Baseball lovers flock to Boston looking to get a glimpse of Fenway Park, the enduring edifice that has housed the storied and beloved Boston Red Sox franchise since 1912. Unfortunately, for many of those starry-eyed hardball lovers, a glimpse is all they’re likely to get, as recent years have found the Sox saddled with a greater curse than anything “the Bambino” could’ve dreamed up: the curse of popularity. Securing a ticket for one of Fenway’s 38,800-some odd seats is no easy task, and if the idea of bartering your firstborn to a ticket scalper doesn’t appeal to you, you’ll likely be looking for someplace else to watch the Sox take on their latest opponent. Fortunately, in the ever-growing, rejuvenated Fenway neighborhood, baseball is king, and there’s a large number of quality options where you can get your Sox on.
GAME
ON!
82 Lansdowne St., 617-351-7001 You can’t get
much closer to seeing a game at Fenway then
at Game On!, which is actually in Fenway—or
at least attached to the front of it. Opened
in 2005, Game On! is the new kid on the
block, and is a departure from the
wood-paneled, meat-and-potatoes sports bar
of Boston’s past. With its light, airy and
open upstairs dining room and its sleek,
dark downstairs that resembles a nightclub,
the environments at Game On! offer different
appeals to the ever-diversifying
demographics of Red Sox Nation. During big
series, it’s nearly as hard to get into as
the park itself, with a line outside that
sometimes stretches around to the Fenway
ticket office. But once you’re in, Game On!
boasts yummy upscale takes on ballpark food
(hot dogs, sandwiches, brick oven pizzas)
and pretty much unlimited views of the
game—seriously, just try and find a place
other than the bathrooms without a TV in
plain view (and even the bathrooms have the
game audio pumped in!). After the game—when
Sox fans finally stop fixating on the game
and start checking out members of the
opposite sex—it’s a prime spot for Sox fans
to find the ideal partner for their own
double-play combination.
THE BASEBALL
TAVERN
1270 Boylston St., 617-867-6526 Inside
Fenway Park, the seats high above the action
atop the famed Green Monster are the most
coveted vantage points for checking out the
Sox. Outside Fenway, the Baseball Tavern’s
roofdeck has to take the prize—located just
a couple of blocks from Fenway, the roofdeck
(complete with Fenway scoreboard replica) is
the pride and joy of the tavern’s new
location, which it moved into this year. The
spacious new digs (multiple levels,
including a game-room basement) mean that
more Sox fans can check out the Sox here
than they ever could at the old
location—which achieved local fame in 2003
when Sox players including Kevin Millar and
Derek Lowe sprinted in (in full uniform)
moments after clinching a playoff spot and
proceeded to pour drinks for happy Sox fans.
Atop the Baseball Tavern, you can’t quite
see into Fenway Park, but it’s the best way
we know to feel close to the game while you
sip a cocktail and cheer on the team.
CASK
’N FLAGON
62 Brookline Ave., 617-536-4840
Few Fenway area hotspots can boast that they
not only hosted fans rooting for David Ortiz
and Manny Ramirez when the Sox won the World
Series in 2004, but also fans cheering on
Pedro Martinez’s one-hitter against the
Yankees in 1999, or Roger Clemens’ first
20-strikeout game in 1986, or Carlton Fisk’s
famed foul pole homer in 1975. “The Cask”
has seen all those moments and more since
opening in 1969 (as Oliver’s). Owned by the
Van Fleet family for decades, this classic
neighborhood bar has been Ground Zero for
generations of the most fervent Sox fans
thanks to its close proximity to the park
and its unabashed spirit of homerism. This
year, the former delightfully divey saloon
got a big-time facelift—including outdoor
seating, raised ceilings, massive
top-to-bottom bay windows opening up a view
of Fenway Park and bustling Lansdowne
Street, more tables and a lot more TVs (more
than 50, including six 12-foot projection
TVs, 42 and 50-inch plasmas, and even TVs in
the bathrooms—take that, Game On!). It’s
consistently packed on game days, so if you
want to settle in for the long haul and
watch a game, get there at about 5 p.m. for
a 7:05 start. For those who aren’t into
baseball… well, we question why you’re at
the Cask in the first place, but there is a
new back room complete with dance floor, DJs
and the occasional live band, making Cask N’
Flagon a hit with just about anyone—with the
possible exception, of course, of Yankees
fans.
EASTERN STANDARD
528 Commonwealth Ave., 617-532-9100 A decade
ago, planning to meet someone for dinner in
Kenmore Square probably meant 1 a.m. bacon
and eggs at the late, great Deli Haus. Now,
however, Kenmore Square is more than just a
subway stop for the Fenway faithful—it’s
home to a growing number of trendy bars and
restaurants, with Eastern Standard setting,
well, the standard in that regard. The
restaurant—which boasts a fancy dining room
anchored by a central 46-foot marble bar and
outdoor patio seating that puts you in the
middle of pre-game excitement—serves a
diverse menu of gourmet dishes and simpler
sandwiches, and attracts a refined rather
than rowdy crowd. Still, if you show up with
your party hoping to watch the Sox game, you
won’t be disappointed—two 40-inch HDTVs can
make even an upscale spot like ES seem as
close to the action as being in the
bleachers. (But without the guy spilling
beer down your back.)
BOSTON BEER
WORKS
61 Brookline Ave., 617-536-BEER Enjoying a
beer at the ballpark is a tried-and-true
baseball tradition. But even a one-of-a-kind
hardball haven like Fenway Park tends to be
somewhat limited and unimaginative in its
brew offerings. If your’re a beer
connoisseur, getting shut out of Fenway
could be the best thing that ever happened
to you—if you have the presence of mind to
stroll across Brookline Avenue to the Boston
Beer Works, where you can sample any of more
than a dozen specialty beers brewed on the
premises. For the summer, BBW breaks out its
Watermelon Ale, medium-bodied Summerworks
Ale, the crisp Patriot Pilsner and others to
complement an extensive and delicious food
menu (try any of the eight different
varieties of French fries—you can’t go
wrong). Best of all, it’s equal parts
restaurant and bar, and low on the drunken
fanboy contingent, so it’s one of the better
options for families visiting the Fenway.
One word of warning: you may want to take a
page from the old folks and “early-bird
special” it if you want to get a table
(think 4:30 or 5 p.m. for a 7:05 night
game), or you can expect a table wait of
more than an hour.
THE LINWOOD
GRILL
81 Kilmarnock St., 617-247-8099 Bostonians
generally omit the “grill” when talking
about this hangout tucked comfortably a few
streets away from Fenway Park—it’s just “The
Linwood,” thanks very much. The crowd here
is a bit older and more laid-back than the
throngs found at establishments closer to
the park—folks who actually live in the
Fenway or are season ticketholders who know
they can stroll right into the park after
they enjoy a pre-game nosh on delicious
barbecue and eclectic appetizers like fried
stuffed olives or crawfish gumbo. The
Linwood is also popular with the rock ’n’
roll crowd because of its intimate club side
where raucous local acts kick out the jams
well after the bottom of the ninth.
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