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{shortcode-69a9ed06c887cb075e6988b5c6d61980cc21c96c}ost Friday evenings, Harvard Square is very much alive. Students file into restaurants and dessert shops, and swaths of tourists arrive for their weekends away. But this past Friday, the night of the Boston Celtics’ third playoff game against the Orlando Magic, the Square was a desert.
I was in search of a sports bar — and not just a bar that also happens to show sports. Rather, a place built for events like the Celtics game, where cheers are loud, TVs are large, and food is cheap.
By definition, Cambridge and Somerville are “college towns,” anchored to the west by Harvard, to the north by Tufts University, and to the east by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This is a trait that typically brings countless cheap dive bars in tow, but unlike Ann Arbor, Mich., or Tuscaloosa, Ala., the schools that call Camberville home aren’t exactly known for their sports culture.
I begin my search at the Russell House Tavern, a dimly lit fixture located just opposite Harvard Yard. Through the window, I catch a glimpse of NBA basketball on a bar TV — a promising sign. It is typically crowded for a Friday night, but patrons are surely not here to watch basketball. Despite the crowd, the game is on mute. After taking a seat and scanning the menu, I find oyster platters, short rib, and bluefish pâté — well and good, but far from the affordable dive bar grub I am searching for. So, I trek on.
At the ever-crowded Grafton Street Pub, I snag the last open table, a two-top right next to the live music band. It is loud and overwhelming, but if sports can be watched, consider me content. However, the only “screen” in sight is a projector, awkwardly positioned in the dining area. Rather than craning my neck to see the sheet on the wall, I find myself watching Jayson Tatum and company on the reflection of a bald guest’s head.
A short walk away is Grendel’s Den, a popular pub for students submerged under Winthrop Park. At the entrance, I inquire with the bouncer about the ability to sports-watch, and I am told Grendel’s has no TVs at all. Somehow, I haven’t even succeeded in entering the building.
Such is the struggle for a Harvard Square sports bar. Even leaving the Square, much of the land this side of the Charles finds dedicated sports bars to be few and far between. Looking for answers, I travel west, searching for greener pastures in Somerville. There, I find what I am looking for: Parlor Sports, an “events bar” that has operated in Inman Square since 2011.
Garvey Solomon, a manager and bartender at Parlor from its opening, assures me that I am not the only one frustrated with the lack of sports bars in the area.
“Parlor opened in 2011 in response to there being a void of places to watch big sporting events in the area,” he says. “We decided to turn into a sports bar after the Celtics’ 2010 Finals run, but it was a slow process getting a good group of people.”
This evening, basketball is the headliner, but Solomon tells me that the bar enjoys patronage for events spanning from the Super Bowl and the World Cup to live episodes of The Bachelor. The space is tightly lined with televisions and charming memorabilia, including a letterboard listing the “featured events” of the week.
For the few sports bars on this side of the river, the typical strategy is to specialize. The Phoenix Landing, located just steps from the Central Square T station, is the host for Boston’s legion of Liverpool FC supporters, a role that has earned it the third-place spot in Thrillist’s list of “America's best soccer bars.” On Sunday, when the Reds clinched the Premier League championship, fans packed the bar’s cozy interior well before kick-off.
As a variety bar, however, Parlor casts a wider net, relying not on one rabid fan base but on consistency.
“It’s a lot of factors, but number one has been our community and how supportive they’ve been, even through the years and even through Covid,” Solomon explains. “The familiarity to go into a place, and you know that person is going to be there, and they are going to know your drink and know your order? It’s not as commonplace as it used to be.”
On my walk back from Inman Square, I catch a glance of that night’s Celtics game playing in a dorm window. I am reminded that, despite the lack of “sports bars” in Harvard Square, students do watch sports. They do wish to watch them with friends. Solomon argues this is what makes a place like Parlor so necessary.
“There are people that still love football, that still love basketball, love soccer, and love the WNBA,” he says. “Harvard, MIT, and Tufts are no different than anybody else.”
