Today
there are plenty of places in Somerville where you can go to have a
meal and an adult beverage. From one end of the city to the other,
these mid to up-scale eateries offer an enticing menu and a wide array
of inebriates. There was a time, not too long ago, when local barrooms
were just that, barrooms. If you wanted to see what food was served, it
was usually right in front of you, in a large glass jar or hanging on a
display rack. The fare was simple, including bags of chips, peanuts,
slim-jims and pickled eggs. The upscale joints offered beer nuts to
their customers Рbon apétit!

Now, most establishments offer a
slew of fancy beers and ales in bottles and on tap, as well as in
bottles. The transformation from gin-mill to hip-spot seems to have
happened rather quickly. As usual, my area of expertise is the Davis
Square area, so most of my first-hand information comes from there.
Thankfully, Sligo's, Redbones (formerly The Coronet, then Barnaby's)
and Johnny D's have kept the traditional bar set-up alive. These places
haven't changed that much, except for the addition of what seems to be
countless new brews including lights, darks, ambers, wheats, summers,
winters etc. Back in my heyday we didn't have so many choices. My
favorites were Bud, Rolling Rock and once in a while a nice dark
Guinness. In the older days, some of the preferred brews were these:
Heffenreffer, Rheingold, Pabst, Schlitz, Schaeffer, Carling Black
Label, Narragansett Lager and Knickerbocker. Just saying those names
brings back memories, fogged as they are.

Can you believe that
in just Davis Square alone, there are about 32 restaurants and roughly
7 bars? To get into some of these places you are required to have an ID
and a piercing of some kind. As usual my timing is impeccable. I quit
drinking and there are now endless places and countless choices. My
liver is very grateful that those days are behind me – and just my
luck, I have three piercings, one on one ear, and two in the other.
What a waste! I am the infinite designated driver, which is a very good
thing. A cold O'Doul's is fine for me these days.

I happened to
have seen a packed to the gills Tufts shuttle bus heading to Davis
Square at around 6:30 Saturday night. I'm sure not all the students
were heading for Joshua Tree and The Burren, but you can bet a lot
were. The standing room only bus occupants were decked out in their
trendiest Saturday night best (I know because I pass them while walking
the dog on College Avenue).

Now that St Patrick's Day is in
sight, memories of The Blarney Stone Pub start filling me' head. How
many of us actually drank green beer? I think of the Stone whenever I
walk past Ciampa Manor on College Ave.

I had the pleasure of
recently talking with a gentleman who served about 8 years on
Somerville's Licensing Board. He had some interesting stories for sure.
He felt that Somerville had enough bars and he tried to only give
liquor licenses to restaurants. Under his watch, Pal Joey's (aka El
Cids, and Steppin' Out) lost their license due to too much trouble. He
gave them the option to sell their license. The Jumbo in Teele Square
was also a trouble spot (I don't recall any brouhahas when I played in
bands up there). He was in charge when Bertucci's first opened in Davis
Square, happy to see a new restaurant open – too bad he didn't get in
on buying some Bertucci's stock!

As I've said, I don't drink
alcohol (anymore), but I still love the smell of these old, seasoned
(or fermented I should say) joints. Back when I was imbibing, you could
still smoke your brains out while you drank your mind away. Two or
three hours in the barroom was easily detectable by the smell of
cigarette smoke that saturated your body and clothes. Imagine what it
did to our insides.

There are a few places in Ball Square that
we used to frequent for an ale or two as well – The Willow was where I
would go if I was in that area. You may have memories of the joints
that lined Somerville Ave, Broadway and in East Somerville. There were
plenty of bars, with plenty of stories. So while you may be craving an
ice cold Aventinus wheat Doppelbock and an omelette with red peppers
and goat cheese, I'd rather have a frosty Pabst Blue Ribbon and a
pickled egg.