Biggest mistake in my life was leaving Boston. People weren't unfriendly, they just had busy lives and didn't have time for BS, but if you were waiting at a T stop you could easily strike up a conversation. I lived in Brookline and I can easily think of 5 different places with great food (at reasonable prices) in that area alone. Sure, it was kinda cold in winter; okay it's not as easy to navigate as Manhattan, but it's got character. There are ways to live cheap there but yeah the biggest killer is rent, either you'll be commuting a lot or you'll be living cramped. Still, it's one of my 3 favorite cities in the world.
Boston is my favourite city in the US (that I've been to). Everyone was super friendly.
I've been to cities where people are "warmer" and more outgoing, but it's that fake American facade everyone wears. Boston was a little rough in places but way more genuine.
I find the further you get from London, the friendlier people tend to be with strangers in England. If you go west far enough and end up over the border in Wales, the difference is even more pronounced.
When I lived in Aberystwyth, cigarettes were basically a communist economy!
I visited Boston from the UK and found everyone to be super friendly. Had lots of conversations with folks who just started chatting to me, and would go out of their way to recommend things to do. I also found the same in NYC. And Paris. I think friendly people are everywhere.
Boston is fantastic. Yes you have the mass-holes but as long as you aren't driving it's great and when you actually look for food there are plenty of great places.
when you actually look for food there are plenty of great places.
This is the key. In my experience, the larger, more obvious places are mediocre, but the small holes in the wall you could easily walk past and never realize they're there have some fucking amazing food more often than not.
Excellent by American standards for most of Boston and Greater Boston, which is to say mediocre by European standards. It's entirely possible to be independently mobile and car free there. Most places are walkable and there are pleasant old buildings and green spaces or plazas or spots overlooking water to stumble upon. It's a lovely city.
First time I visited Boston, I was lost somewhere in downtown and walking in circles. Must have passed a postman one too many times because he just briskly walks up to me and, gesturing with a handful of mail, abruptly asks, “whadaya, fuckin lost?”
He then proceeded to give me very clear and accurate directions to where I was going.
One of the interesting things about Boston is that the average person you bump into doesn't have the typical Boston accent. There are too many immigrants, international students, etc. for that accent to dominate. But, certain jobs: postal worker, cop, firefighter, public transit worker, etc. that mostly hire locals. So, your announcements on the T are mostly always done with a strong Boston accent.
Difficult to navigate? The roads are designed entirely around the premise of “FAHK YOUU!! You don’t know how this road works? Moron!” Source: lived there. Want to go to Salem? Nope. One of my favorites is the tollway from the airport to downtown. If you miss the last exit or go the wrong way on 1, guess you’re going downtown because fuck you. Downtown is a mess of one-ways, turn only lanes, and no, two rights will NOT have you going in the opposite direction. Fuck you, you’re now going to Worcester on the Masspike. Have fun.
My one visit to Boston (American) was for part of a day. The people were nice, food was good, and the harbor was very accepting of the loose tea I threw in it.
the T was lightyears ahead of the Dublin metro system.
Wow, Dublin's metro must suck. Boston's subway is good by US standards, but it's one of the worst of any major city I've been in elsewhere. The Green Line is more a tram than a subway line, and has that horrible tight turn under Park Street. For a city the size of Boston it has a decent number of different subway lines, but the whole system is old and poorly maintained.
Dublin metro was first planned in the 1980s. A definitive plan was finalized last year, and the construction was supposed to start next year, bur at the last possible moment a group of residents near one of the planned terminuses blocked it in court because the construction would "cause them undue stress". So, if we're lucky, the metro construction will begin within 50 years of the original plan. Ireland is thus remaining one of the very few European countries with sizable population, without a metro. Despite running such huge budget surpluses that we sometimes refuse to collect taxes from the multinationals.
In Boston, I stayed close to Alewife. The red line was decent to get me to the city centre, and I had two good bus connections to Lexington where I also had some business to attend to.
Oh wow. AFAIK Boston's is the oldest one in North America, more than a century old now.
Yeah, the red line is, IMO, Boston's best line. But, that was also partially based on where I mostly travelled. But, I imagine the red line probably receives a bit more attention than the other lines because it's the line that serves Harvard and MIT.
Haha, no. I was tempted to visit Paddy's Lunch, but being in Boston I opted for clam chowder, a good burger (where you actually get to specify how you want it made), and some Italian. I was mildly amused when I walked by a pub that advertised a band called The Gobshites. Certainly won't help to dispell Irish stereotypes.
Boston has better food than your average city. It's a relatively rich city, which helps. More importantly, it has something like 40 universities in and around that area, and many of them cater to international students. So, you get all kinds of interesting ethnic foods from around the world. Boston also has a small Chinatown, but it has great food. It also has a lot of Brazilian immigrants, so it has restaurants catering to Brazilians.
Some of my favourites:
Muqueca is Brazilian, but not typical exported Brazilian like meat on swords.
I visited Boston 2 months ago for a wedding. Spent almost a whole week making a vacation of it with my wife. Can confirm all of this is accurate.
And yes, I went to the famous Italian district in the North End. It was way overpriced and it was fine but not particularly memorable. Just generic american-italian fare you can find in any city in America. The only notable food I had was the absolute worst Pad Thai I've ever had in my life.
I'm a white guy who has lived my whole life in the northeast US, and even I was shocked at the lack of spices or flavor in everything. Even my Dunkin Donuts coffee seemed blander than how it was at home.
Well, I did get some edibles from the dispensary which included some incredible white chocolate with espresso beans. Not sure if I would count that as "food" though.
If you do have to eat in downtown Boston I would recommend the South Street Diner. The food itself was just the stuff you would expect from any diner in America, but it was executed well and almost reasonably priced.
I'm sure there's good Italian food in the North End, but no local would go there to find it. You pay a premium because it's the North End and you and every other tourist had the same idea.
You may have better luck in Cambridge, Allston or Brookline for food in general. Easier to park and get a table, too.
The seafood is top notch. Fresher too, especially things like lobstah. And don't forget about the clam chowdah. Try the schrod.
The people are very nice they just have thick shells to deter assholes. Compare to the rest of the country, where the people are "nice" but secretly want you to fuck off.
I went in January, cold but nothing I'm unaccustomed to as a Canadian.
Clam chowder was decent at least what I tried. Public transit was usable. People were nice there in your typical American sense, but NYC shops had more heart for strangers and visitors comparatively. But I was only able to really scratch the surface from my day trip there.
Nah, you're mistaken, making a mislabeled pasta that is mislabeled as pizza is firmly a Chicago thing!
Detroit Deep Dish is an excellent thicc and crunchy crusted cheese-carmelized indulgence born of factory workers, whist Chicago "pizza" is a shit lasagna the domain of disappointed tourists and locals too dense to realize the sauce goes under the cheese!
No, Detroit has (optionally) a couple lines of sauce on top, and most places I know that make Detroit style skip the sauce lines. Chicago style has sauce on top of the entire thing.
Though I just looked it up and it looks like there are multiple different "Chicago style" definitions.
Chicago style is a kiddie pool of a crust filled with an alarming miasma of sauce and toppings (bafflingly, placed under the sauce). It’s more of a “savory pie” than a “pizza-pie”. Great for if you want to drown a toddler in a food item; not so great for folding up and eating as you walk around town.
They can be tasty. I just object to them being classified with the rest of the pizza genus, because they’re wildly different in terms of construction to any other pizza species.
More than just good food. The North End alone is full of world class culinary institutions. Everything else is right enough for a meme but the food line couldn't be more wrong.
Huh. Had an opposite experience. Boston locals have their families and friend set, if you don’t have 3 generations in the local cemetery you’re not “from there”. Very closed.
West coast is all chain food. Meh.
The best restaurants are the local ones in NY and Boston.
NY? Everyone was chill. That said, the idea that Bostonians are unfriendly isn’t true. You get them talking and they're your bestie.
IDK where you went, but saying the west coast is all chain food is absolutely bizarre to me.
A quick search shows a PBS article where researchers found the southern US and Republican states as a whole have a higher % of chain restaurants, as opposed to more left leaning states where people tend to be more concerned with what they're eating.
E: why the downvotes? I’ve literally been in every State, and have been all over the entire state of California, from Mono to Crescent City to Blythe. I was there twice last month and I’ll go back again soon. Compared to where I’ve lived like Boston and NYC CA is full of chain restaurants. Not as bad as TX or the South. Y’all need to get out more.
My friend, the number one thing I eat when I go back to CA is the Mexican food. Y’got me there. CA has huge indy owned Mex food. “My man” loves the taquerias and every other hole in the wall Mexican joint. Just went to El Cholo in L.A. two days ago.
(No seriously I found maybe 3 good pizza places while I lived in Boston and I'm pretty sure 2 of them technically weren't even in Boston. The pizza there is mid at best)
Literally spending Christmas there because of parter’s family in a few weeks.
It’s not the worst place I have been to, but it is expensive, the people shout at each other mostly in heavy accents, and there is nothing to do. The food?
There's plenty of good food in Boston.
"Established Before You Were Born"
Suuuch ass?
There's no need for name calling just because you disagree
Maybe they like big butts and can not lie?
https://guide.michelin.com/us/en/massachusetts/boston_2914838/restaurants?sort=distance
Biggest mistake in my life was leaving Boston. People weren't unfriendly, they just had busy lives and didn't have time for BS, but if you were waiting at a T stop you could easily strike up a conversation. I lived in Brookline and I can easily think of 5 different places with great food (at reasonable prices) in that area alone. Sure, it was kinda cold in winter; okay it's not as easy to navigate as Manhattan, but it's got character. There are ways to live cheap there but yeah the biggest killer is rent, either you'll be commuting a lot or you'll be living cramped. Still, it's one of my 3 favorite cities in the world.
Boston is my favourite city in the US (that I've been to). Everyone was super friendly.
I've been to cities where people are "warmer" and more outgoing, but it's that fake American facade everyone wears. Boston was a little rough in places but way more genuine.
Horrifying.
If you tried that in the part of England I'm from you'll end up getting sectioned for your own good.
I find the further you get from London, the friendlier people tend to be with strangers in England. If you go west far enough and end up over the border in Wales, the difference is even more pronounced.
When I lived in Aberystwyth, cigarettes were basically a communist economy!
I visited Boston from the UK and found everyone to be super friendly. Had lots of conversations with folks who just started chatting to me, and would go out of their way to recommend things to do. I also found the same in NYC. And Paris. I think friendly people are everywhere.
what are the other two?
Rome and LA.
Boston is fantastic. Yes you have the mass-holes but as long as you aren't driving it's great and when you actually look for food there are plenty of great places.
This is the key. In my experience, the larger, more obvious places are mediocre, but the small holes in the wall you could easily walk past and never realize they're there have some fucking amazing food more often than not.
How is the public transportation there?
Excellent by American standards for most of Boston and Greater Boston, which is to say mediocre by European standards. It's entirely possible to be independently mobile and car free there. Most places are walkable and there are pleasant old buildings and green spaces or plazas or spots overlooking water to stumble upon. It's a lovely city.
As a Masshole, yes, please don't drive when you come here. You will be in someone's way and catch a glimpse of the state bird:
‘Channels the inner Bostonian’
;)
First time I visited Boston, I was lost somewhere in downtown and walking in circles. Must have passed a postman one too many times because he just briskly walks up to me and, gesturing with a handful of mail, abruptly asks, “whadaya, fuckin lost?”
He then proceeded to give me very clear and accurate directions to where I was going.
One of the interesting things about Boston is that the average person you bump into doesn't have the typical Boston accent. There are too many immigrants, international students, etc. for that accent to dominate. But, certain jobs: postal worker, cop, firefighter, public transit worker, etc. that mostly hire locals. So, your announcements on the T are mostly always done with a strong Boston accent.
Difficult to navigate? The roads are designed entirely around the premise of “FAHK YOUU!! You don’t know how this road works? Moron!” Source: lived there. Want to go to Salem? Nope. One of my favorites is the tollway from the airport to downtown. If you miss the last exit or go the wrong way on 1, guess you’re going downtown because fuck you. Downtown is a mess of one-ways, turn only lanes, and no, two rights will NOT have you going in the opposite direction. Fuck you, you’re now going to Worcester on the Masspike. Have fun.
Yes, have fun. Worcester's great. Check out Kelly Square.
That tea would be disgustingly weak. We did the maths. Of course we did the maths.
Don't forget the public transport, which is underwhelming.
By US standards it's pretty good.
That's like saying your underwear is comfortable compared to being made of barbed wire.
LOLZ ya got the Boston attitude, pal. I'd buy ya a bacon-wrapped shrimp at Faneuil Hall.
You're not even deep-frying it? Barbarian...
🤤
That's more of an Ohio-tier joke, lazily beating a dead horse; but I suppose Bostonians love their history, eh?
My one visit to Boston (American) was for part of a day. The people were nice, food was good, and the harbor was very accepting of the loose tea I threw in it.
But I'm glad it was during summer.
Boston is awesome for it's green spaces. Probably my favorite city to walk a far distance. So many parks. So many huge parks.
Just came back from a long weekend in Boston, and I loved it. It reminded me very much of Dublin where I live:
But the food was great, and the T was lightyears ahead of the Dublin metro system.
Wow, Dublin's metro must suck. Boston's subway is good by US standards, but it's one of the worst of any major city I've been in elsewhere. The Green Line is more a tram than a subway line, and has that horrible tight turn under Park Street. For a city the size of Boston it has a decent number of different subway lines, but the whole system is old and poorly maintained.
Dublin metro was first planned in the 1980s. A definitive plan was finalized last year, and the construction was supposed to start next year, bur at the last possible moment a group of residents near one of the planned terminuses blocked it in court because the construction would "cause them undue stress". So, if we're lucky, the metro construction will begin within 50 years of the original plan. Ireland is thus remaining one of the very few European countries with sizable population, without a metro. Despite running such huge budget surpluses that we sometimes refuse to collect taxes from the multinationals.
In Boston, I stayed close to Alewife. The red line was decent to get me to the city centre, and I had two good bus connections to Lexington where I also had some business to attend to.
Oh wow. AFAIK Boston's is the oldest one in North America, more than a century old now.
Yeah, the red line is, IMO, Boston's best line. But, that was also partially based on where I mostly travelled. But, I imagine the red line probably receives a bit more attention than the other lines because it's the line that serves Harvard and MIT.
Did people start cheering and weeping tears of joy when they heard your accent?
Haha, no. I was tempted to visit Paddy's Lunch, but being in Boston I opted for clam chowder, a good burger (where you actually get to specify how you want it made), and some Italian. I was mildly amused when I walked by a pub that advertised a band called The Gobshites. Certainly won't help to dispell Irish stereotypes.
I hope they're a really bad Gob cover band
Bwahahahah! Yeah, I live an hour north.. most of it is fairly true, but there is some crazy good food in Boston.
Food was killer when I was there.
Yeah, but the rest is true.
💀 🗿
Boston has better food than your average city. It's a relatively rich city, which helps. More importantly, it has something like 40 universities in and around that area, and many of them cater to international students. So, you get all kinds of interesting ethnic foods from around the world. Boston also has a small Chinatown, but it has great food. It also has a lot of Brazilian immigrants, so it has restaurants catering to Brazilians.
Some of my favourites:
Speaking of my town just outside Boston ……
The food is just like the British: we have great Indian food
They throw a pretty great tea party. Everything else is as described.
I visited Boston 2 months ago for a wedding. Spent almost a whole week making a vacation of it with my wife. Can confirm all of this is accurate.
And yes, I went to the famous Italian district in the North End. It was way overpriced and it was fine but not particularly memorable. Just generic american-italian fare you can find in any city in America. The only notable food I had was the absolute worst Pad Thai I've ever had in my life.
I'm a white guy who has lived my whole life in the northeast US, and even I was shocked at the lack of spices or flavor in everything. Even my Dunkin Donuts coffee seemed blander than how it was at home.
Well, I did get some edibles from the dispensary which included some incredible white chocolate with espresso beans. Not sure if I would count that as "food" though.
If you do have to eat in downtown Boston I would recommend the South Street Diner. The food itself was just the stuff you would expect from any diner in America, but it was executed well and almost reasonably priced.
I'm sure there's good Italian food in the North End, but no local would go there to find it. You pay a premium because it's the North End and you and every other tourist had the same idea.
You may have better luck in Cambridge, Allston or Brookline for food in general. Easier to park and get a table, too.
Show me a cheap city with a warm climate on a grid system with amazingly friendly people, and I’ll show you hell on Earth.
Go Sox!
Adelaide? Might not be cheap though
The seafood is top notch. Fresher too, especially things like lobstah. And don't forget about the clam chowdah. Try the schrod.
The people are very nice they just have thick shells to deter assholes. Compare to the rest of the country, where the people are "nice" but secretly want you to fuck off.
The only difference is they're not secret about it.
I went in January, cold but nothing I'm unaccustomed to as a Canadian.
Clam chowder was decent at least what I tried. Public transit was usable. People were nice there in your typical American sense, but NYC shops had more heart for strangers and visitors comparatively. But I was only able to really scratch the surface from my day trip there.
During my visit, I heard from some locals that they prefer thin crust pizza to deep dish. Found that both funny and agreeable.
Why is that funny or surprising? Boston is not known for its deep dish; that is Chicago.
Yeah, a bit off the rails right now.
Thought Chicago was known for the weird-ass sauce on top of the cheese pizza.
That's "Detroit".
Nah, you're mistaken, making a mislabeled pasta that is mislabeled as pizza is firmly a Chicago thing!
Detroit Deep Dish is an excellent thicc and crunchy crusted cheese-carmelized indulgence born of factory workers, whist Chicago "pizza" is a shit lasagna the domain of disappointed tourists and locals too dense to realize the sauce goes under the cheese!
No, Detroit has (optionally) a couple lines of sauce on top, and most places I know that make Detroit style skip the sauce lines. Chicago style has sauce on top of the entire thing.
Though I just looked it up and it looks like there are multiple different "Chicago style" definitions.
Chicago style is a kiddie pool of a crust filled with an alarming miasma of sauce and toppings (bafflingly, placed under the sauce). It’s more of a “savory pie” than a “pizza-pie”. Great for if you want to drown a toddler in a food item; not so great for folding up and eating as you walk around town.
They can be tasty. I just object to them being classified with the rest of the pizza genus, because they’re wildly different in terms of construction to any other pizza species.
It's a casserole
Pizza means pie.
Pizza means pizza. Pie in Italian is torta or crostata
Chicago gives a dark name to deep dish. In that cursed city, they misname their shitty lasagna so!
Nah there’s good food in Boston. They have a marvelous Italian neighborhood. Them mfs cook
More than just good food. The North End alone is full of world class culinary institutions. Everything else is right enough for a meme but the food line couldn't be more wrong.
I've lived there and liked it. More open than NY with less BS than the west coast. Food was fine but I'm even less of a foodie now than back then.
Huh. Had an opposite experience. Boston locals have their families and friend set, if you don’t have 3 generations in the local cemetery you’re not “from there”. Very closed.
West coast is all chain food. Meh.
The best restaurants are the local ones in NY and Boston.
NY? Everyone was chill. That said, the idea that Bostonians are unfriendly isn’t true. You get them talking and they're your bestie.
IDK where you went, but saying the west coast is all chain food is absolutely bizarre to me.
A quick search shows a PBS article where researchers found the southern US and Republican states as a whole have a higher % of chain restaurants, as opposed to more left leaning states where people tend to be more concerned with what they're eating.
I lived there for 20 years. I went everywhere.
E: why the downvotes? I’ve literally been in every State, and have been all over the entire state of California, from Mono to Crescent City to Blythe. I was there twice last month and I’ll go back again soon. Compared to where I’ve lived like Boston and NYC CA is full of chain restaurants. Not as bad as TX or the South. Y’all need to get out more.
This man never been in a taqueria
My friend, the number one thing I eat when I go back to CA is the Mexican food. Y’got me there. CA has huge indy owned Mex food. “My man” loves the taquerias and every other hole in the wall Mexican joint. Just went to El Cholo in L.A. two days ago.
There’s that mediocre restaurant chain “Boston Pizza”…but I think that’s only here in Canada.
And it has nothing to do with Boston. Nor was New York Fries have anything to do with New York.
Then it really is authentic Boston Pizza!
(No seriously I found maybe 3 good pizza places while I lived in Boston and I'm pretty sure 2 of them technically weren't even in Boston. The pizza there is mid at best)
Being part of America, it sure is a place to avoid aswel.
No british people there
And that's just great.
Literally spending Christmas there because of parter’s family in a few weeks. It’s not the worst place I have been to, but it is expensive, the people shout at each other mostly in heavy accents, and there is nothing to do. The food?
Somehow they messed up seafood.
Depends on how much of asshole you are. I had no problems the brief time I was there.
masshole
I'm not from there so I can't be a masshole.
Not calling you that just a misunderstanding maybe. It's a common joke that people from Massachusetts are assholes, hence the name Massholes.
That was me being flippant.
People who think British food is bad have never had a pie or a fry
Maybe they mean the original one in Lincolnshire.
I always loved visiting Baastin as a port visit.
But then again, I was from Halifax.
Traffic actually worse after the Big Dig. Aside from Helmand in Cambridge, the food is not good.
I find it difficult to navigate in 2287 as well. Food's still not too good either.