Jamaica Plain After Dark: Rock Bar, Pub, Tapas

Brendan Behan, the Jamaica Plain pub Time Out praises for its beer, has no food on offer. Visitors are encouraged to bring their own. That is JP in one rule. The bars are small on purpose: a tiny rock bar, a pub with no kitchen, a brewery that closes at 10 pm on its latest night. Nothing here is built for a crowd, which is the argument for going.

6 PM: start with a table

Tres Gatos is the dinner anchor, and it is a good one. Its own site calls it the city's first restaurant that is also a book and music store. It describes itself as a Spanish-inspired tapas restaurant built around shared plates.

The Infatuation says it is the first place we take people to show them JP. That is the right order. Eat here first, because one of the pubs below has no food at all.

8 PM: the pub with no menu

Brendan Behan Pub is the one to learn. Time Out says it is small, dim and without a kitchen. Visitors are encouraged to bring their own food. The same page praises their incredible beer selection.

The pub's own site advertises a live Irish session each Saturday. That is a Saturday plan, and it means this is the night to eat elsewhere and arrive at the pub for the music.

9 PM: the Scottish option

The Haven is the other pub worth a detour. Time Out calls it the most authentic Scottish pub in the city. It also describes the Scotch-friendly cocktail menu and weekly dram nights. If a match is on, Time Out calls it a European sports headquarters, particularly for soccer.

That makes it two bars in one: a whisky room on a quiet night and a football room when there is a game. Check which one you are walking into.

There is also a small argument here about what a pub is for. A place that sells no food and asks you to bring your own is saying that the point is the room and the drink, and everything else is up to you. That suits JP. It is a neighborhood that likes its bars to have a point of view, even when the point of view is a shrug.

10 PM: the rock bar

Midway Cafe is the one that gives the neighborhood its edge. Time Out's phrase is a tiny, noisy, divey Jamaica Plain rock bar. The bar's own site bills itself as Boston's Best Live Music, which is a claim and not a fact.

It also lists a mix of acts from Boston and beyond. Read the calendar before you go, because the genre changes by night.

Midnight: the one that stays open

Jeanie Johnston Pub & Grill is the late answer. Its own site says it is open until 2:00 am on Friday and Saturday nights. It says there is late night food available. The rest of the week it lists 12:00 pm to 1:00 am. It calls itself a cherished gathering place.

Boston Magazine's 2012 Best of Boston note says the pub offers karaoke with a side of characters, and that note is old. Use it as color and not as a schedule.

The brewery stop that needs a plan

Drawdown Brewing is a place to visit early. Time Out still lists it as open Thursday through Sunday, but the brewery's own site now opens Wednesday from 5 pm. On Saturday it runs to 10 pm, so it is an early stop, not a late one. Time Out's listing lets you bring in food, so it pairs with the Tres Gatos plan.

The bigger name is Samuel Adams, whose own page says this is its original brewery in Jamaica Plain. Time Out says its tours skip Sunday, so it is a daytime stop and not part of the after-dark plan.

How the night fits together

The route is not a straight line, and it does not need to be. The best way to use this list is to pick two stops and let the rest go. Tres Gatos for dinner and Jeanie Johnston to finish is a night. So is Brendan Behan for a Saturday session after a meal somewhere else.

What does not work is trying to do a crawl. These are small rooms, and each wants a proper hour. A drink at the pub with no food, a set at the rock bar and a last round somewhere with a kitchen light is already three stops. A fourth is a tax on the third.

It also helps to match the room to the mood. The Haven is for a quiet pour or a match. Midway is for noise. Jeanie Johnston is for whatever the room is doing when you walk in. Choosing the room before you leave the house is most of the planning.

Getting home from JP

JP is an Orange Line neighborhood. The MBTA keeps a page for Jackson Square station. Its trip planner has the real last train for your night. Jeanie Johnston stays open later than you should, so check Last Train before the last round. If you are going farther than the Orange Line reaches, getting home after last call has the backups.

What to do with this

• Eat at Tres Gatos first. One of the next stops has no food at all.
• Pick Brendan Behan for a Saturday session or The Haven for a quiet pour.
• Save the rock bar for after ten.
• Finish at Jeanie Johnston if you are out late on a weekend.
• Do the brewery early. Its own hours end by ten.

See the Jamaica Plain hub for the full list, and our guide to Boston's dive bars for more rooms like these. For something with a kitchen, try the Eat Late page.

This neighborhood's queer bars are covered in Boston queer nightlife. Other neighborhood plans in this series include a night in Central Square.