Downtown Crossing Area at Night?

[aregularjoe]

I find myself at Downtown Crossing on Thursday evenings and was wondering what folks might suggest for eats. Looking for good quality & value, not fancy. We eat everything.

I'm on School Street, and would like to keep it within a few blocks radius.

Number 9 park, Moo, ( both amazing) and Ruth's Chris ( beautiful space, overpriced food) are definitely out of the budget. The bar at the Parker House is overpriced for what it is. I heard that the Marliave has $1 oysters, but I have not been there since the mid 1970's.

Any thoughts?

[Bob Dobalina]

BTW, Marliave is owned by a completely different group than the one from the 1970s. VERY different today - you should definitely check it out.

[Felicity7]

163 Vietnamese at 66 Harrison Ave is a quick walk from DTX. They have banh mi, spring rolls, and boxed meals. Everything is less than $5 and they're open 'til 8PM

[aregularjoe]

Thanks!

[nightsky]

Barracuda Tavern. Very easy to miss/overlook, it's a second floor place that used to be a dive bar with an entry in the alley near Marliave.

They have decent pub food and a good selection of beer. I'm surprised it's not mentioned more here, it seems like a chow-ish place.

[aregularjoe]

Thanks! This sounds like what I am after. I'll try it next week and report back.

[nightsky]

There's also Scholar's, right near the vacated Border's building. Open until 2AM every day, which is unusual for Boston. Judging from the menu (i've never eaten there) it looks maybe a notch above Barracuda foodwise. Owners seem to be repositioning it more as a nightclub.

Those Hanks stories are pretty funny. Or scary.

[BrettLove]

And, lest that story sound like a tale from the Combat Zone 70's, that incident went down sometime in the late 90's! Hank's was indeed a true relic.

[total13]

I gotta nix Scholar's, one of my crappiest experiences in bar dining happened there, bad service and not so good food.

Wish I'd gone to Hank's but its replacement Barracuda is having a Living Special deal today.

[BrettLove]

Is that in the former Hank's? Oh. My. God. "Dive" really doesn't begin to describe that place. I've, as they say, been around the block, but... I was there once (Once!), and the bartender literally told me & my friend "We're closed." while we were mid-drink (i.e. he'd already served us), at 3 in the afternoon, after he received a call on the bar's pay phone (and, mind you, there was a regular phone behind the bar). We tipped up our beers (it struck us, at that partucular moment, in that particular setting, that arguing with this gentleman was not a viable option) and left. As we were standing out in front, digesting what just happened, the bartender exited the building with one of the three other patrons that were in the bar, leaving 2 customers behind (one was passed out, sprawled out over a table in the corner) and locked the doors. I drew my own conclusions as to what the bartender was "tending to", but that still remains one of my strangest, shadiest "hospitality industry" stories to date.

R.I.P. "Hank's [Place?]"

[9lives]

yes..Barracuda is in the former Hank's. There were usually at least 1 guy passsed out or knocked out there..a true dive bar.

I've had a beer at Barracuda but not eaten there yet. Fun looking casual place.

[bear]

Great story.

[Taralli]

Prices certainly look reasonable, but the Pulled "Port" Quesadilla is curious, lol.
http://www.barracudatavern.com/index....

[devilham]

For simple pub grub, Beantown Pub isn't awful...it's not great, but it's priced ok, and it has the bar standards, burgers, sandwiches, fries, and I do kind of like there hot dog plate. Fries are the frozen cisco coated ones, that I must admit are a guilty pleasure of mine, but realize they are not everyones cup of tea.

[aregularjoe]

Thanks for the suggestion...

[antimony]

...all of Chinatown is within a few blocks of Downtown Crossing?

[Allstonian]

Your replies to various suggestions imply that you have more specific criteria than you outlined in your original post. Can you give some details about your geographical and budget limits?

[aregularjoe]

Thanks to those who suggested Silvertones. Walked right by it a 100 times. Its open 'till 11Pm and the prices are right. I'll try it and see what I think.

[LeoLioness]

Silvertone.

[Gordough]

How about Chacaerro? I believe they are open until 7ish if not later. Or at least they used to be. Another option might be Scholars on School St.

[aregularjoe]

Great Idea but closes at 6PM

[Allstonian]

According to their website, Chacarero is only open until 6.

Sultan's Kitchen might be another option - their website doesn't have hours, but other hits on Google suggest they're open until 8:30 on weeknights. Probably best to give them a call to confirm.

[mkfisher]

Marliave, JM Curley's, Stoddard's and Petit Robert should all fit the bill.

[aregularjoe]

How about cheaper than those places? Pizza? Thai?

[Taralli]

Took Razdora off, as probably closes too early for you. Haven't been, but I see Thai Bistro: http://www.thaisbistro.com/. Montien Thai is over in the theater district.

[aregularjoe]

Thanks for the suggestions.

Casa Razdora is closes at 5PM. and is a bit to far away.

MonTien is possibility but is a bit further than I was hoping for. If I am going to walk this far I would likely head to chinatown for better value. I always thought this place was for tourists and suburban yahoo's going to the theater. Can anyone else speak for this place?

Just looked at the menu. $13 for Pad Thai. No Thanks!

[tysonmcneely]

If $13 is too much for you, you are looking at the Tri-factor of McD's, BK, and Wendy's. Wendy's new side dishes actually look pretty good...
$10 will get you Fries, hamburger and a drink at Uburger. If you go no fries, bring your own drink, maybe $6.

[aregularjoe]

Thank you for your positive contribution to the thread.

[tysonmcneely]

You are very welcome. As you can see, I'm not the only one that thought you were setting $13 as a price point. Also Uburger is a pretty good burger, which was been discussed a lot on this board. (I will admit there are varying opinions.)

I would suggest looking at the menu of JM Curley's, and if that is above your price point, there is also Sidebar, which I believe has 10 cent wings. (They are little mini wings though, and this deal may only be available at certain times.)

Please realize that you are setting a very specific set of Criteria, we are just trying to narrow down what you are looking for.

[9lives]

I think Montien is excellent; be sure to ask for the Thai menu. Items may be priced a little high. Dok Bua charges $11 for pad thai but the quality is there and I get takeout quite a bit from them, pretty fair sushi..not creative but traditional; good quality fish.

For pub type or apps, I like Max & Dylan's on West St..full disclosure..I'm in often enough that I'm friendly with staff and owners which may get a bigger drink than you but the food should be the same...crowded Thurs night

Cheaper options..Sal's Pizza on Tremont..no seating
Black Seed Cafe, also on Tremont..order at counter and take a seat. I like the grilled lamb or chix plates with salad and rice.

I'm also fan of JM Curley's, already mentioned...and if you want to spend a little more, I think Marliave, also mentioned is probably your best option in that area.

Back Deck to open shortly on West and Washington

Caution...I like Silvertones but it can get awfully busy on a Thurs night.

[mkfisher]

I'm sorry, but you honestly can't expect to find a good dinner in that neighborhood for much less than $13. I believe Hot Tomatoes stays open the latest of all the pizza places, but they close at 6.

[aregularjoe]

I did not set $13 as a price point. I said $13 was too much for pad thai.

What I said was: "Looking for good quality & value, not fancy"

[mkfisher]

You also said less expensive than Marliave, JM Curley's, Stoddard's and Petit Robert. All of those menus have stuff in the $13-15 range. That would imply you want something less expensive than $13-15 (unless I'm missing something).

[barleywino]

you can try the Pizzeria Regina's in South Station, but not sure how late they open. I happen to agree with mk that your response to Tyson's response was unnecessarily harsh considering he was trying to be helpful, not sarcastic

[Taralli]

Grotto, Teatro, Silvertone's, Marliave, Blue, Inc. ...