BostonNOW Ran my Pub Review

[cemeterygates.livejournal.com]

I've been submitting to the local BostonNOW paper these last few months and they ran my little review of Sligo Pub in this morning's edition. Here's the original submission, before the editors censored my gritty description of the townies:

Get Your Dive On: Sligo Pub

You’ll either love Sligo or you’ll hate it. It’s somewhat creepy that this old-school bar exists in the middle of Davis Square, arguably the most yuppie place on earth, and perhaps that’s why it seems like such a refuge. This is not a hip rockabilly pretending-to-be-a-dive-bar, it’s the real deal. You’ll find a handful of aging townies drinking themselves to death between their insulin shots, and they’ll get the first service from the bartend, but they’ve earned it. If you want to go in solo, frontload the juke with Johnny Cash, and sigh into your three buck beer on a Monday afternoon, I highly recommend Sligo Pub, 237 Elm Street in Davis Square.

Comments

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Congrats on getting published!

Interestingly, though, every time I've popped into Sligo, I've found it infested with apparent frat-boy types. I wonder if it's a night-of-the-week thing.

[cemeterygates.livejournal.com]

They tend to overflow into Sligo on night's when Joshua Tree is full or there's "a game on." But most of the time it's just the regulars.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

The funny thing is that the first time I went in there, it was in the hopes of finding precisely what you describe, so it was certainly disappointing.

I know I'm in the minority in this lj-comm, but I love Mike's as a neighborhood bar. For $5, I can get french fries, a (good) beer, and friendly faces without blaring music. While it's not something I do often, I appreciate that they are there. The owner is also always super-friendly to me, to the point that when I was watching the game from the sidewalk (inside it was packed), he came out to chat...

...and since it was a weekend, asked me why I wasn't on a date or with my sweetie. I'm not even sure he remembers me specifically, either, since I could swear we'd had that same exchange before.

Luckily, he came off as more sweet than creepy when he once again expressed his shock over my singlehood. (But hey, while you're at it, why not just give me a paper cut and pour lemon juice in it?)

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

People are usually surprised to hear this, but the bar at Orleans is pretty neighborhood-y. On many nights, 7 out of 10 people you'll talk to there grew up in Somerville (and so did their parents). It's also a great place to watch "the game" -- they have a bunch on TV's, every satellite package imaginable, and are usually ammenable to putting your game on.

Just pimpin' the bar, as usual :).

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

I do like Orleans and have certainly enjoyed my times there. Though once I even went there to watch a game but ended up leaving because even though it was on, nobody was actually watching it.

But I'd be happy to go back. Are you offering a free drink? ;)

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

ahh...pheromone, you're my kind of individual. Will you marry me?

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

That depends. Can you support me in the lifestyle to which I have become accustomed?

Either way, no sex until I get a dinner.

[ron_newman]

That's what Mike's felt like when I went there to watch the end of ALDS Game 3 Sunday night.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

I adore Mike's as a game-watching spot, but it's always felt more townie than college-y to me. (As compared to, say, Joshua Tree, which I want to like, but just don't.)

Mike's also has that guy who (at least in the post-season) is always there wearing the opposing team's jersey. :)

[ron_newman]

I was standing outside Mike's, looking through the window at the TV, when some guy at a table invited me to join his group. I regretted doing so after a few minutes, as they were loud, rowdy, not really paying much attention to the game, and came close to being thrown out by the management.

[aki.livejournal.com]

I think the townie-ness of Mike's is part of it's charm. Hee.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Oh, I agree and that was the point I was trying to make. (See my other Mike's comment. :) That first "but" should have been an "and" -- it was to respond to Ron's comment about it being fratboy-infested.

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

I agree--it's not really what it was 5 years ago.

[komos.livejournal.com]

You mean the gaggles of hipsters who visit what used to be just a solid neighborhood pub so they can have a "genuine dive bar" experience?

Yeah.

Um.

Yeah.

[cemeterygates.livejournal.com]

Hipsters and frat boys aren't even close to the same thing. I've never seen any hipsters at Sligo, just a bit of collegiate overflow from Joshua Tree, etc. ::shrug::

[komos.livejournal.com]

I must go to a different bar.

[ron_newman]

If you want a genuine dive bar I think you have to get away from Davis Square (and not to Union Square, either).

[cemeterygates.livejournal.com]

Very true, but it's the closest you'll get around these parts, and I like it. A bar I'm comfortable going to alone just just have a quick drink for under five bucks and reflect on my day with sticky carved up tables and an iota of truth left to it.

[komos.livejournal.com]

I think that was my point. The Sligo has become something of a tourist destination, and no genuine dive is going to have reviews written about it.

[cemeterygates.livejournal.com]

I've been to dive bars all over the US and I always mention them online because some of us who actually aren't hipsters or tourists really appreciate them from an Americana standpoint. Like the rare un-reviewed Diner, you know?

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

My favorite Boston-area dive bar is The Tam, down on Tremont Street. It's great to be able to get cheap drinks in the theatre district. Their jukebox is heavy-metal-heavy and is perfectly out-of-date, not intentionally retro. Try the place if you haven't yet. :-)

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

I love The Tam. I miss the pennies.

[komos.livejournal.com]

Tell me... do you think the regulars/"townies" concern themselves with concepts like authenticity and Americana?

[capt-morrison.livejournal.com]

I'm dubious that there's anyone on this list who'd *really* want to be in a *real* dive bar. Those places are really just filled with a bunch of drunks.

[agharta75.livejournal.com]

There's always Malden or Everett ...