Miles to Go Before I Can Drink

Alcohol has never been easy to get in Harvard Square, but the recent closing of several area bars has made it even harder, forcing students to change their drinking habits.

Since the Piccadilly Filly Bar on Mt. Auburn St. was levelled this summer and Jack's, a club near Central Square, was gutted by a fire last spring, students have discovered there are few bona fide bars remaining within the confines of Harvard Square. "Well, there's the Boathouse, and then there's Grendel's and there's the Bow and Arrow Pub, but those are about the only real bars in the Square that I can think of," says Quincy House junior Steve Dodge '89.

Mary Psychas '90 agrees, saying, "Besides the Bow and Arrow and the Boathouse, I can't really think of any real bars that people hang out at. Now that ChiChi's is closed, Jack's is closed, and the Filly is gone, people are having to find new places to go."

But Timothy G. Hoescht '88 says he does not think the closing of the Filly has affected Harvard social life much.

"I don't think the closing of the Filly will really hurt anyone's social life. You just have to find a new scene. You can always find some place to go to," Hoechst says, adding that students' choice of bars depends on what they are looking for.

"If you're not concerned with food or anything, Charlie's Kitchen is an o.k. bar," he says. "Sometimes you just want a place where the drinks are cheap and you don't stick to the seats. But if you're looking for atmosphere or brass plating, you'll have a harder time in the Square."

Hoechst says the Boathouse is now becoming an undergraduate hangout, while in the past B-School students tended to frequent it more.

And business is booming because area bars like the Filly and Jack's have closed down, according to Debbie, the day manager at the Bow and Arrow Pub.

"Last spring the place was crowded, but it wasn't always students," she says. "Nowadays the place is packed. The students started coming back a week ago, and now people are having to push to get to the bar."

John Brown, the manager of The Boathouse Bar, says he has also noticed an increase in student business. "Obviously, when you cut down on the odds, you'll do more business," Brown says. He says more college seniors, as well as students at the Kennedy and Business schools, are frequenting the bar this year.

Other bartenders have noted similar increases. Aron, the bartender at Pizzeria Uno's, estimated that 30 percent of Uno's weekend business is Harvard students. And Grendel's owner Herbie Kulzer says his business has also increased now that the nearby Filly has closed.

But despite the fact that students seem to be finding new places to drink in the Square, many complain that there are too few real college bars in the square.

"You can go to the Wursthaus or to a bar at a restaurant or something, but that's not just the same," Psychas says.

Local bartenders say they think there is definitely a market for a college bar. "There are a lot of restaurant bars, like Uno's here, and there are some grad student hangouts, but there's not really just a college bar scene," Aron says. "Kids are just out of luck."

Aron says he thinks Harvard students are being forced to leave Cambridge to go to Kenmore Square and into Boston to find drinks. And students agree that they have to wander farther

"In some ways I think it's kind of good there aren't a lot of bars in the Square, because it makes you use Boston more," says Nick Harney '89. "Sophomore year, when I was one of the only people I knew old enough to drink, I found myself getting into the city a lot:"

Psychas says that she and her friends have also found themselves going out of the Square to drink. "I've been into Central Square some," she says. "It gets you into a different part of town, but I still wish that there were more places in the Square."

Not all students have found the lack of bars in Harvard Square to be a problem.

"Most of the time I just go to parties in peoples' rooms," says Shelagh Kenney '90. "I'm not 21 so I probably wouldn't get served even if I did go to a bunch of bars. And it's not fun to waste a whole evening trying to chance it and see if you get in."

Area bars say they are rigorous in checking students' identifications. "We check I.D.'s strictly," says Brown, who scrutinizes identifications at the Boathouse. "I'm not going to have any sympathy for people under 21 who are trying to get in. I think they can usually find other places to drink, and besides, the risk of losing our license or being closed down is just too much."

But some students say they would rather attend parties than go to bars.

"I think most students would rather go to a party in someone's room than to a bar anyway," says a Dunster House senior. "All your friends are there, they all know you, and they don't card," she says.

And Abby Shapiro '90 agrees that parties in dorm rooms appeal to her more than does a bar scene. "It doesn't seem to me that there is a real campus bar crowd. There isn't a lot of public alcohol, and there aren't any frats or campus funded alcohol events. Going to bars is expensive, too. So I just tend to hang out here with my friends."

Shapiro says she thinks a bar scene would encourage people to mingle more. "It seems like students might meet more people in a bar," she says. "They might get to know a different crowd than they would see at parties and stuff."

But unless the bar scene improves in Harvard Square, many students will have to settle for less--like private parties or an Orangina at Au Bon Pain.