Bars And the Like

Before noon, Cambridge is not a comfortable town to drink in. But after noon, it is possible to while away afternoons, evenings, nights, days, weeks and even semesters without going more than a mile from the Square.

Cambridge is also not a good drinking town after midnight, however. Everyone except private membership clubs and some hotel lounges is required to turn off the tap at 1 a.m. That means last call is usually about 12:30.

Yet there is as wide a variety of bars in the Square area as one can find anywhere in the world and we'd venture to say that if you miss them you're missing one of the most valuable educational opportunities available to Harvard students.

Your tutor may say otherwise, but you haven't learned to live until you've closed your books and hit the watering holes of Cambridge.

Here are just a few. Needless to say, your favorite may not be here; this list is only a hodge-podge of what's awaiting you.

Charlie's Places

Place - 1 Bow St.

Kitchen - 10 Eliot St.

Beef - Mass Ave towards Porter Sq.

The Performance Center lived a short but flashy life. The Spaghetti Emporium, resurrected as the Emporium Cafe, has gone under for the second time. But through it all. Charlie's Place has managed to hold on to reasonably good entertainment, an interesting if sometimes raucous atmosphere, a good place to go to have a beer and a lunch platter

During the day, Charlie's is a nice, quiet place to go to haae a beer and a lunch platter at reasonable prices. You can sit and talk and drink and no one will bother you--solace that becomes more difficult to find all the time. Lunch features, among other things, better-than-average corned beef and pastrami sandwiches, and crispy chicken wings that are reportedly worth a try.

By night, Charlie's transforms itself into one of the few dance bars left in the Harvard Square area--or at least one of the few worth going to. The talent varies, as talent always does, but remains on the high side of middling; the drinks are uncut, which is becoming increasingly unusual at some bars, and are reasonably priced, which is becoming even more unusual.

If you're not looking for entertainment, Charlie has another place--Charlie's Kitchen--on Eliot Street, just a few blocks away. It's more of a neighborhood bar, with an atmosphere that mixes students, working-class people and serious drinkers. You can sit and watch TV, or drink, or feast on a standard bar-type menu of good, low-priced foods.

And up Mass Ave, there's Charlie's Beef and Beer--a more pub-type atmosphere with a broader menu, more food-oriented than drink-oriented, and probably the least interesting of Charlie's Cambridge establishments.

Whatever type of mood you're in, Charlie has a place that can handle you. And he doesn't do a bad job at it, either.

Blue Parrot

123 Mt. Auburn St.

The Blue Parrot has a reputation for being frequented by Continental types, but more often it is crowded with Cambridge types in search of a continental atmosphere. The Parrot offers more than atmosphere, however. There are a variety of exotic main dishes at fairly reasonable prices, as well as some incredibly delicious hot and cold drinks and ice cream concoctions at fairly unreasonable prices.

The menu offers four or five hot main dishes ranging in price from $1.30 to $1.95 at lunch and rising by about 50 cents at dinner. In addition, there is a standard menu of lighter snacks, desserts, and crepes--which fall short of La Crepe in variety but far surpass them in quality. The garden salad, which features large chunks of cucumber, tomatoes, green pepper and carrots with an excellent house dressing, is also outstanding.

The wide variety of drinks and desserts makes the Parrot a good place for a mid-afternoon or late-night snack--but be prepared to spend at least 75 cents on weekend nights when there's a minimum.

The drinks range from exotic but simple syrup and soda combinations, like grenadine and tamarindo, to elaborate specialties dripping with whipped cream. Hot drinks include mint chocolate (also served cold) and Russky chai with strawberry jelly as a sweetner. And for those with simpler tastes a large glass of "George's water" is offered free of charge.

Ken's Pub

684 Mass Ave

An old friend just arrived in town for a visit. You want to go out and have a few drinks, but you're also looking for a more substantial meal than the standard hamburger platter served at most Cambridge bars.

Forget the Square: Both the drinks and the food are generally overpriced and sub-par. So where did you go? You could take a jaunt into Boston, but we'd recommend that you try Ken's Pub in Central Square first.

The lunch and dinner menus at Ken's feature a full variety of meals at very reasonable prices. The luncheon specials--ranging from $1.60 to $2.10--are especially worth the price. And the drinks at Ken's are better and lower priced than those at most Cambridge watering holes. A Bloody Mary in a beer mug served with your lunch will only set you back 80 cents.

The food at Ken's is good. Certainly it rivals the quality of any medium priced restaurant we've tried in Cambridge. The waiters and waitresses are nice and the atmosphere is conducive to almost any occasion. In fact, you probably don't want to wait until an out-of-town friend comes visiting to go to Ken's. From the looks of the clientele--a broad mixture of students, business people, secretaries, teenagers, families and old-folks--a lot of people in Cambridge who have already discovered Ken's like what they've found.

For late-nighters, Ken's is open until 1 a.m. for drinking and eating. The late night specials, served after about 9:30 p.m. are great for evening munchies. Ken's dessert specials, freshly baked in Ken's Allston bakery, should not be overlooked.

Whitney's

37 Boylston St.

Whitney's is anything but a student bar. It's far too sedate to attract very many undergraduates and too small to accommodate crowds of youths out to relieve themselves of the pressures of college life. Probably, the regulars at Whitney's--the bar has a loyal local adult following--wouldn't have it any other way.

Not only hasn't Whitney's caved in to the temptation of serving a student population with lots of money to throw around, it also has gotten along without charging the exorbitant prices that every other Square establishment demands for its liquor. The draughts are good and 25 cents cheap. Mixed drinks can be had for less than $1, and though the drinks aren't all that tall, the bartenders are not stingy with the liquor.

One serious warning about Whitney's: It is a male dominated institution and women who venture there are liable to suffer some mild verbal abuse from the patrons. When the revolution comes--sources expect it within the next five years--Whitney's will be a decent place for all.

Gas Light Pub

Inman Square

Charles U. Daly, vice president for government and community affairs, says that he has never really done much to deserve the tough guy label that The Crimson always attaches to him.

But if Daly does, to use his words, sometimes feel closer to the people at the Gaslight Pub than the Harvard community, he must have a streak of bully in him somewhere. Make no mistake, Gaslight Pub is a tough place. But we think you'll like it.

First, on weeknights--when things generally are pretty calm and most of the hot shots are home watching T.V.--the draft beer is only 25 cents a hit. Second, on weekends--even though the tap is shut off and bottled beer is pawned at 75 cents--there is live entertainment of several varieties. The scheduled entertainment is the music. A disc jockey pulls out the cases and cases of 45s he's collected from the fifties and early sixties and spins them on his record player, set up in one of the corner booths. Then, once the place starts rocking, the unscheduled but not unexpected entertainment begins.

Most of the people at the Gaslight are regulars who've come to have a good time and do some serious drinking. In fact, sometimes it gets too serious. Several weeks ago, a small time brawl broke out when someone accidently nudged someone else with a bumper pool cue stick. It's not at all unusual to see several rowdies ejected or to find someone with a bloodied face on the sidewalk outside.

And they dance at the Gaslight, too. Boy, do they dance. All in all we think the Gaslight is a great place to go if you really want to relax and, well, get drunk with a crowd. The Gaslight Pub is for real and after a night or two we think you'll begin to know Chuck Daly's feeling.

Plough and Stars

Mass. Ave towards Central Sq.

The Plough and Stars is an easily-overlooked hole in the wall on Mass Ave near Central Square, with a big Irish clientele--it has strong ideological links with the IRA and refuses to serve English liquor. The Plough is always jammed mostly with rough-and-ready-looking men, and the trick for Harvard students and professors going there is to be able to pose successfully as just plain Cambridge residents. It's a mark of high distinction in some quarters if you can stride into the Plough on a Saturday night and be greeted by name by the people there. The Plough has a largely inaccurate reputation for being a good spot for a Saturday night knock-over-the-tables fight; if you're looking for that kind of action check out the Gaslight Pub in Inman Square. At the Plough, people just guzzle beer--and Guiness Stout on tap--and try to find a little room to breathe.

Casablanca

40 Brattle St.

The Casablanca, or the Casa-B for the cognoscenti, is a two-story affair in the back of the Truc building on Brattle St. The downstairs has a fine stretch of mahogany for those who would bend elbows, lots of tables for those who would have conversations, and even wicker love-seats for those who would woo. It's dark here, smoke gets in your eyes, and multitudes of humanity flock here to get glued to the rock.

Upstairs is another story. The remarkable preponderance of tow-heads, the innocuous nature of the bathroom graffito, the stilted conversation of the patrons, and the proliferation of tuxedoes indicate to the wayward observer that he has at last stumbled upon a watering-hole of that too-too-common bird, the New England preppie. The last time we ventured upstairs, the company was chattering about the Groton-St. Marks game, to the disgrace of the formidable Crimson eleven, which had prevailed that very afternoon.

The upstairs is crowded, and there is little room at the bar. Service is terribly slow, the bartenders only like to recognize the Tories, the drinks are nothing special, and neither are the prices. The spot's saving grace is that it is open until 2 a.m., even if they stop serving at 1 a.m. By all means stop up, though, and just tell the regulars you're slumming.

Buddy's Sirloin Pit

39 Brattle St.

Buddy's Sirloin Pit isn't fancy and it misses all the gimmicks that other Square hamburger establishments trade upon, but Buddy's does serve a decently-sized meal of reasonably good taste at relatively cheap prices. Chopped meat is the bread and butter of the Sirloin Pit, but burger isn't the only reason why Buddy's merits a visit.

There are only a very few places around where you can eat a casual meal and enjoy a beer at the same time. Liquor licenses aren't worth the expense for most local restauranteurs but Buddy bought one and it makes his hamburger haven infinitely pleasant. He offers a good variety of brews at low cost--in the half-dollar neighborhood. Buddy also serves pretty tasty fries with his meals, which is normal for this kind of place, but his green salads are as good as any you can get in the area and they too are inexpensive.

Buddy's burgers are big, very big in fact, and are cooked to order over an open fire. The cooks at the Sirloin Pit have a tendency to underdo the meat, so if you don't like your hamburgers on the rare side you better make a point of it in advance. Service is cafeteria style, and the lines get longish around lunch and dinner times so get there early.

Young and Yee

27 Church St.

For years, people have been referring to Young and Yee as Harvard Square's "second" Chinese restaurant. But while the service and the food at its Mass Ave rival has remained somewhat erratic, and the hand has remained heavy on the MSG, Young and Yee has crept slowly upward. It may be ready for the number-one position.

Young and Yee's food is consistently good, if not excellent, and it is consistent--a definite plus. It's standard fare--chow mein and the like--is passable, but far more interesting and sometimes surprising dishes may be found toward the back of the menu, and are worth looking into.

Portions are reasonable, and prices are relatively low. The service is good, and the atmosphere--although not so dressed up as that of Hong Kong--is adequate.

With Joyce Chen's closed for renovations, seekers of standard Chinese food--rather than the new Szechuan variety--may find what they're looking for here.

Hemispheres

45 1/2 Mt. Auburn St.

For those who come from towns that can boast only two Italian and one Chinese restaurant, Hemispheres is a whole new experience. Friends back home will think you've gone crazy when you rave about the asparagus sandwich called the Hemispheres Special, and you'll really jolt them when you go on babbling about such weird dishes as baba ganoosh, falafel, and baklava. Let them eat spaghetti.

Hemispheres opened a few years ago, and instead of following the example of many other student-priced restaurants in the Square that quickly go broke, it has expanded its facilities ever since. Over the summer, the newest addition was a roof garden that was build on top of Hemispheres' two rooms. The downstairs area still has an atmosphere that can only be described as unique--where else other than the Sistine Chapel is the ceiling (covered by art prints) more interesting than the walls? The best of Bach and Beethoven rounds out the "cultured" atmosphere and also serves to filter out the noise of the Mt. Auburn St. delivery trucks and buses.

Hemispheres is undoubtedly one of the best late-evening dessert handouts in the Square area. Abandon any hopes of staying on your diet and dig into owner Fred Mojavr's homemade ice cream pie. Hopefully the rumor isn't true that the chocolate cheese cake, another Hemispheres specialty, is no longer on the menu. Unfortunately, the rumor is true that the price of all cheesecakes was recently raised to $1.25.

At a time when most restaurants are changing the prices on their menus every other week, meals at Hemispheres are still a good bargain at around $3. Lamb is the basis of many of Fred's dishes, with Lamb Shishkebob being the most popular dish and the house specialty. The vegetarian dish, in which the vegetables taste surprisingly fresh, and the cold cherry soup are two items on the menu that shouldn't be overlooked.

Hemispheres does have its share of flaws. All the tables, for example, seem to have one leg that is shorter than the others, and on those occasions when the Bifstek is tough, your efforts to cut it may spill water over you and your friends. And, although the waitresses are friendly, the service is often slow--probably the result of understaffing. If you're in a hurry, you'd better stop next door at Tommy's; if not, be prepared for a very leisurely meal.

Underdog

6 Bow St.

There are very few convenient places you can go and find real delicatessen--real pastrami (some eateries go so far as to spell it pastromi), real nasherai. Fortunately, however, one of the best places to go in the Boston area is right around the corner, at Underdog.

Underdog began its career selling varieties of Hebrew National hot dogs--plain, with cheese and bacon (the blasphemy), stuffed into a fresh French bread with Dijon mustard (the sauci), and so on. Then it began to expand its repertoire, at the request of the pinball regulars.

So due to popular demand, Underdog now boasts a larger menu, including the underbird, a turkey combination; underfed, a cold-cut combination; and underground, the second only to Bartley's for the number-one-hamburger-in-the-Square award (and some might argue that).

The prices, which used to seem somewhat high, have remained stable while the rest of the Square eateries were adjusting their menus, and are in line with what you'll find elsewhere. But Underdog is a much better deal for the money.

The pinball machines, on the other hand, are lower priced than most Square locations; the people are extraordinarily friendly; and there's a lot of the personal touch in every serving. Give it a try.

Legal Seafood

237 Hampshire St.

Four years ago, people would queue up in front of Legal Sea Foods for hours to grab a quick, cheap fish dinner in a crowded room with 100 or so other noisy, hungry people.

Those days are gone. The wait is still sometimes lengthy, but now you can spend it leisurely imbibing mixed drinks and raw oysters, clams and shrimps in the upstairs bar while waiting for your number to be called. The dining rooms (plural now) are no longer full to overflowing, just full to capacity. And people no longer breathe down your neck waiting for your place.

But Legal Sea Foods remains the best place to get a good fish dinner in Cambridge for a reasonable price.

Upstairs, the Red Tide Special is an interesting twist on the standard Bloody Mary, and worth trying. And for raw clam and oyster fans--well, they're there, and delicious. Downstairs, a full range of seafoods, broiled and fried, and all fresh, greets the seafood fan. (The broiled dishes are especially good in garlic butter.) Most dishes are reasonably priced--lobster, however, is quickly going out of sight. And a bucket of steamers always makes a good, inexpensive dinner. The fish chowder is also well worth a try.

Pizza

Pizza places abound in Harvard Square, but Harvard students never seem to get their fill. Nor do they ever seem to agree on which place serves the best pizza. Fortunately, there are enough varieties around so that even the most demanding pizza eater should be able to find satisfaction.

For those who prefer thick crusts, the 24 Restaurant on Holyoke St., and Harvard House of Pizza on Mass Ave. near the Quadrangle Houses are probably the best bets. The 24, which also serves Greek food and grinders, is more generous with the cheese and the crust, but Harvard's pizzas are larger in diameter. Pinocchio's at 74 Winthrop St. features a thick crust, but some feel it also features too much grease.

Thinner crusts can be found at Joe's Pizza at 1 Linden St., Three Aces on Mass Ave. near the Law School, and Harvard Pizza on Plympton St. (not to be confused with Harvard House of Pizza). Three Aces is rumored to have the closest thing to New York-style pizza in the vicinity of the Square.

Since tastes in pizza are so subjecttive, you'll probably have to experiment a little before you find a place that meets your specifications. Exprimentation may require a little help from your friends, however, because many places don't serve single slices of pizza as Joe's and Harvard Pizza. If you're feeling lazy and not too particular, Gershman's and Domino's will deliver some soggy pizza to your door.

Wursthaus

4 Boylston St.

If you show up at Cardullo's Gourmet Shop at an off-hour, a sign in the door will advise you to try out the Wursthaus instead, which is a dumpling's-throw away. What this means is a racket on European foods for Frank Cardullo who just happens to own both places, but the Wursthaus isn't bad at all.

Just north of the hi-fi jungle on Boylston St., the Wursthaus building sits in commercial effulgence, noisily crowing its own merits with pretentious signs, ornate flags and a smorgasbord-style window that is chock-full of brand-names. The decor is pretty much the same inside, and if you sit facing the wrong way, your meal will be highlighted by a neon ticker that tells you what you will want to masticate. The specialties at the Wursthaus are eastern European food and exotic beers from the world over, which all Harvard freshmen buy so they can have pretty rows of beer bottles on their mantlepieces. The prices are moderate here and the "special"--a luncheon buffet upstairs--commands $2.75. The food is quite good, though, and the Wursthaus really offers one of the most interesting fares in the Square.

Despite the commercialism, the "atmosphere" at the Wursthaus is very warm if masculine. The main dining room is a handsome exercise in dark old wood and stone flooring, and an occasional Germanic waitress gives the place some authenticity. The upstairs is somewhat more cheery and airy, and there's sometimes a guitar player in the corner. The Wursthaus gets quite crowded and service gets quite slow, but it's a fine place to go for a filling meal with drinks, late in the afternoon or evening.

Oxford Ale House

36 Church St.

Just as rowdy, but considerably less interesting than Jacks or the Plough and Stars, is the Oxford Ale House, located around the corner from the Coop at 23 Church St. The place seems to attract a lot of townies, but maybe some of those people are freshmen who have come over from the nearby Yard--it's hard to tell the difference these days. It is routine to be carded, at least on weekends. This place provides live entertainment (loud), beer and more potent alcohol, and little else. There is no atmosphere, only noise. Somehow or another, the Oxford Ale House seems out of place in Cambridge, at least as out of place as Yale would be, and hopefully more so.

Beer is 50 cents and simple hard drinks are $1.00, slightly higher at night. Open noon to 1 a.m. every night except Thursday and Friday, when it stays open 'til 2 a.m. No cover charge.

Ha'penny

123 Mt. Auburn St.

Don't go to the Ha'Penny if you want to pick up or be picked up or if you get off on crowd scenes. But do go if you want a cozy place to have a heart-to-heart with someone over a couple of beers.

Located in the basement under the Blue Parrot at 123 Mt. Auburn St., the Ha'Penny features both domestic and imported beers on tap, Heineken light at 95 cents is reasonably priced and recommended. Two brands of domestic can be had for 70 cents. Other drinks start at $1.25, which is about average for the Square.

Seating is mostly at small tables with the kind of red-checked tablecloths you would expect to see at a country-style restaurant and the only music you'll hear is from the low-volume jukebox. Service is friendly and reasonably efficient.

The Ha'Penny is open noon to 1 a.m. Monday through Saturday and 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Sundays. A lunch menu is served daily (except Sun.), but the only food available in the evenings is a few nibbles.

The clientele is generally sober in both senses of the word, with an emphasis on young professional types.

Grendel's Den

89 Winthrop St.

Far too many students go through Harvard without even knowing that Grendel's Den exists. That's a shame, because Grendel's is one of the Square's most enjoyable and most reasonably-priced eating places.

Many frequent diners at Grendel's feel its salad bar, which is open for lunch and for most weekday dinners, is the best deal the restaurant offers. For under $2 you can concoct your own salad from a wide assortment of garden greens, vegetables and dressings. You'll have fun competing against others in the contest of seeing how much you can heap onto one salad plate.

But Grendel's offers much, much more than just delicious salads. In fact, their menu may boast more items than any similiar Square restaurant. In addition to such mainstays of the menu as delicious soups, cheese fondue and veal cordon bleu, the chef makes one's choice difficult by offering a dozen or so other Middle Eastern, European, and seafood daily specials. Most dinner dishes go for around $4, and they include rice and (unfortunately usually overcooked) vegetables.

The best part of Grendel's atmosphere is its simplicity. It doesn't have the European landscape posters that other easteries find so necessary to their identities. Grendel's exudes a European ambience without even trying. The music is light and tends toward the classical, and the waiters and waitresses are generally cordial.

To make a meal at Grendel's complete, one ought to help it along with a bottle of wine. Grendel's doesn's serve anything stronger than expresso, but for a few dollars you can stop off at the Pro before your meal and purchase the wine of your choice. Since this is a common occurrence at Grendel's, you will be provided with wine glasses and a corkscrew as soon as you reach into the paper bag.

To find Grendel's Den, go down Boylston Street one block from the Square. On your right you'll see Winthrop Squae, behind which is a building that houses Grendel's in its basement.