My Personal Path To Worcester: Pub Edition

Worcester is an interesting town, there are many positive and negative elements. Different parts of town have a diverse selection of colleges, businesses, bars and restaurants.  This can be a tough town, there are definitely some areas to avoid. But amongst the urban decay there are a number prestigious colleges and universities.  Naturally with the population of Worcester couped with the amount of college students present there is a prominent nightlife scene filled with bars, restaurants, clubs and music venues.

Hard working college students  need the occasional break from their studies to let off some steam. The highly diverse selection of various nightlife locations is one of Worcester’s most positive and promising aspects.The large variety includes all the mainstream offerings one can expect from a modern city,.
There are great local establishments like the Boynton on 17 Highland Street, arguably the most popular college pub in town.
 

There are upper-end dining options such as the one eleven chop house and other trendy Shrewsburry street establishments. Of course there are a plethora of clubs and bar catering to the younger crowd. Then there are Worcester’s more underground offerings, and these are whats really worth seeking out.
Let’s look at the beer bars, my personal favorite type of establishments in town.
The Boynton is a mainstream bar option will a large variety of draft beer. All though the selection tends to be more in the Sam Adams range of things, it is still nice to see over 20 beers on draft. The menu while extensive is typical pub. the pizzas have to be the most popular, and rightfully so. The interior was massively renovated about ten years ago and while it is pleasant, I feel moving away from the former appearance takes away from the bars character. The old bar was filled with old wood and had a ancient New England pub vibe, the new image is very modern. There is nothing wrong with contemporary decor, but I love a good bar with personality and the Boyton no longer has it.

There is another mainstream option of brew city located on Shrewsburry street. While brew city possess a impressive number if draft and bottle beers, many of which are locals, it is somewhat “the wall of mediocrity” if you will. Much of Sam Adams, Wachusett and other micro-brew beers of a more mainstream, even a lower quality. The food while standard pub fare is well done, the menu is truly huge and most items I’ve sampled have been prepared well. While a quality location and not quite your typical sports bar, Brew City is a little to mainstream for my liking.

There is also Peppercorn’s Grille and tavern located on 455 Park Avenue  while I’ve only been here once  it seemed to be a good place. Peppercorn's main claim to fame is most definitely the fact that they are the main bar for Worcester's only brewery, Wormtown. While Wormtown can be found in several bars around the state, they do not have a pub on location. So Peppercorn's has become the place to go to try Wormtowns various and extremely fresh craft brewed beers.

There is The Dive Bar, located on Green Street. They’re not lying about the “Dive” in The Dive Bar. The exterior is slightly shady and there’s even an abandoned building or two next to this great bar, but once you step inside you’ll find a warm interesting environment. The nautical theme inside puts a nice double entendre spin on the “Dive” in The Dive Bar. There is ancient diving gear, sharks, harpoons and even an old stem ship helm. Out back is a well maintained beer garden that is popular in the summer months.

The beer selection is 1st rate. On a typical day you’ll find around 20 beers on draft and about the same in bottles. The selection of brews is mostly craft New England offering, but Colorado, west coast and east coast beers are usually well represented here.

This takes us to the gold standard of beer bars in town. The Dive Bar’s parent company Armsby Abby. Armsby Abby is located right down town on North Main Street. Like the Dive Bar it is a little hard to find, but unlike the dive bar it’s 100% class all the time.
 

Armsby Abby accomplishes several food and drink goals very well. The draft list is always filled with some of the finest brews in the world and the bottle list is on the forefront of the Belgian beer scene. The menu is interesting in that about half the menu is devoted to various varieties of local cheeses, the second half contains gourmet takes on an ever changing selection of local, sustainable dishes.

Truly Worcester is a place to visit to experience some unique choices in craft beer.
 

Next time we’ll discuss the options you have when your full of beer and want to see some live music in one of Worcester’s music venues.