Best Urban & Fun Date Ideas: Boston Part II
Welcome back to Urban Dating: Easy & fun date ideas from urban experts!
Here is the continued series from MC Slim JB. If things went well on your first date, here’s some fun date ideas for a second one!
Second Date: Drinks at The Hawthorne, dinner at Island Creek Oyster Bar, nightcap at Eastern Standard Kitchen & Drinks. A bit pricier of an evening out. Best to choose a night when the Red Sox aren’t playing at nearby Fenway Park.
I’m a craft-cocktail nerd, love the handful of bars in Boston that take their inspiration from the star bartenders of the pre-Prohibition period, carefully making serious, often complex drinks that are unusual to many modern drinkers but delicious. The Hawthorne is one of Boston’s best in this style, a charmingly decorated space (like a friend’s cool apartment) in the basement of Kenmore Square’s Hotel Commonwealth. Turn right through the unmarked door just inside the hotel’s main entrance, have the hosts seat you at a couch, table or the bar, and order something off the specialty cocktail menu and maybe one of their fine little bar snacks, like a fresh-baked soft pretzel or spicy whipped ricotta to spread on baguette rounds.
Then head upstairs to Island Creek Oyster Bar, one of the city’s very best New England seafood restaurants. It features an astonishing raw bar and exceptional renditions of shore-food classics like fried clams and lobster rolls, as well as more sophisticated seafood dishes like lobster-roe noodles with lobster and short ribs.
For a nightcap, you needn’t leave the hotel: just mosey over to Eastern Standard Kitchen & Drinks, a big, lively brasserie-style space. The bar programs at all three of these venues are managed by Boston bar superstar Jackson Cannon, so the cocktails, wines and beers at each are superb.
Second Date Recommendation by MC Slim JB
- The Hawthorne, 500A Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 617.532.9150
- Island Creek Oyster Bar, 500 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 617.532.5300
- Eastern Standard Kitchen & Drinks, 528 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 617.532.9100
Thanks MC Slim JB for your simple & fun date ideas! Keep an eye out for more of our urban experts best date tips on our CMB Blog!
Check out more of MC Slim JB’s reviews on his blog & follow him on Twitter for updates @mcslimjb.
