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A scorpion bowl at Golden Temple in Brookline

20 Giant Boston-Area Cocktails to Share With Friends

From scorpion bowls to mai tai buckets

by Rachel Leah Blumenthal@blumie Updated Oct 29, 2019, 1:13pm EDT

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A scorpion bowl at Golden Temple in Brookline

| Golden Temple/Facebook

by Rachel Leah Blumenthal@blumie Updated Oct 29, 2019, 1:13pm EDT

Some people prefer to keep their cocktails to themselves, while others truly appreciate the joy of sharing a giant drink with friends. For those who enjoy sharing, here are some of the most fun Boston-area cocktails meant to be split among two or more drinkers, from classic Hong Kong and Kowloon scorpion bowls to Howl at the Moon’s boozy buckets. Drink responsibly — and don’t let your eyebrows get too close to flaming rum.

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Kowloon

It’s a bit of a geographic outlier on this particular map, but Kowloon out in Saugus is a necessary scorpion bowl destination on the North Shore. The decades-old kitschy landmark is a palace of tiki drinks, fountains, parties, and comedy, with a humongous menu of Chinese, Thai, and Japanese food. You can even buy your own bowl for making giant cocktails at home.

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948 Broadway, Saugus, MA 01906

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Exterior view of a restaurant with a large A-frame entrance and red signage — Kowloon

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Where to Find Tiki Drinks Around Boston

Variety Bar

Variety Bar is part of the Comedy Studio at Somerville’s Bow Market, supplying tasty beverages to those attending a show at the Studio as well as any other Bow Market goers wandering in. The two scorpion bowl options are priced at $25 and $30, with the former nodding to the Hong Kong classic (check that out elsewhere on this map) and made with “rums, juice, and nostalgia.” The latter adds cognac and orgeat. For anyone craving the fun of a scorpion bowl without the booze, there’s also the pseudoscorpion for $14 — citrus shrub, orgeat, and sparkling water.

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1 Bow Market Way, Somerville, MA 02143

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A large wooden bowl is full of booze, with a flame coming out of the top. There are five straws with different colored stripes in it. — A scorpion bowl at Variety Bar

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Highland Fried

It’s always a party at Inman Square’s home for tiki drinks and fried chicken, Highland Fried. The restaurant’s scorpion bowl ($30), with the standard flaming center, promises to “rock ya like a hurricane.”

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1271 Cambridge St, Cambridge, MA 02139

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The exterior of a restaurant with red and light blue paint and neon signage reading “cocktails.” Cursive letters spell out the restaurant’s name, Highland Fried. — Highland Fried

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Hong Kong

The Hong Kong is an experience. Open in Harvard Square since 1954 and at Faneuil Hall since 1988, the two family-run venues are a rite of passage for area college students and anyone else who likes karaoke, dancing, ultra-cheap Chinese-American appetizers, and — most importantly — scorpion bowls. (The Hong Kong even calls itself “home of the bowl.”) Curious about the ingredients? It’s “a secret family recipe of alcohol and juices.” Comes in a personal size, too.

1238 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02138

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Scorpion bowl at the Hong Kong

Casa Caña

Allston’s newest rum bar features a couple cocktails geared at groups of four or more people ($72). There’s the mambo Italiano (Bacardi Cuatro, Redemption Rye, Zucca, lemon, honey, bubbly, mint, blackberries) and the hotel nacional (Havana Club Classico, apricot, pineapple, lime, bubbly). Cozy up inside the brightly colored space on a cool night, or take advantage of nicer weather on the spacious courtyard patio.

1234 Soldiers Field Rd, Boston, MA 02135

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An elegant glass punch bowl is filled with a light yellow cocktail garnished with orchid petals. A few cocktail glasses surround the bowl, and a hand reaches in with a metal ladle. — A punch bowl at Casa Caña

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A4cade

Cambridge’s fun cocktail-bar-meets-arcade, A4cade, offers an extra-large version of several of its cocktails, including the “beach better have my mango” (a mango rum blend with vanilla, cinnamon, allspice, citrus, and bitters) and “land shark!” (Privateer Tiki Gin, apple brandy, aged rum, sherry, blue curacao, passionfruit, and lime), $28 each. Grab some friends, play some games, and share some booze.

292 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139

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A Doctor Who-inspired Tardis drinking vessel with bendy straws and figurines coming out of it. — A4cade has fun glassware

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Tiki Rock

Tiki Rock, one of Boston’s most overtly tiki-themed bars, has a couple of big, shareable drinks to go with its colorful, energetic space: a painkiller and the Ohana punch, $60 each for a four-person serving.

2 Broad St, Boston, MA 02109

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A big shareable cocktail is served in a giant bowl with lots of colorful straws, citrus slices, and orchids — A shareable cocktail at Tiki Rock

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Where to Find Tiki Drinks Around Boston

Howl at the Moon

Sing and dance at this boisterous piano bar while drinking literal buckets of cocktails — including hurricanes, mai tais, mules, and more — with your friends.

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184 High St, Boston, MA 02110

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A large plastic bucket is filled with a bright blue cocktail. A label that says “Welcome to the show!” is plastered on the bucket. — The adios mofo bucket at Howl at the Moon

Yvonne's

Swanky Downtown Crossing cocktail den Yvonne’s serves a couple of large-format cocktails ($95 apiece) meant for groups of four or more, including the “lil’ Sebastian” (a spicy tequila and grapefruit concoction) and the “Miami vice” (rums, pineapple, coconut, strawberry, and lime).

2 Winter Pl, Boston, MA 02108

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A large-format cocktail is served in an elegant glass vessel with a spout on a white tablecloth-covered table in a dimly lit restaurant. There are citrus slices in the drink, and pineapple leaves are coming out of the top of it. — A large-format cocktail at Yvonne’s

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Scorpion Bar

It would be a bit of a missed opportunity if a club called Scorpion Bar didn’t serve scorpion bowls. Part of the Big Night Entertainment Group, the giant Seaport District nightclub and Mexican restaurant (and its siblings at Foxwoods and Patriot Place) serves three varieties ($55), including a giant margarita and a cocktail that combines Grey Goose and ginger beer with Lejay Blackcurrant Liqueur and sour. Two other Big Night Entertainment Group venues, Red Lantern and Empire, also serve a few oversized cocktails apiece, including the Samoan shipwreck at Red Lantern (Avion Silver, Bacardi Pineapple, lime, and fruit juices; $70) and the big kahuna at Empire (Grey Goose, watermelon punch, mint, and ginger; $80).

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58 Seaport Blvd #200, Boston, MA 02210

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A bartender holds a pink scorpion bowl in a giant glass. It has two straws coming out of it. — Scorpion bowl at Scorpion Bar Patriot Place

Kings Dining & Entertainment

Scorpion Bar isn’t the only Seaport destination for giant cocktails. Kings Dining & Entertainment, which features bowling and lots more, knows that pitchers of cocktails pair well with games. While it has offered a few different options in the past, Kings is currently keeping it simple with a one-and-a-half-gallon mai tai ($70).

60 Seaport Blvd, Boston, MA 02210

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Two clear glass pitchers are full of cocktails — one a pale green, one bright orange — Cocktail pitchers at Kings

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Shōjō

In a wink to the tradition of “cold tea” — restaurants serving booze later than they’re supposed to by hiding it in a teapot — Shōjō serves up a cocktail called cold tea for two (during legal hours, of course) in a classic Chinese restaurant teapot and little cups ($20). It’s oolong tea-infused vodka, Peche de Vigne, oolong syrup, and lemon.

9 Tyler St, Boston, MA 02111

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The interior of a restaurant called Shojo, with a wooden bar and high-top tables visible, as well as some bare lightbulbs — Shōjō

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Blue Dragon

At Ming Tsai’s Fort Point restaurant, diners can share a couple of different cocktails with friends ($28 apiece): the scorpion bowl-like dragon bowl and a painkiller.

324 A St, Boston, MA 02210

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A dimly lit wooden bar at a restaurant — Blue Dragon

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Bootleg Special

Dinner at Bootleg Special is already going to be sloppy — you’ll be digging into saucy, spicy seafood with your hands — so why not add a big, shareable bowl of booze to the mix? Two to four people can share the South End restaurant’s hurricane bowl (passionfruit and lemon rums, juices, and pomegranate liqueur), yellowhammer bowl (Kalani Coconut Rum, Effen Blood Orange Vodka, pineapple, El Dorado Spiced Rum), and more at $28 for the two-person size or $58 for four.

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400 Tremont St, Boston, MA 02116

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Overhead view of a table crowded with seafood dishes and a giant shareable pink cocktail with six colorful straws coming up out of it. — A punch bowl at Bootleg Special

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Shore Leave

One of several tiki bars on this map, Shore Leave — from the team behind Bar Mezzana across the street — serves cocktails in creative glassware, topped with colorful garnishes, making for a festive night out. The current large-format cocktail selection includes a drink for two ($28), served in a volcano, and a couple options for larger groups, including the “rule 35,” a variation on a Trader Vic’s fog cutter for four people ($70).

11 William E Mullins Way, Boston, MA 02118

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A shareable cocktail is served in a tiki volcano vessel with a flame coming out of the top and a giant sprig of mint leaves — “Takes two to mango” cocktail at Shore Leave (not on the current menu)

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Hojoko

O Ya’s funky younger Fenway sibling, Hojoko, is a great spot for a noisy group outing — share some karaage fried chicken, robata grilled chicken tails, and crispy nori tacos with your friends; try the wasabi roulette, if you dare; and wash it all down with one of the “for the band” drinks, which are filled with rum and built for parties of four or more. Prices range from $75 to $95, topping out with the royal waioli punch: Plantation O.F.T.D., Plantation Barbados Rum, guava, lemon, pineapple, cherry, almond, coconut, Angostura bitters, and champagne. There’s also a two-person scorpion bowl for $28.

1271 Boylston St, Boston, MA 02215

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Four hands grab pink straws leading to a big glass of a shared pink cocktail, garnished with orchids. A bottle of champagne is tipped into the glass. — The royal waioli punch at Hojoko

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Tiger Mama

While the food menu at Tiger Mama looks toward Southeast Asia, the cocktail menu goes tiki, and there are a few large-format options at a range of prices and sizes. For example, there’s the “Sanka, ya dead?” — it serves four or five people ($60) and includes rums, hibiscus cordial, cinnamon, allspice, pineapple, and lime, but there’s also the galleon for $120, containing rum, passionfruit, guava, amontillado, chartreuse, and cava, serving six.

1363 Boylston St, Boston, MA 02215

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A giant pirate ship holds a shareable cocktail. It sits on a wooden table in front of a leaf-covered wall. — The galleon at Tiger Mama

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Ginger Exchange

At Ginger Exchange’s Symphony location, diners can share scorpion bowls, mai tais, and more by the bucket ($26, meant for three or more people). There are also two-person versions for $19. Try them out in conjunction with the restaurant’s happy hour food specials at the bar and high-top tables, available between 3 and 5:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. to close every day.

250 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115

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A brightly lit restaurant interior with orange walls and a marble-covered bar with white high-top chairs — Ginger Exchange Symphony

Golden Temple

If there’s one reliable genre of restaurants in which to find scorpion bowls, it’s old-school Chinese restaurants. The decades-old Golden Temple is no exception. The Brookline restaurant — which turns into a club on weekend nights — serves up a long list of boozy, fruity cocktails, including scorpion bowls (which also come in an individual size).

1651 Beacon St, Brookline, MA 02445

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A large glass holds a one-person portion of a scorpion bowl. It sits on a marble bar with red neon lighting visible in the background. — The scorpion bowl for one at Golden Temple is still pretty substantial

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Fat Baby

South Boston’s adorably named Fat Baby — which has ties to other neighborhood hot spots Lincoln Tavern and Capo — serves plenty of sushi, alongside a cocktail menu that includes a scorpion bowl ($45), meant for two to four people. (There’s also a porron of sake available for $40.)

118 Dorchester St, Boston, MA 02127

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A scorpion bowl is garnished with orchids and colorful cocktail umbrellas — Scorpion bowl at Fat Baby

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Kowloon

948 Broadway, Saugus, MA 01906

It’s a bit of a geographic outlier on this particular map, but Kowloon out in Saugus is a necessary scorpion bowl destination on the North Shore. The decades-old kitschy landmark is a palace of tiki drinks, fountains, parties, and comedy, with a humongous menu of Chinese, Thai, and Japanese food. You can even buy your own bowl for making giant cocktails at home.

Open in Google Maps

948 Broadway, Saugus, MA 01906

Visit Website

Exterior view of a restaurant with a large A-frame entrance and red signage — Kowloon

Variety Bar

1 Bow Market Way, Somerville, MA 02143

Variety Bar is part of the Comedy Studio at Somerville’s Bow Market, supplying tasty beverages to those attending a show at the Studio as well as any other Bow Market goers wandering in. The two scorpion bowl options are priced at $25 and $30, with the former nodding to the Hong Kong classic (check that out elsewhere on this map) and made with “rums, juice, and nostalgia.” The latter adds cognac and orgeat. For anyone craving the fun of a scorpion bowl without the booze, there’s also the pseudoscorpion for $14 — citrus shrub, orgeat, and sparkling water.

Open in Google Maps

1 Bow Market Way, Somerville, MA 02143

Visit Website

A large wooden bowl is full of booze, with a flame coming out of the top. There are five straws with different colored stripes in it. — A scorpion bowl at Variety Bar

Highland Fried

1271 Cambridge St, Cambridge, MA 02139

It’s always a party at Inman Square’s home for tiki drinks and fried chicken, Highland Fried. The restaurant’s scorpion bowl ($30), with the standard flaming center, promises to “rock ya like a hurricane.”

Open in Google Maps

1271 Cambridge St, Cambridge, MA 02139

Visit Website

The exterior of a restaurant with red and light blue paint and neon signage reading “cocktails.” Cursive letters spell out the restaurant’s name, Highland Fried. — Highland Fried

Hong Kong

1238 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02138

The Hong Kong is an experience. Open in Harvard Square since 1954 and at Faneuil Hall since 1988, the two family-run venues are a rite of passage for area college students and anyone else who likes karaoke, dancing, ultra-cheap Chinese-American appetizers, and — most importantly — scorpion bowls. (The Hong Kong even calls itself “home of the bowl.”) Curious about the ingredients? It’s “a secret family recipe of alcohol and juices.” Comes in a personal size, too.

1238 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02138

Visit Website

Scorpion bowl at the Hong Kong

Casa Caña

1234 Soldiers Field Rd, Boston, MA 02135

Allston’s newest rum bar features a couple cocktails geared at groups of four or more people ($72). There’s the mambo Italiano (Bacardi Cuatro, Redemption Rye, Zucca, lemon, honey, bubbly, mint, blackberries) and the hotel nacional (Havana Club Classico, apricot, pineapple, lime, bubbly). Cozy up inside the brightly colored space on a cool night, or take advantage of nicer weather on the spacious courtyard patio.

1234 Soldiers Field Rd, Boston, MA 02135

Visit Website

An elegant glass punch bowl is filled with a light yellow cocktail garnished with orchid petals. A few cocktail glasses surround the bowl, and a hand reaches in with a metal ladle. — A punch bowl at Casa Caña

A4cade

292 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139

Cambridge’s fun cocktail-bar-meets-arcade, A4cade, offers an extra-large version of several of its cocktails, including the “beach better have my mango” (a mango rum blend with vanilla, cinnamon, allspice, citrus, and bitters) and “land shark!” (Privateer Tiki Gin, apple brandy, aged rum, sherry, blue curacao, passionfruit, and lime), $28 each. Grab some friends, play some games, and share some booze.

292 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139

Visit Website

A Doctor Who-inspired Tardis drinking vessel with bendy straws and figurines coming out of it. — A4cade has fun glassware

Tiki Rock

2 Broad St, Boston, MA 02109

Tiki Rock, one of Boston’s most overtly tiki-themed bars, has a couple of big, shareable drinks to go with its colorful, energetic space: a painkiller and the Ohana punch, $60 each for a four-person serving.

2 Broad St, Boston, MA 02109

Visit Website

A big shareable cocktail is served in a giant bowl with lots of colorful straws, citrus slices, and orchids — A shareable cocktail at Tiki Rock

Howl at the Moon

184 High St, Boston, MA 02110

Sing and dance at this boisterous piano bar while drinking literal buckets of cocktails — including hurricanes, mai tais, mules, and more — with your friends.

Open in Google Maps

184 High St, Boston, MA 02110

Visit Website

A large plastic bucket is filled with a bright blue cocktail. A label that says “Welcome to the show!” is plastered on the bucket. — The adios mofo bucket at Howl at the Moon

Yvonne's

2 Winter Pl, Boston, MA 02108

Swanky Downtown Crossing cocktail den Yvonne’s serves a couple of large-format cocktails ($95 apiece) meant for groups of four or more, including the “lil’ Sebastian” (a spicy tequila and grapefruit concoction) and the “Miami vice” (rums, pineapple, coconut, strawberry, and lime).

2 Winter Pl, Boston, MA 02108

Visit Website

A large-format cocktail is served in an elegant glass vessel with a spout on a white tablecloth-covered table in a dimly lit restaurant. There are citrus slices in the drink, and pineapple leaves are coming out of the top of it. — A large-format cocktail at Yvonne’s

Scorpion Bar

58 Seaport Blvd #200, Boston, MA 02210

It would be a bit of a missed opportunity if a club called Scorpion Bar didn’t serve scorpion bowls. Part of the Big Night Entertainment Group, the giant Seaport District nightclub and Mexican restaurant (and its siblings at Foxwoods and Patriot Place) serves three varieties ($55), including a giant margarita and a cocktail that combines Grey Goose and ginger beer with Lejay Blackcurrant Liqueur and sour. Two other Big Night Entertainment Group venues, Red Lantern and Empire, also serve a few oversized cocktails apiece, including the Samoan shipwreck at Red Lantern (Avion Silver, Bacardi Pineapple, lime, and fruit juices; $70) and the big kahuna at Empire (Grey Goose, watermelon punch, mint, and ginger; $80).

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58 Seaport Blvd #200, Boston, MA 02210

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A bartender holds a pink scorpion bowl in a giant glass. It has two straws coming out of it. — Scorpion bowl at Scorpion Bar Patriot Place

Kings Dining & Entertainment

60 Seaport Blvd, Boston, MA 02210

Scorpion Bar isn’t the only Seaport destination for giant cocktails. Kings Dining & Entertainment, which features bowling and lots more, knows that pitchers of cocktails pair well with games. While it has offered a few different options in the past, Kings is currently keeping it simple with a one-and-a-half-gallon mai tai ($70).

60 Seaport Blvd, Boston, MA 02210

Visit Website

Two clear glass pitchers are full of cocktails — one a pale green, one bright orange — Cocktail pitchers at Kings

Shōjō

9 Tyler St, Boston, MA 02111

In a wink to the tradition of “cold tea” — restaurants serving booze later than they’re supposed to by hiding it in a teapot — Shōjō serves up a cocktail called cold tea for two (during legal hours, of course) in a classic Chinese restaurant teapot and little cups ($20). It’s oolong tea-infused vodka, Peche de Vigne, oolong syrup, and lemon.

9 Tyler St, Boston, MA 02111

Visit Website

The interior of a restaurant called Shojo, with a wooden bar and high-top tables visible, as well as some bare lightbulbs — Shōjō

Blue Dragon

324 A St, Boston, MA 02210

At Ming Tsai’s Fort Point restaurant, diners can share a couple of different cocktails with friends ($28 apiece): the scorpion bowl-like dragon bowl and a painkiller.

324 A St, Boston, MA 02210

Visit Website

A dimly lit wooden bar at a restaurant — Blue Dragon

Bootleg Special

400 Tremont St, Boston, MA 02116

Dinner at Bootleg Special is already going to be sloppy — you’ll be digging into saucy, spicy seafood with your hands — so why not add a big, shareable bowl of booze to the mix? Two to four people can share the South End restaurant’s hurricane bowl (passionfruit and lemon rums, juices, and pomegranate liqueur), yellowhammer bowl (Kalani Coconut Rum, Effen Blood Orange Vodka, pineapple, El Dorado Spiced Rum), and more at $28 for the two-person size or $58 for four.

Open in Google Maps

400 Tremont St, Boston, MA 02116

Visit Website

Overhead view of a table crowded with seafood dishes and a giant shareable pink cocktail with six colorful straws coming up out of it. — A punch bowl at Bootleg Special

Shore Leave

11 William E Mullins Way, Boston, MA 02118

One of several tiki bars on this map, Shore Leave — from the team behind Bar Mezzana across the street — serves cocktails in creative glassware, topped with colorful garnishes, making for a festive night out. The current large-format cocktail selection includes a drink for two ($28), served in a volcano, and a couple options for larger groups, including the “rule 35,” a variation on a Trader Vic’s fog cutter for four people ($70).

11 William E Mullins Way, Boston, MA 02118

Visit Website

A shareable cocktail is served in a tiki volcano vessel with a flame coming out of the top and a giant sprig of mint leaves — “Takes two to mango” cocktail at Shore Leave (not on the current menu)

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Hojoko

1271 Boylston St, Boston, MA 02215

O Ya’s funky younger Fenway sibling, Hojoko, is a great spot for a noisy group outing — share some karaage fried chicken, robata grilled chicken tails, and crispy nori tacos with your friends; try the wasabi roulette, if you dare; and wash it all down with one of the “for the band” drinks, which are filled with rum and built for parties of four or more. Prices range from $75 to $95, topping out with the royal waioli punch: Plantation O.F.T.D., Plantation Barbados Rum, guava, lemon, pineapple, cherry, almond, coconut, Angostura bitters, and champagne. There’s also a two-person scorpion bowl for $28.

1271 Boylston St, Boston, MA 02215

Visit Website