The Best Square Locales For a (Memorable) Drink

Here at Harvard, it is sometimes easier to go to a bar than go to the trouble of sneaking booze past your proctor and into your room. And right outside of your doorstep is a solid group of watering holes. So here is FM’s guide to the top places for getting shitty in the Square.

The Kong: The big, scary bouncers here are infamous; almost everyone has a Kong horror story, so don’t even bother trying to get in if you aren’t 21. If you can swing it, however, head upstairs to the bar for a legendary scorpion bowl. These things have produced memorable nights for many students (so memorable, in fact, that most of them can’t be remembered at all).

Uno’s: In the basement of this chain is a slightly seedy, totally college bar that is home to the ever-popular Monday night karaoke, which starts around 10 p.m. There is usually a bouncer on the stairs, but if you get there on the early side, you might miss him. If you’re drunk enough, the cheap bar food is amazing.

Tommy Doyle’s: Wednesday nights at this two-floor Irish bar are trivia nights. Go with a group and order a few pitchers; competing as a team is a fun way to bond and make friends. But bouncers are tough at Tommy’s, so beware.

Daedalus: The rooftop of this restaurant and bar is one of the best places in the Square to spend an evening or an afternoon when the weather is nice. Go for dinner or afternoon drinks and you will avoid the bouncers.

Charlie’s Beer Garden: Slightly divey and totally unpretentious, the Beer Garden is a rowdy and summery place to have a refreshing Hoegaarden while rubbing shoulders with a crowd that ranges from Law School students to sweet laxers. Watch out for the mice running through the stone walls.

Shay’s: This hole-in-the-wall attracts a slightly older crowd and the bouncers are tough, but Shay’s is an easy, no-frills place to grab a quick beer with a friend if you want to avoid any bar where groups of girls are downing Kamikaze shots.

Takemura/Shilla: Okay, neither of these are bars. They’re Japanese restaurants. But they are some of the top spots for freshman year memories for many students. Known for being easy on IDs, these two restaurants are the best places to go for sake bombing and sloppy group dinners.

Noir: For the sophisticated crowd willing to shell out a few more dollars on a pricey martini, Noir is a solid destination. Tucked into the Charles Hotel, Noir’s dark and trendy decor helps patrons forget that they’re in crunchy Cambridge. Ladies, watch out for skeevy suits in town for “business.”

Grafton Street: This restaurant and bar attracts one of the broadest ranges of patrons, so you never know who you will run into. The bouncers aren’t too tough and you can always go on the early side to avoid them altogether. Grafton is a great place to start the night with a round of shots or a Grafton Goblet, a slightly classier version of a scorpion bowl.

—Staff writer Julia M. Spiro can be reached at jspiro@fas.harvard.edu.

For more information on the ins and outs of Harvard life, visit the My First Year homepage.