Other Side Cafe

No Longer In Business

Boston’s alt beer spot ; ) Great for lunch or brunch with a friendly beer selection. Lots of vegetarian and good inexpensive food here. In a city that doesn’t have many inviting comfortable places to drink this is a standout.

Good beer and good menu focused on vegetarian/vegan bar food. Service is friendly and helpful. Biggest drawback is the seating is mostly upstairs in a dark loft with a low ceiling. One time it was raining outside and it was dripping on me from the ceiling. Not a destination, but a decent local hangout with goo beer.

Good draft list on bar. All prices incl. taxes. 14 taps. 1 cask. Good service. Pint of water served right away. Very much food oriented. High & Mighty Ale only served on 32 oz pickle jar. Recommended.

This is my favorite lunch spot in Boston. The atmosphere is very laid back, perfect for a good beer and a good conversation. Local art garnishes the walls and changes about every month. The food is simple and delicious with lots of vegetarian options. Try the chili or my favorite, the advanced BLT. The beer selection is perfect, not overwhelming (only 14 taps, maybe 40 bottles) and there is always something fantastic to sip on. They occasionally whip out a cask and the price can’t be beat: $5 for any draft!!! So grab some friends, grow out your beard and raise a pint at the Otherside Cafe.

The Other Side has become my standard pre- Landsdowne destination. It has a young vibe and is filled with bike messengers coming off a hard day of riding. Music is varied and alternates after 4 or 5 songs from any given artist: the Tom Waits that was playing when I walked in fit the Noreaster that was blowing outside. Very casual, yet attentive waitstaff allow you to grab a menu and seat yourself. A varied menu is filled with vegetarian and vegan options if that is your chosen path - veggie burgers are awesome. There are only about 10 taps, but there is always a rare beer offering and the prices are very reasonable - especially for Imperial Stouts - 16 oz pints of Storm King or Old Rasputin nitro are $6. Had a Nogne-O Saison last night that cost a little more than I expected but was still less than a bottle.

The day I stopped in was a cold February night. There was a nice sized crowd for Saturday and I was surprised and happy to be able to walk right in and find two stools at the bar. It was great to not have to search through a beer list filled with macro beers to find the beers that I’d like. There a dozen or so beers that looked good and I wanted to try. Some really great Cambridge brewing beers were on tap that I enjoyed and there were also some great bottled beers available. The service was one of a kind. Friendly and pretty unique, the wait staff looked like members of a heavy metal band that added to the college rock club feel. The food was really good and everything was priced quite well. This is a place that I will be visiting again the near future.

Like Glouglouburp I really liked this place. It certainly did have an "alternative" vibe but I didn’t find it too over the top. Staff were friendly and much like the clientele - sometimes difficult to tell who was who. And i mean actually friendly not in that ingratiating, tip-hunting way you sometimes get. On one occasion I ended up helping one of the staff hacksaw through her jammed bike lock. Tap list isn’t the biggest but no duffers on there. The Mayflower IPA served in a big jam jar was a bit crap though. As others have mentioned, food is veggie oriented but most dishes had the option of adding chicken, which was fine for me. Although listed here as a restaurant, there’s no problem with just having a drink, but there’s not much in the way of stools at the bar. Visited a few times in the course of my 2 month stay in Boston. I’d go back. I found it more congenial than Bukowskis just up the street.
UPDATE: As of April 2012, this place is due to close (if it hasn’t already) due to the sale of the block in which it is located.

Located in close to the busy downtown area. Ok, this is a special place, a very special place. I have been to many left-wing bars in my life. I have even been to a few left-wind brewpubs (my local Cheval Blanc comes to mind with its artsy crowd). But The Other Side Café takes it to a whole new level. The crowd there is just about anybody that is “on the other side”. Weirdos, hippies, gays, lesbians, artists, Che Guevara’s wanna be. I even had a couple of hot lesbian making out next to me!!! No kidding!!! A tiny 15 people patio in the front, a medium-size split level inside that can sit about 150 people. There is about 15 taps, including 1 cask, with no turkey. When I was there choices included: LA 10 Commandments, Pretty Things Baby Tree, Racer 5, LA Devotion, etc. As expected music is non-commercial. I liked that place a lot, I will go back. But I think most ratebeerians will hate it.

Convenient location if heading to Fenway or doing shopping in the Newberry area. Inside layout is interesting with the stairway and upper seating. Small but good selection of regional craft beer, including a cask offering from Allagash (the Curieux). A few import craft beers were available also. Menu is vegan/vegetarian focused, which is fine with me, but the food taste wasn’t anything spectacular. I’m not sure if "the other side" has a double meaning, but I started to think I had accidentally found myself inside the Blue Oyster Bar (not that there’s anything wrong with that). Very granola-vegan-hippie feel.

Hello ! It was on the middle of the trip, little bit fatigued to death. We stopped there with Daniel, and we had a really nice time. Good food, nice beer on tap. This is a common place to eat for student, so it’s not a beer bar, but they have a rare selection for that kind of place. This was really nice to just enjoy a "normal " place.