The Fenway neighborhood has changed quite a bit in recent years. Our Fenway What Do Do guide will help you get around.
As someone who first started taking the Orange Line (Oak Grove represent) to the Green Line to Kenmore Square as a high school kid in the ’90s, the changes have been jarring. Long gone is The Rat, and even Eastern Standard–which eventually took over its spot in Kenmore–has closed. Beloved Irish pub An Tua Nua shuttered in 2013, and Copperfield’s on Brookline Ave. shut its doors two years later.
The old haunts fade away, leaving us with fond memories of the Fenway. But new favorites pop up here and there, giving us a chance to make new memories. I’ll use the MGM Music Hall at Fenway as an example. The 5,000-capacity live music venue is set to open at the end of August, right next door to Fenway Park. And they’re already booking shows. You can enter to win tickets to a few on our Contest Page. But let’s get into what do to before you hit a show there or at Fenway proper.
Fenway What To Do
Below you’ll find an incomplete list of bars, pubs, restaurants, and other rooms in and around Fenway that provide top-notch pre-game and pre-show dining and drinking options. Yes, I said “incomplete.” And I said it on purpose. Reason being, I see this list as a living, breathing thing. As more places open and close, the list will shrink and grow. And I’m sure there’s an obvious place or two that I’ll inevitably forget about that you’ll politely remind me to add to the list. So I will. In the meantime, scroll away and start making your pre-show and pre-show plans. It’s just a shame you won’t see Mr. Butch in your travels.
