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Information for adults 21 and over. Not an offer to sell anything.
Cheap beers, loud rooms and live shows. Still the neighborhood that goes out.
Allston's music scene includes a DIY community. In our Beer Index the cheapest listed beer here is $4.25 at The Last Drop.
15 places
This Harvard Avenue outpost of the Korean chain fries its chicken the traditional way, hand battered and cooked at lower temperatures for longer. The pitch on the chain's site is [Real Crispy. Real Korean.] Its location page lists Monday to Sunday, 11:00am-2:00am.
Harvard Avenue · about 1 min walk (estimate)
A music club at 158 Brighton Avenue in Allston with a capacity around 450. The bookings mix touring and local acts. Pool tables fill the back room.
Hopewell Bar + Kitchen, at 1277 Commonwealth Ave, has a basement set up like an awesome game room rather than a restaurant, in Phantom Gourmet's words. Down there are pool tables, pinball, shuffleboard and vintage video games. The kitchen calls its menu bar American with a French twist.
Griggs Street · about 3 min walk (estimate)
Lone Star Taco Bar's Allston room puts its focus on mezcal, tequila, and Mexican street food. Time Out calls the Allston spot a Tex-Mex go-to for more than a decade. The owners, Aaron Sanders and Max Toste, spent early years in Texas and Southern California.
Lulu's Allston, a bar and restaurant at 421 Cambridge Street, advertises 50 draft lines. Boston magazine named it Best Beer Bar in its 2019 Best of Boston. The same write-up notes a patio bar with bocce lanes.
Notch's Brighton taproom at 525 Western Ave sits at the former Charles River Speedway. Its tap list highlights 10 to 14 beers at any hour. The beer garden is open year-round.
Warren Street · about 24 min walk (estimate)
O'Brien's Pub at 3 Harvard Avenue in Allston is a tiny room that leans toward punk and metal. The site promises live music seven nights a week. PBR is the house drink of choice.
Paradise Rock Club on Commonwealth Avenue is a mid-sized, general admission rock landmark, in Time Out's words. It has been part of the city's music scene since the '70s. The bigger, two-tiered back room is the main event.
Rail Stop, at 96 Guest St in Boston Landing, Brighton, is a restaurant and bar named in honor of the new stop on the commuter rail. The interior is meant to evoke 1920s and 30s rail service. The site calls it a scratch kitchen and bar with barrel-aged cocktails.
Warren Street · about 16 min walk (estimate)
Roadrunner, on Guest Street in Allston, is the largest indoor general admission room in New England. The building is a multi-level, 50,000-square-foot space. It is a sister venue to The Sinclair.
Scullers Jazz Club has booked jazz, blues and soul on the ground floor of a Charles River hotel since October 1989. The room holds 175 guests, all seated at tables. Live music runs Friday and Saturday, with a summer break.
Gayot calls the food at The Avenue, a bar and grill at 1249 Commonwealth Ave, one of the cheapest menus in town. Its own site promotes burgers, craft beer and cocktails. The menu has wings in every flavor they could think of.
Harvard Avenue · about 1 min walk (estimate)
The Corrib, an Irish pub at 396 Market St, calls itself Brighton's oldest pub. Time Out names it a mainstay for a good pint of Guinness, bangers and mash, a bit of live music. It is also a place to watch the big game.
The Last Drop, on Washington Street in Brighton, keeps daily hours that run into the early morning. The draft list runs from Mighty Squirrel's Cloud Candy to Guinness. The staff say they would love to host your next event.
Hours on the venue's site: Mon-Sun 12 PM-2 AM
Boston College · about 18 min walk (estimate)
The Silhouette Lounge is an Allston dive at 200 Brighton Ave known for cheap beer and strong, cheap mixed drinks. Darts, pool and dated signage set the tone. The metal-leaning soundtrack fits.
Hours on the venue's site: Mon-Fri 4 PM-1 AM; Sat & Sun 2 PM-1 AM
Harvard Avenue · about 6 min walk (estimate)
Map © OpenStreetMap contributors, tiles by OpenFreeMap. Lines and stations: MBTA. Venues without a confirmed address match are not pinned.
The big clubs and tiny dives sit within walking distance of each other, so come for a band and stay for a cheap beer.
Commonwealth Avenue is the big-room end. Paradise Rock Club is a 933-capacity music venue. Most shows set an 18+ age requirement, so bring ID. Time Out warns of a view-blocking support pillar, so go early and stake out a sightline.
Brighton Music Hall is the smaller sibling, with dueling bars on both sides of the room.
Brighton Avenue is the dive end. The Silhouette Lounge is open Monday to Friday from 4pm and weekends from 2pm. Time Out likes the cheap beer and the potent mixed drinks. O'Brien's Pub is the loudest, a tiny 70-person club. Bring earplugs.
Over in Brighton, The Corrib Pub is the pub, open since 1969. The Last Drop on Washington Street is open daily until 2AM.
The Green Line B branch stops at Packard's Corner and Harvard Avenue. Check Last Train first. At Roadrunner, rideshare drop-off sits right out front, which makes it the easier exit after a sold-out show.
Roadrunner is fully accessible. Most shows there are open to all ages. Drinking at 21+ means you must show government photo ID. The listed times are door times, with the show 30 to 60 minutes later, so you can arrive a little behind them.
Options after midnight are thin. The Silhouette's own site lists hotdog and popcorn as its food. For anything fuller, see Eat Late.
Our Beer Index lists a typical beer at $8 across 5 bars with a listed price (range $5.75 to $8.75); how we count.
In the 1960s, Mayor Kevin White's Summerthing series put on free concerts at Ringer Park. Chuck Berry was among the acts who played for free.
The Index covers 4 licensed stores for Allston / Brighton, where an eighth runs about $22. Adults 21+ only. Consume only on private property, and do not drive. See our Cannabis Index. Data: Glass (glassintel.xyz).
Allston is served by the Green Line B branch, with Packard's Corner, Harvard Avenue, Griggs Street, Allston Street and Warren Street stops running along Commonwealth Avenue. Roadrunner on Guest Street is closer to Boston Landing on the Framingham/Worcester commuter rail line. Last trains differ by line and by night, so check Last Train and the MBTA Trip Planner before the headliner and keep a ride as the fallback.
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