11 Best Nightlife in Cambridge, Boston

For those looking to avoid Boston's ultra-sceney clubs, Middlesex is a welcoming, laid-back club for all sorts of people looking to dance the night away. Rolling settees, movable in varied seating configurations for trivia, games, and sports nights, are usually cleared by 9 pm, when a $10 cover kicks in for DJs spinning crowd-pleasing EDM and hip-hop. Feed on small plates and pressed sandwiches. The lounge is only open Thursday through Saturday, 5 pm–2 am.

This is where local hipsters make their home. Bands, beers, and burgers sum up this snug and amiable little Porter Square hideaway attached to Christopher's. The bar is maple, the toads ceramic, and microbrews on tap are a dozen-plus. Nightly music comes in many a stripe Wednesday through Saturday nights, and sometimes in double bills at 5 and 9 pm. Record lovers unite on Saturday from 5 to 7:30 pm for vinyl sharing, drink sipping, and "favorite music?" chatting.

This collegial, cavernous microbrewery is the oldest brew pub in the greater Boston area and has been the happy haunt for MIT techies and craft-brew geeks since its 1989 founding. They push the boundaries of beer, from bourbon barrel-aging an imperial stout to creating the first true solera aging process in the United States for beer. Order CBC's Cambridge Amber, Charles River Porter, and Blunderbuss Barleywine fresh in pints, or go for a "tower" (an 83-ounce glass "yard"). In warm weather, try to nab a coveted patio table, a catbird seat for people-watching across bricky Kendall Square. Cheerful staff serve above-average pub grub, even at weekend "beerunches."

Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Josh Ritter, Lake Street Dive—thousands of folkies have strummed and warbled their way through Club Passim, one of America's oldest (1958) and most renowned clubs for Americana and roots music. Audience participation is encouraged, so be ready to sing along. The ultra-cozy brick basement has a kitchen that's open for relaxed live-music dining (which is only available to ticket holders). If you travel with your guitar, call about open-mic nights. Classes and workshops at their school around the corner carry on folk traditions. Acoustic bands perform nightly; expect to pay a $5–$25 cover.

This quintessential grad-student hangout is cavelike, low-lit, and brick-walled. During early evenings, tasty entrées like buffalo chicken dip, burritos, brisket nachos, and burgers are half-price with a $4-per-person drink (inside only; not on outdoor patio). Named after Grendel, the antagonist in the Old English poem Beowulf, there's nothing but neighborhood love here as you raise a pint in this half-century old hangout.

Overlooking Central Square, this 5,400-square-foot ballroom dance floor hosts a kaleidoscope of DJs and live bands, and often free burritos or nachos. Three hundred people may show up to dance salsa, creating a lively scene for dancers at any level. Open Monday is for bachata (sultry midtempo Dominican dance), Friday and Saturday for salsa, and Tuesday blends both. With lessons at 8 or 9 pm, depending on the night, the joint really gets hopping by 9 or 10 pm.

This Central Square venue flips audience cues into situation comedy, complete with theme songs and commercials. Be careful when you go to the restroom—you might be pulled onstage. Performers may face off in improv competitions judged by audiences. Shows run Wednesday through Sunday, $15 to $25, at The Rockwell theater in Davis Square (with a full bar).

You can feel like you're in Dublin here, sipping well-poured pints, eyeing the dusky atmosphere with wood paneled walls, and eating black-and-white pudding or rib eye roasted in Guinness. Musicians jam Wednesday evening, Saturday late day, and Sunday afternoon.

Named after famed architect Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow (nephew of poet Henry), this neighborhood bar and restaurant is located in the historic Café Algiers space directly above chef/owner Michael Scelfo's Alden & Harlow, a subterranean haunt adjacent to The Brattle Theatre. Bartenders pour creative cocktails, local craft brews, and a fluid list of edgy boutique wines by the bottle. The menu features bar food intended to be passed and shared.

This genuine Irish pub has doubled as a bohemian oasis since 1969. Drink Guinness and Bass on tap and many Irish whiskies; hear light rock, Irish, or country music nightly, usually by 10:30 pm. Narrow and cozy, The Plough is a comfy, noisy den for locals and students, yet a fine place to have lunch alone. The cover charge varies, but the popular weekday beer and burger specials remain the same. Fun fact: literary magazine Ploughshares was founded here.

Follow the retro neon sign to the music scene you've been waiting for. Bringing a long-awaited sophisticated rock music and dining venue to Harvard Square, The Sinclair's adventurous, near-nightly lineup of indie rock—with enticing flings into world, electronica, and jazz—often sells out. Its adjacent but quite separate restaurant and bar, with wanderlusty train and highway decor, a serious beverage list, creative mixology, and cuisine inspired by regional Americana at on-site Brato, is proving to be a winning formula. Accommodating 500, here's a party made to order for transient, academic, and streetwise grown-ups.