Where to Drink in Washington Square

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Part of Food and Drink Crawls Through Boston and Beyond

Welcome back to Food Crawls (or in this case, Booze Crawls), a series in which Eater Boston staffers guide you (virtually) on various food and booze crawls in the Boston area.

When we go out, we often find ourselves wanting to try more than one restaurant (or bar) at a time — a drink and a snack here, another drink and perhaps a dessert there — and want to share our favorite multi-stop combinations with you. These crawls are meant to be relatively walkable, and the amount of food and drink is meant to correspond roughly to a couple of average appetites (so bring a friend), although your mileage may vary. Email us if there’s a particular theme, specific dish or drink, or neighborhood you’d like to see covered in a future installment.

Brookline’s Washington Square is a little less sexy than Coolidge Corner — there’s no Art Deco theater screening 70-millimeter prints of 2001: A Space Odyssey, and there’s no independent bookseller with a cellar full of rare used books, after all. But that doesn’t mean Washington Square isn’t worth a visit, especially if you’re looking to have a boozy night out.

If it’s a long and varied beer list you’re after, Washington Square’s got it. If it’s a classic cocktail in a dimly lit local haunt you’re after, Washington Square is also your ‘hood. And if you’re looking to dance the night away in the function hall of a Chinese restaurant that more closely resembles a club in a Las Vegas casino than it does a function hall of a Chinese restaurant, look no further.

Gather a crew, hop on the C line, and head to Washington Square this weekend.

Total stops: 4
Cheap domestic beers swilled: 0
Belgian beers swilled: At least one, folks
Mid-century-fever-dream Chinese restaurant dance halls patronized: Only one, but what a one
Distance traveled: An eighth of a mile, maybe?

Something Belgian at the Publick House

1648 Beacon St., Brookline, MA 02445

Stop at the Publick House first and pad the gut with some mussels (try the pot cooked with Fiddlehead IPA, which is a slightly funky American-style IPA brewed in Vermont.) Wash them down with something Belgian. The Taras Boulba is a good bet: It’s on the lighter side (4.5 percent ABV) as far as Belgian beers go, which is great because you should never go hard at the first stop on a night out.

The Mezcal Margarita at Burro Bar

1665 Beacon St., Brookline, MA 02445

A cocktail at Burro Bar Brookline — Pretty drinks, pretty bar

Cross Beacon Street and head to Burro Bar for tacos and a mezcal margarita. Stop number one is for easing yourself into night; stop number two is for something a little stronger. The mezcal margarita is effectively a mezcal gimlet, which is the best summer drink on planet earth.

A Classic Cocktail at the Washington Square Tavern

714 Washington St., Brookline, MA 02446

The Washington Square Tavern is a dictionary definition neighborhood joint. Its dimly lit ambiance makes diners and drinkers feel as though they’re in some quiet south coastal English pub. Get a classic cocktail here — which is to say, get a Sazerac — because the bartenders know what they’re doing.

Whatever You Want at Golden Temple

1651 Beacon St., Brookline, MA 02445

The Golden Temple is, sneakily, one of the best dance clubs in Greater Boston. When dinner service ends, the arched and faux-portholed auxiliary dining room to the left of the restaurant’s main dining room transforms into an ochre-washed mid-century dreamscape where hip hop and dance classics thump while twenty- and thirty-somethings who know where to go dance and drink the night away. This is the last stop, and you’re probably already feeling yourself by now, so drink whatever the hell you’d like. After you’re done, call a cab because you’re a responsible adult. But only after you luxuriate in the wonder that is the Golden Temple at midnight.

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