The College Bars You Can Finally Enjoy When the Students Leave for Thanksgiving

Avoid the lines outside the White Horse by visiting over Thanksgiving. The Boston Globe - The Boston

By Alistair Birrell

November 25, 2014

2 minutes to read

If you’re not in college, there aren’t many things worse than being in a college bar. It’s far too loud; everyone knows everyone else there who isn’t you; it takes an hour and a half to get a drink.

But when Thanksgiving rolls around, some of these bars get downright pleasant. Why? Because the students who would normally be filling the place are home for the holidays. Here are a few watering holes you can check out while they’re relatively clear.

The White Horse Tavern (116 Brighton Ave., Allston)

Boston University’s proximity to Allston means that its students are likely to cram into the neighborhood’s taprooms. The White Horse Tavern may be cavernous (and have TVs than anyone might ever need), but it still causes lines to form outside on weekend nights. Thanksgiving should lessen the flood enough that, even if a few students decide to celebrate the holiday away from home, there should still be enough room to have a relatively quiet drink.

Conor Larkin’s (329 Huntington Ave.)

Northeastern students flock to Conor Larkin’s, perhaps because of the way it feels so… typical. It’s right on campus and convenient to the Green Line; it hosts “senioritis Beirut tournaments’’ on Mondays; it has pool and copious amounts of fried food. Earlier this year,Thrillist touted cheap pitchers and leniency toward drinking games when it listed Larkin’s among its best college bars in the country.

Five Horses (400 Highland Ave., Somerville)

The 37 drafts in rotation at this Somerville pub are giving Tufts students a crash course in better beer, and the menu is made for pairing with cold brews — from veggie-friendly “grazing plates’’ to steaks served aside goat cheese-scallion mashed potatoes. Grab a seat over Thanksgiving break and get ready to sink into this bar’s spirits offerings more fully.

Cityside (1960 Beacon St., Brighton)

Located in Cleveland Circle — just close enough to the edges of Boston College’s campus — Cityside has done a good job in becoming the slightly grown-up option for BC students looking to venture beyond campus. (The divey Mary Ann’s is located right across the street.) Enjoy a beer and have fun running the jukebox, and if you’re really feeling the Thanksgiving spirit, try a Gobbler — a turkey burger with bacon and cheese.

Beantown Pub (100 Tremont St.)

Most people cringe when out-of-towners call Boston Beantown, but don’t hold that against this pub, located right by Suffolk University. It’s a choice pick for anyone interested in writing their drinking thesis on the many similarities between a “student bar’’ and a “tourist bar,’’ and Thanksgiving may be one of the only times when it isn’t going to be super busy.

Hong Kong (1238 Massachussetts Ave., Cambridge)

The restaurant on the ground floor of Hong Kong is known for serving greasy Chinese food to famished Harvard students until the wee hours, and their drink selections include the appropriate-for-groups scorpion bowls. Of course, there are no promises that students being out of town will keep things quiet — this place is popular with tourists and locals alike. But that’s a feature, not a bug.