The Black Rose

Downtown, Boston · Bar · $$

The Black Rose opened in 1976 and has been running live Irish traditional music every night since - which, in a city full of theme-bar impostors, counts for something real. It sits on State Street near the waterfront, easy to reach from anywhere downtown, and delivers exactly what it promises: Guinness poured properly, shepherd's pie worth eating, clam chowder that isn't from a box, and a crowd that showed up because it actually likes being there.