Restaurant review: The OTHERside cafe

Posted on October 20, 2011 | 2 comments

Always on the look out for a good cheap eats, the OTHERside Cafe has been a dive I’ve enjoyed since I moved to Boston in the late 90s.  The name refers to the location of the cafe which is on the “other side” of Mass. Avenue technically on Newbury Street extension, but its also a mindset for a place that clearly embraces its bohemian vibe and is more in line with a Cantabrigian than a Bostonian.

This cheap eats with oodles of personality is also vegetarian friendly with several options like their vegetarian chili (which I think is the best in the city). The menu is large and comprised of appetizers, salads, burritos, and sandwiches, ranging in price from $6-$12. If you like a cold beverage, smoothies as well as more than a dozen craft beers on tap make for great alternatives.  All are welcome, but the OTHERside mostly appeals to students and 20-somethings. All salads come on over-sized plates. Pictured below is the “Mozz Salad” a mozzarella salad with mixed greens, veggies and bread ($10) and the tuna salad which has mixed greens, veggies, apples and a heaping scoop of tuna ($10.75). Salad ingredients were fresh and very filling. Leaving us more than satisfied and happy with our respective choices. The OTHERside cafe is located at 407 Newbury Street and open 7-days a week (opening at 11:30am daily and 10am on Saturday and Sunday).
The Other Side Cafe on Urbanspoon

2 Comments

Posted in Restaurant Review

Tagged , , ,

October 20th is #SpiritDay

Posted on October 20, 2011 | 3 comments

Wearing purple on October 20th is a way you can join millions of others wanting to visibly demonstrate their sign of support for LGBT youth and to speak out against bullying. 

 

3 Comments

Posted in Gay

Tagged , , ,

47th Head of the Charles: October 22-23

Posted on October 20, 2011 | 1 comment

The Charles River divides Boston from Cambridge and each autumn the Head of the Charles (the largest regatta in the world) occurs.  The two-day sporting event includes more than 8,000 rowers competing in over 50 races and draws more than 300,000 spectators (many of them college students proudly -and somewhat drunkenly- cheering on their school).

The seven bridges that criss-cross the Charles River along the race course provide excellent vantage points, but I’m more partial to viewing from the Cambridge side nearer Harvard University and Harvard Square.

If you are new to Boston or rediscovering the city after many years of calling this place home I would strongly recommend coming out and watching the Regatta. Harvard Square pubs and streets are overflowing with people and the city is abuzz with rowers who have come from all over to compete in this prestigious and largest regatta in the world.

This event is uniquely Boston’s (or perhaps to be fair I should include Cambridge too).  Like the Boston marathon, its an athletic event that falls far outside the purview of mainstream sports, but it is a tradition here that many in the city come out to support and enjoy.  

1 Comment

Posted in Free Stuff, Sports

Tagged , , ,

Young London is Boston’s next pop music export

Posted on October 19, 2011 | Leave a comment

I rarely write about new musical talent, but a new local pop band called Young London is getting a lot of attention, and I thought I’d share a recent write up about their debut single.  The Boston Phoenix comments “in light of the interest they have generated A relocation to Los Angeles seems imminent, especially with label ties to the West Coast. But for now, the party’s in Boston.”

If bubble gum pop is your thing you’ll want to check out the Phoenix article here and watch their video.

Like what you hear?  Check out their facebook page, and look for their first full-length CD expected to release in January (with a national tour to follow).

Leave a comment

Posted in Music

Tagged , , , ,

#HHD happy hump day wishes

Posted on October 19, 2011 | 2 comments

Unfortunately, I predict a great fall for the guy depicted above.  I hope ‘hump day’ turns out to be a lot less dramatic for you.

Fond wishes and thank you for stopping by.

2 Comments

Posted in Humor

Tagged , ,

Pops restaurant closes

Posted on October 18, 2011 | 2 comments

Boston Restaurant Talk is reporting the South End restaurant Pops on Tremont Street closed its doors over the weekend.

According to a source within the Boston media, Pops Restaurant on Tremont Street shut its doors over the weekend. A call placed to the eatery yesterday evening could not go through as no one was answering, and OpenTable is no longer taking reservations for the place.

I’m sorry to see the restaurant close it’s doors even if I’d stopped going. Earlier this year I wrote about my frustration with Pops in my post, Pops continues to lack consistency.  Hopefully the space will not remain vacant for long.

2 Comments

Posted in Dining, South End

Tagged , ,

Newbury Street man candy

Posted on October 18, 2011 | 3 comments

Inspired by the gay blog, Dwight Supremacy that regularly includes “SIRveillance” posts, I thought I’d share one such guy who caught my eye when I was waiting patiently outside the Newbury Street Diesel store last week.If you like this sort of thing definitely check out the Dwight Supremacy blog, which is conveniently located in my blogroll.

3 Comments

Posted in Back Bay, Gay

Tagged , , ,

Boston Architecture: The Burrage House

Posted on October 18, 2011 | 6 comments

The Burrage House (named after the attorney, businessman, and philanthropist Albert C. Burrage and his family) is one of many distinctive properties that dot Back Bay’s Commonwealth Avenue.  The home which was initially constructed in 1899 is now divided into six condominiums each worth several millions of dollars and rent for $15,000+ a month.  Local football fans know that a few years ago Patriot’s quarterback, Tom Brady, called this home.

I’m so thankful that even if these are no longer single family homes, the city never allowed them to be torn down.  The Burrage House adds an element of elegance and ignites my imagination of what Boston must have been like 100+ years ago.  Below is a video of one of the condos which went up for sale earlier this spring and sold for more than asking ($4.35M). 

6 Comments

Posted in Architecture, Back Bay

Tagged , , ,

What’s love got to do with it

Posted on October 17, 2011 | 1 comment

David Samuel Levinson writes an interesting article in the current issue of Out Magazine entitled, Are you interested? The article addresses what is salvaged when a relationship you never thought you wanted ends.

The brief article is an interesting read and I couldn’t help but identify with the “untrusting and cynical” single David – I meet various forms of that David (both male and female) here in Boston all the time.

The introspective article addresses how the author does meet someone (not the man of his dreams by the way) and how the relationship evolves.  There is no storybook ending with this particular romance but its hardly a tragedy either. I think many people can personally relate or have witnessed this drama play out with friends and family.  Although there are no real answers provided by the author, it doesn’t detract from the story which concludes:

“But I had become someone else, someone better for knowing Markus. I was finally and, I hoped, inevitably the kind of guy who could look beyond tight black jeans and pink T-shirts — beyond his own bad habits and his gory past — and love.”

1 Comment

Posted in Relationships

Tagged ,

Tweet of the day: Bottled water

Posted on October 17, 2011 | 1 comment

Keeping in the theme of the day, I thought I would share this tweet from a former Men of Twitter, WillFennell.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a sign quite like what Will tweets in all my travels.  Will – I’ll spot you some dinero in the future so you can get that absurdly priced bottle of water. Stand back from the urinal!

1 Comment

Posted in Humor, Twitter

Tagged ,

Men of Twitter

Posted on October 17, 2011 | 1 comment

Each Monday I post #MenOfTwitter profiles of men who catch my eye and whom I think you may enjoy following. As always, suggestions for profiles to feature are welcome. If you’d like to follow me on twitter, you can find me @BosGuy. Below are this week’s #MenOfTwitter.

If so inclined, leave them a nice comment and start following on Twitter.

ReyTipz – Rey lives in the Philippines and is a Twitter-holic who has racked up nearly 22,000 tweets in the 2+ years he’s been on Twitter.  He works in the health care industry but his real interest lies in sports (football / a.k.a. soccer), travel, cooking and music. Should you feel inclined, you can wish Rey a very happy birthday since he just celebrated this past Sunday.

Man_Mann – A.K.A. Manny is a Miami native who is currently making me envious of his travels through Europe. He’s relatively new to Twitter having joined this spring, but he tweets regularly and has a fun blog you can follow, which is full of the trials and travails of a gay 20-something in Miami. If intrigued consider following and check out his blog.

Scott_Herman is a former MTV “Real World” celeb of sorts who is very well known by many gay Americans because he has been such an outspoken ally for the GLBT community.  What you may not know is that Scott is a native New Englander.  More recently I’ve been following Scott’s blog which is dedicated to helping individual achieve personal fitness goals.  Struggling with your work out routine? Become a “Hermantor” and follow him on Twitter.

BTW if you like this post, retweet it. If you love this post, follow me,@BosGuy. Link here to see past #MenOfTwitter postings.

1 Comment

Posted in Gay

Tagged , ,

Cheers to Union’s new menu

Posted on October 16, 2011 | Leave a comment

This weekend Union Bar and Grille shook things up by changing their menu, presumably to entice more patrons.  The new menu is essentially divided into four sections: Snacks ($2-$4), Salads and Appetizers ($6-$12), Main Plates ($15-$24).  The menu also has several sides (referred to as xtras) as well as a section noted by a large bold asterisk that includes a few raw options and a daily charcuterie plate. A number of new cocktails have been added, and I think tequila drinkers will definitely enjoy, Conquistador ($9), which is very smooth and fragrant with its citrus and clove garnish.

In an attempt to sample a bit of everything we ordered two “snacks” as the menu refers to them.  Maine crabmeat toast ($3) and pork & pickled onion taco ($4). The toast depicted bottom left was good but I preferred the taste of the grilled pork soft tacos which were served as a pair.We followed the “snacks” with another new plate, the squash gnocchi ($12), which is listed as a “first” (a.k.a. appetizers).  The buttery sauce combined with squash, “garlic fudge” and fresh cheese was to be my favorite plate of the night. Although this is listed as an appetizer, one could have this and a salad and leave very content for the night. It was refreshing to see so many new options, but I was curious to try the burger which had changed last year (they no longer include the ground sausage) and was one of the few items to be kept on the new menu.  I loved their original burger but found it hard to critique the option on the menu now.  Union still has one of the best burgers in town (albeit one of the more expensive ones too at $15).  We also tried a new entrant to the menu, the bourbon glazed pork chop with rice ($23).  I found this the least interesting of all the food we tried and a tad over cooked. While dining we were able to see several other plates served and the other options at least visually were far more interesting. The restaurant’s move is bold considering signature dishes like their 10K Tuna (which I thought to be one of the best in the city) is now gone.  Will long-time patrons be pleased with the changes? Will the new menu with a lower price point and more options win over new customers? Its hard to say, but the plates and price point puts Union more in line with many South End restaurants like the South End Gallows, Stephi’s on Tremont and Stella.

Union has a knowledgeable and friendly staff as well as a talented chef in Langlois so I’m hopeful that with a few tweaks the menu will be a hit.

Union is located at 1357 Washington Street (617) 423-0555                   Reservations are strongly recommended.

Union Bar and Grille on Urbanspoon

Leave a comment

Posted in Restaurant Review

Tagged , , , , ,

Sophia Grace Brownlee homage to Nicki Minaj

Posted on October 16, 2011 | 1 comment

Did you see this little girl on Ellen?

1 Comment

Posted in Music, Video

Tagged , ,

Landry’s Rocky Horror Show is worth seeing

Posted on October 15, 2011 | 3 comments

Ryan Landry’s take on the cult film classic, Rocky Horror Picture Show, opened in Cambridge at the Oberon Theater to a sold out audience filled with “Antici-Patients” as Dr. Frank-N-Furter (played by Landry) might have suggested on Friday, October 14th.

The 90-minute show which started at 11PM had all the energy of a rock concert and had half the crowd singing and dancing along with the band and cast.  The show remained faithful to the original with some tweaks and a new score, but Landry’s personality is also evident as he works a few snarky remarks into the act.  The cast croons out the tunes everyone knows with energy and better voices than I would have expected, making the show exceed expectations.

Shows will continue each Friday through December 2nd, and don’t be fooled the best tickets in the house are for standing room which cost only $25.  You can purchase your tickets here (and I hope you do) because I’d love to see this become a new fall tradition with the Oberon and Landry’s Gold Dust Orphans.

3 Comments

Posted in Theater

Tagged , , , ,

Rocky Horror Show opens in Cambridge tonight

Posted on October 14, 2011 | 3 comments

It is opening night for Ryan Landry’s Gold Dust Orphan’s take on The Rocky Horror Show.  Starting tonight and playing each Friday through December 2nd his cast of misfits will be dancing the Time Warp and providing their own spin to this classic cult film.  I’ll be providing an update and review of the show later but should you not have any plans for the evening a few standing room (dance floor) tickets remain.  You can read more about the show and buy your tickets here.

3 Comments

Posted in Gay, Theater

Tagged , , , ,