486341 Mon Feb 04 15:46:41 -0800 2008 8 12 Boston Area 0 3364882 Does anyone have any recommendations for a good place to go to watch the Super Tuesday results tomorrow night? Here are the criteria I'm hoping to find: 1) South End/Back Bay/Copley/Cambridge 2) A large enough bar where at least 3-4 people could sit, drink good beer on tap/cocktails, have a nice casual dinner and watch the results pour in. 3) Casual dinner: small plates, large appetizer menu [maybe something in the menu price range of Pops, Gaslight or something like that]. 4) I'm having trouble thinking of places in these locations that have TVs. What are your favorite places to eat at the bar? 5) Hoping to find a liberally minded crowd [I know, that shouldn't be too difficult in Boston] but would welcome some healthy political debate as well! Thanks, much appreciated! Mon Feb 04 15:46:41 -0800 2008 163373 brigong 1 3366367 West side lounge has two small TVs at the bar, and I bet you could talk them into turning them to CNN or whatever. Great cocktails, excellent food (although a little off this weekend from their usual high standard. Not bad, but not as good as usual), friendly as you want bartending. Maybe not the focus on small plates that you'd like, but plenty of apps and mains to share. Highland Kitchen (Somerville) has larger TVs and not quite as good food (IMHO after only one visit), but still very good. Many other options too. See http://www.chowhound.com/topics/485112 for example. Tue Feb 05 08:00:38 -0800 2008 3364882 17233 DavisSquare 2 3366419 Wow Davis I'm surprised that you favor the food at WSL over Highland Kitchen. Has it improved considerably lately? I stopped going after a couple of grim dining experiences, but that was over a year ago. Do tell. Tue Feb 05 08:15:08 -0800 2008 3366367 10232 yumyum 3 3366712 With the caveats that I've only been to Highland Kitchen once, and it was a crazy busy Saturday (or maybe Friday) night, and that our WSL stop this weekend was not as good as it has been in the (recent) past, yes. I think I've said this a couple of times before, but my history with WSL is long. Many years ago (like 5, wow I'm getting old) we had a good friend who was an RA at the dorms on Walker St. and who was often restricted to a few block radius. As you can imagine, we went to WSL a lot and loved it. The friend moved away, and the WSL food declined in quality and we stopped going. Maybe 4 months ago, we went back and had a fantastic meal which I wrote about here: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/448561 We've since been back three or four times, and this weekend was the first disappointment we've had (too much vinegar in the salad and too much wasabi in the potatoes, each dominated all other flavors; aviator really excellent, mojito slightly sub-par with not enough mint or lime or sugar for that matter). So, if you haven't been in the past year or so, you might want to give it another try, it has improved significantly since two years ago. They also seem to have fixed the loudness problem they had when we first went there (http://www.chowhound.com/topics/148045 whew, that's old). On the down side, they don't have the ice cream sandwiches any more... I do need to get back to Highland Kitchen. Trying to remember from a few weeks ago: salad (no idea which one) was fine, no better, and bluefish cakes quite good though a bit one-dimensional (smoked flavor). I think I had a third app, but I can't remember what. I do need to get back and try again, maybe when it's a bit calmer on a weeknight. Tue Feb 05 09:24:47 -0800 2008 3366419 17233 DavisSquare 4 3366725 Thanks. That's very helpful. Let's make a deal. You try HK again and I'll give WSL another go and we'll meet back here in a week. :-) Tue Feb 05 09:27:00 -0800 2008 3366712 10232 yumyum 1 3369392 A friend and I ended up at Green Street, which was thoughtful enough to turn on CNN in the bar. Yes, they have a TV and yes, practically everyone was glued to it. To start, we ordered the house cure - chorizo over polenta - I found the polenta gummy, but my friend liked it; chorizo was ok, but not spicy enough for me. We also both had the chowder - it's as good as everyone reports. A side of brussel sprouts and bacon was excellent as has already been reported here. We also had a mushroom tart over dandelion greens that was quite nice - crispy yet yielding crust, creamy and earthy cheese & mushrooms, vinegary greens. To drink, friend stuck with the gruner vetliner and I had: a Phipp's Fizz (I took many cues from Joanie's recent post and this was an excellent suggestion); a Sezerac (fat tuesday and all); and a gin & lemon surprise from Misty, the bartender, for dessert. I wish I could remember the name of it. Misty kept the Louisiana tunes playing all night, bar filled up around 7 and some folks even stood in front of the TV to watch the returns. Overall, a great way to watch the Super Tuesday results and celebrate Mardi Gras, just a little bit. Wed Feb 06 05:55:36 -0800 2008 3364882 15217 gini 2 3369594 I was surprised to read they have a TV -- I really didn't recall that. finlero isn't on crack after all! Food sounds great and cocktails even better. I was couch-bound biting my fingernails until midnight. Wed Feb 06 07:16:16 -0800 2008 3369392 10232 yumyum 3 3369762 I actually cited Green Street's bar in a Dig piece as one of my favorite places to watch a Sox game and get better-than-sports-bar food. Only one TV, not the most strategically placed, but I like the fact that it's not generally a hardcore baseball crowd there. Wed Feb 06 07:59:36 -0800 2008 3369594 10143 MC Slim JB 2 3369751 Well yes, the polenta was gummy, but the practically 1-1-1 ratio of butter-cheese-polenta made me more forgiving. Mmmmm butter. The chorizo was definitely not spicy. I was expecting portobello mushrooms on the tart, as is typical, but was pleasantly surprised to be wrong (but I don't know what kinds were used). The flavor was great overall. I want to go back to try more of the "snacks". The marinated olives that the couple next to us ordered turned out to be a generous portion. The offal was also decent-sized. So often "snacks" are literally 1 bite - all of the snacks I saw were definitely share-able, while definitely not app sized. Wed Feb 06 07:57:50 -0800 2008 3369392 113090 laura jean