Eater Boston | The Best Bars Around Boston: Destinations for cocktails, wine, sake, beer, and more

by Erika Adams

Updated Mar 13, 2025 at 4:57 PM EDT

Boston loves booze. To describe the most essential bars in and around Boston, one must consider a variety of options; they all contribute to the city’s drinking scene in different but equally important ways. One person’s essential bar is the classic neighborhood hangout around the corner with the free popcorn, while another person ranks the world-class cocktail lounge with a line around the block as the best in town.

This map examines high-end cocktail destinations, cozy wine bars, and places to keep going back to. The new addition on the latest update is Offsuit, a speakeasy-style bar in the Financial District that we keep returning to for reliably weird (and great) drinks. — Additional reporting by Valerie Li Stack and Rachel Leah Blumenthal.

The Koji Club

Nestled inside the Charles River Speedway, Boston’s only dedicated sake bar is a welcoming, knowledgeable home for bargoers to unwind and fall in love with sake for the first time or the thousandth time. Pop in anytime from Wednesday through Sunday to sip your way through the menu, or check out the bar’s events calendar for a more curated experience.

525 Western Avenue, Brighton, Massachusetts 02135

Previous
Previous

Bloomberg | American Sake Is Having a Major MomentA small but growing cadre of producers are brewing inventive bottles with cult followings—and they’re even exporting to Japan.

Next
Next

CBS | These Massachusetts restaurants and chefs are James Beard Award semifinalists