Hey, I’m with you: drinking’s a blast. Bars, lounges, clubs—they’re fucking sweet. But sometimes a blast isn’t enough. Sometimes on your night out, you need to add a little rump to your rumba, a little ooh to your groove.
The Boston area, sports-crazed as it is, knows that drinking by itself can be only so satisfying. It knows that behind every stiff cocktail should be an even stiffer competition. It knows the value of ‘recreational’ drinking – where ‘recreational’ connotes not ‘relaxed’ or ‘for enjoyment,’ but something more along the lines of ‘rec league softball.’ Above all, Boston knows that barflies sometimes crave a healthy dose of competition.
So, without further ado, here are an array of options for the multitasking patron, with a list of local establishments that will provide you and your partay ideal venues to compete and drink.
Bowling
Frankly, Boston has more bowling alleys than is healthy or sane. What’s more, the city has two kinds of bowling to choose from: tenpin and candlepin*. Anyone who has any sense agrees that candlepin is the superior, more nuanced version, while tenpin is for dumb lugs content to roll a boulder at what are essentially fat, unmoving geese…But that’s neither here nor there. What’s important is knowing where you can go to knock down some pins while you’re also knocking back some pints.
Of course, there’s King’s and Jillian’s, two tenpin alleys in Back Bay that are remarkably similar and only a half mile apart. They’re both overpriced; at both places, you’re looking at a more-than-two-hour wait just to get on a lane; and if you’re there, you’re probably not that interested in the ‘recreational’ (ie, competitive) aspect of the evening anyway.
Here’s my advice: just leave. Where should you go? I suggest The Milky Way in Jamaica Plains or Lanes & Games in Alewife. Which one should you go to? Let’s make it a choose-your-own-adventure. If you want a lounge atmosphere with a DJ spinning, go to the Milky Way. If you want cheap beer and over 50 lanes of candlepin and ten pin action, go to Lanes & Games.
Really, they couldn’t be more different, yet each is totally awesome in its own way. At the Milky Way, there are seven lanes of candlepin, and the bowling is just one of many cool things they have to offer. If the lanes are momentarily full, check out the full bar, the old-time movie reels shown against the wall, and a Ms. PacMan arcade game. As for Lanes & Games, yes, you read that right – there are over 50 lanes for bowling: 26 for candlepin on the ground floor and 26 for tenpen on the second floor. And yes, you read that right: they have two floors for bowling. Want more evidence that this place takes its bowling seriously? They have a hall of fame wall; they sell novelty candlepin balls for $75; and their walls are covered with brown shag carpeting. Do yourself a favor: set aside a weekend where on Friday you go to one and on Saturday you go to the other. On Sunday, go and thank God for bowling.
Karaoke
Where’s the competition in karaoke, you ask? Well, let me tell you, my friend, spend one Friday night at the Charles Playhouse and you’ll see ‘rec league karaoke’ like you’ve never seen before. It’s a favorite spot for the city’s fringe theater actors to come and blow off some steam after their sparsely attended shows. Remember in high school walking by the drama kids as they all fought to get each other’s attention? That’s what karaoke night at the Charles is like: only with cheap booze and a microphone. It’s “Are You Gonna Go My Way” vs. “Give It Away” vs. “Never Gonna Get It” vs. anything else that got played out circa 1994. Attention-whores they may be, the theater types are also a supportive crowd – one that’s more than willing to give you your props if you get up there and rip shit up.
Trivia
Even moreso than bowling, Boston has tons of trivia options. In my hood alone, there are 8 bars/restaurants offering trivia on Tuesday nights. Trivia is a weekday pastime, as places are looking for a way to lure customers into the web of the trivia marathon**. Some places, recognizing that even trivia might not be an enticing enough a reason to spend three hours at a bar on a work night, offer bonus incentives for coming out: for instance, Johnny D’s in Davis Square gives away free pizza. My preference is for places that keep it simple. Find a place that has a central location, lots of room, an attentive wait staff, and an iPod DJ who knows what he/she is doing, and you’re all set. For me and my group of friends, that’s the Asgard in Central Square.
Board/Video Games
The Common Ground in Allston is the only place I’ve found that offers both video and board games simultaneously. On Wednesday nights, they set up a Wii and pile a table with all the classics: Clue, Stratego, Connect 4, Battleship. For my money – and I’m an old-fashioned type – nothing beats the pure joy of drawing a Sorry card when you’re plastered and knocking the game piece of the girl you’re dating under a table on the other side of the room. Try it some time.
Starting a while back, Orleans in Somerville had the good sense (and I’m surprised this hasn’t caught on more elsewhere) to make Sunday “Guitar Hero” night. It turns what is normally a fairly underwhelming bar-restaurant into a raucous scene. The key is the big screen TVs: when you’re trying to have a drink with friends, they’re distracting, but for “Guitar Hero”, they give the place the energy of a Euro-bar while a World Cup match is on. It’s lively. And ‘recreational.’
*For those who are unfamiliar, ten pin is ‘big ball bowling.’ It’s the kind where the ball is really heavy and has slots for your fingers. You’ve seen it on ESPN on Saturday afternoons when you’re looking for something else to watch. Candlepin bowling is another thing entirely. The balls are the size of softballs (but heavier) and the pins are shaped like candles (hence the name).
**Let’s just put it this way: you can either drink during those three hours or be bored out of your mind waiting for the next question to be asked. The bar’s banking on you choosing the former, which is all fine and dandy except that by the game’s fourth quarter you’re incoherent and missing questions because the line to the bathroom is out the door.
C
