, but to say that the entirety of manhattan is up and bustling at 4am is just flat-out untrue. yeah, times square is 24/7, but that's not the norm. i stayed in LES and park slope two weekends ago -- is that not "downtown" or hep enough for you? not a whole lot happening after 2. im not saying NOTHING is happening, just that even in NYC and even in manhattan it is not nonstop partytown everywhere. but whatever -- it's a minor point against the larger: that being that boston is not "dead at night" compared to other big cities.
 
^^^Ok I got it. I read it as "Boston, it's only you..." with the "you" being Boston itself. Instead, you meant "In Boston, it's only you" with the "you" being somebody walking around by themselves at 2 am.
 
meddlepal said:
That's still a vastly better situation than in Boston. Even core Boston is a food desert by 10pm. I'm glad I live hear because I would fucking hate being a traveler here and looking for food in the later evening... something I routinely do in other cities without issue.
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This isn't true. Most sit-down restaurants serve food until at least 11pm on weekdays if not midnight. On the weekend, many many places will continue to feed you until 1am. Fast casual places close fairly early (Panera, Boloco, etc.), but their bread and butter is lunch and after-work grab-n-go crowds, not late-night.
 
DZH22 said:
^^^Ok I got it. I read it as "Boston, it's only you..." with the "you" being Boston itself. Instead, you meant "In Boston, it's only you" with the "you" being somebody walking around by themselves at 2 am.
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Yeah thats what I meant!
 
chrisbrat said:
i think the "boston closes so early" thing is way overplayed. i'm often in SF, frankfurt, LA, NYC, nashville, and shanghai -- it's a challenge even in nyc and nashville to get anything beyond a slice of pizza or a hot dog (or equivalent) past midnight, public transportation anywhere other than NYC shuts down earlier than the MBTA, and it's a total myth that every big city other than boston is some 24-hour dance party: clubs and bars close around the same time (other than NYC and even there, the "scene" past 2am is exactly what you'd expect -- mostly non existent).
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NYC is way easier to find something open, at least in manhattan. New Orleans has quite a bit of things open, not just places for alcohol. Las Vegas is 24 hours, even if it's for drunk people mostly. The entirety of Taiwan was ideal for being 24 hours excluding drinking establishments.

but most US cities have more of *something* open, even if not 24 hour cities. I'm not looking for alcohol, I just sleep during the day.
 
NOLA, vegas, and manhattan are more "awake" than boston, sure. but, for example, san fran -- which often gets compared to boston -- has public transportion that stops sooner, bars that stay open to the same time, and is in most respects *less* "nightlife-y" than boston. yet SF doesn't get the same knock. it's nonsense.
 
I find that the places people identify as having better nightlife or nighttime services are either New York frickin' City, or cities globally known for their nightlife (NoLa and Vegas).

I think we need to define standards here. What sort of services are people wanting "late night"? What does "late night" mean to different people?
 
chrisbrat said:
NOLA, vegas, and manhattan are more "awake" than boston, sure. but, for example, san fran -- which often gets compared to boston -- has public transportion that stops sooner, bars that stay open to the same time, and is in most respects *less* "nightlife-y" than boston. yet SF doesn't get the same knock. it's nonsense.
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San Francisco has a much better/more diverse bar scene in general though. With what Boston’s has become, largely on account of the state’s archaic licensing laws, I’m not sure who would even want to stay out past 2am.
 
meh. different strokes etc. san fran is a snoozefest after midnight to me. which is not to say i don't miss the boston of my yoof: the rat, bunratty's, etc. while it's not my thing these days, allston is pretty bangin until closing time and (way LESS my scene) so is landsdowne. there's plenty of shit to do in boston after dark.
 
meddlepal said:
That's still a vastly better situation than in Boston. Even core Boston is a food desert by 10pm. I'm glad I live hear because I would fucking hate being a traveler here and looking for food in the later evening... something I routinely do in other cities without issue.
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Even around me in Dot I can think of multiple places serving full menus until 11pm, and late night menus until closing (1-2am). Downtown even more so, along with Chinatown until 3-4am, etc. I would agree that SF sucks about as badly as Boston does (or worse) for night life hours.
 
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