My girlfriends have been raving about the bar scene at the newly opened POST 390 in Downtown Boston...so i had to give it a try. Rachel gathered us together for a wonderful holiday get-together and birthday celebration (for Giselle) on a Wednesday night in December. :)
FIRST IMPRESSIONS: The scene was buzzing. It was 6:30 pm...Lots of energy, cool decor with lots of dark brown wood and orange themed decor. Downstairs is where the action is...Large fireplace and long-ish bar with solid wood divider and bar stools for more seating, located between the front entrance and the bar. It is a bit of tight squeeze to get to the bar area, and there is a lot of wasted space in the entry way, which could have been better utilized for guests...especially as friends have told me the line has been wrapped around the block to get in most nights. There is, however, a 2nd floor...which many people don't know about. Diners were seated at nearly every available table. Regardless, my girlfriends prefer to be on the bottom floor...where the action is. :) Besides, we got a truly "VIP" round table of 8 that night right in the corner window (thanks to Hania & Rachel). The entire facade is glass, offering great views of the city looking out onto Stuart and Clarendon Streets - across from Grill 23 and the former Jury's, now Doyle Hotel.
DEMOGRAPHIC: I was surprised to find that the scene on Wednesday night was about 75% male (straight-laced, business-y, mid-30s to late 40s - married, divorced and/or looking) who were huddled together on business dinners or trying to chat up the few and far between attractive women (some married, some single) at the bar. I told my female colleagues in their mid-20s that the men were older than me (gasp! ha!) so it might be better to just stop by with some friends for drinks rather than plan a whole night there. It was a "school night" so perhaps on weekends the demo gets younger and more single...although as a happily married newlywed, I don't really care either way. :) Observation, there were mostly male servers and bartenders and predominantly male patrons... so, they might want to up the ante on sexy female bartenders or servers (as seen at Sonsie, FELT or Whiskey Park)? Or not!? However, towards the end of the night, as the dinner crowd began to clear, a few members of the younger set did roll in. So, I'm thinking this a great spot for 30s and 40s to mix & mingle.
BATHROOMS ('cuz the ladies need to know): I like busy restaurants that have co-ed bathrooms. Some don't, but i do - as it speeds the process and you have your own private room for 'taking care of business.' All of the ones downstairs were filled, so I took a trip up the elevator to find another bathroom, and ended up on the 2nd floor of the restaurant, which is twice the size of the downstairs, and equally as packed. HINT: The bathrooms upstairs were huge and modern...same private "WC" stalls (water closet) which i like. So, sneak up the elevator to use them.
SERVICE: The service was good considering it was a crowded and hectic snowy evening during holiday season. We had a nice, attentive waiter and the other servers were friendly too. He made a few suggestions, took our orders and delivered them with ease. Not sure why they have so many "Secret Service" guys with dark suits and earpieces on duty...I seriously thought Tom Cruise, The Mayor (or "Mumbles" as we call him) or Tom Brady & Gisele were about to unveil their new baby boy...but alas, they were parting the seas for an ambulance responding to a medical emergency upstairs. Hope everyone was OK.
DRINKS: All Booze is Good Booze, in my book. So if a bartender can make a good cocktail for me and the ladies on a cold winter night, I'm in like Flynn. The specialty martinis we ordered were good, but there were only 2 vodka cocktails (my poison of choice) on the menu. The menu was heavy on gin and bourbon, so we'll have to give those a try next time. We had the Grape Excess martini, a really great Boston Ketel Martini (vodka, campari, lime juice, green tea syrup) and a straight-forward dirty vodka martini. (I prefer the cocktail menu at Mistral, Lucky's and Whiskey Park, to be honest). I really liked the bartender on duty, I'd just like to see a few more vodka-based cocktails for the list.
FOOD: The menu is the typical "comfort food" of many Boston eateries - heavy on the seafood (which i love), a raw bar, calamari, steak frites, seared scallops, roasted chicken, and meatloaf. Dare I say, extremely similar to LTK (Legal Test Kitchen in South Boston, which is across the street from my office). Since I like LTK, steak and seafood, I liked this menu - but, since this restaurant is the "next big thing" I was slightly unimpressed by the selection, as nothing stood out as inventive or cutting edge. The concept is an “urban tavern" according to Chef Eric Brennan (Federalist, Excelsior, Harvest) who is aiming to do comfort classics in a hipster atmosphere. (A nit-picky thing: The physical menu is too big. The large scale paper format kept knocking into our drinks and covering up our table surface.)
When the food came, I really enjoyed my well-seasoned and tender Grilled 8 oz Skirt Steak with fries (gobbled it down, in fact) at $24 as did 3 other ladies at the table. My friend Hania seemed to enjoy her Native Sea Scallops with succotash ($22.50), although Dahlia said the Linguini and Shrimp pasta dish was "nothing special." To be fair, we didn't have many appetizers - just the deviled eggs at $2.50 were a steal, as were the Goat Cheese & Olive Flat Bread Pizza ($12.50), served on a rather long and protruding cutting board. Next time we will try the Meatloaf and House Smoked Ribs ...and order few more apps and sides. We didn't order dessert, just another cocktail for the birthday girl (and later a few lemon drop shots purchased for us by the the aforementioned "40-something divorcees" at the bar. haha!)
SUMMARY: Go to Post 390 to check it out. It is worth the visit as it's new and on the map....similar to the buzz that The Liberty Hotel got when it first opened. I would go back for the bar scene on a week night with my husband, colleagues or friends, and would order some apps. I might even be inclined to try lunch for a business meeting or brunch after heavy window-shopping day. Parking is non-existent, so use the Valet, take the T or a taxi. Overall, the the decor attractive, location is ideal, and the bar scene is buzzing.
"CITY GIRL" RATING: 3.5 out of 5 stars (for buzzy bar scene)
INFO:Post 390
406 Stuart Street (corner of Clarendon Street) Boston, MA
T Stop: Back Bay (orange line), Arlington or Copley (green line)http://www.post390restaurant.com
(Photo: Gabe Davis)
