Best Restaurant / Bar for Large Nebulous Group on a Friday Night

[thievery]

Hi, I'm a NYC hound returning to my former home of Boston in a few weeks... looking for a restaurant / bar that would suit for a re-union of friends. Could be btwn 12 - 20 people who may arrive at different times. Looking for a place where we could get a long table, and late arrivals can hover around the table / bar, swap chairs etc without much hassle from the management. Drinks, festive vibe and being able to mingle amongst ourselves are the priority, so a formal resto is likely out, but a casual spot or a bar with decent food... pref along the red line in or near a square... any thoughts?

Friday night, so it's tough. I've read good things about temple bar in cambridge but that's booked. Used to love Franklin Cafe in south end and Dali in somerville but they're also tough on a Friday. Miracle of Science maybe too small to chance it.

Thanks for any help!

[thievery]

thanks everyone for your replies. we actually ended up off list at the new russell street tavern in harvard square. it's from the owners of temple bar and grafton street. they were very accommodating for our nebulous group in the downstairs lounge. some people ate. some only drank. and people showed up at diff times. flatbread pizza's were tasty and the burger was a good value given the size. rez for 16 ppl at 7pm on friday was easy to make on opentable and they didn't rush us... we held court till 11:30 or so. i suspect reservations will be harder to get (like temple bar) as word gets out.

[jody]

South End isn't the location you specified, but since you mentined the Franklin...Estragon on Harrison St. in the South End has a very long bar and a couple of large/long high top tables. Mostly tapas, which is good for grazing crowds. estragontapas.com

[thievery]

thanks for all the additional recommendations. calling some of them and will post back where we end up. we're staying at the liberty hotel, so may give reserving an area at their bar a try too... though i worry it may become to velvet rope douchey crowded on fridays for our mixed group of mostly 30-something, non-scenesters.

[Joanie]

Beacon St. Tavern has a back room that might work. Gaslight has a good amount of room. Neither on the red line tho. Orleans in Davis Sq. can be okay. Marliave, Kingston Station and Good Life downtown could probably work.

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Good Life
28 Kingston, Boston, MA 02111

Marliave
10 Bosworth Street, Boston, MA 02108

Kingston Station
25 Kingston St, Boston, MA 02111

[yumyum]

I've had this kind of nebulous fun at Green Street. Give Dylan Black a call and tell him what you're after and he may be kind enough to hold the table in the front near the bar for your group.

[Pemmican]

I might get boo'd for this but we have always had great luck with such flexible numbers/compositions at Flat Top Johnny's in Kendall. You could always have a pool table and one of their high-tops so peopel could mix it up a little bit. They have a surprisingly good array of nibble for vegetarians/omnivores alike and the staff is always super-accommodating.

[thievery]

thanks... i'll give green st a call tonite and see if they can accomodate... and tho i'm not sure pool playing is in the cards, will keep keep flat top's in mind as a backup.

[hckybg]

Since you like Miracle of Science, you might try Tory Row (owned by the same folks) in Harvard Square. They have long stand up/stool tables and while it is pretty popular I don't think it would be difficult to stake out a table that could hold changing numbers over the course of the evening. They have a nice beer selection and a good vibe.

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Tory Row
3 Brattle St, Cambridge, MA 02138