Union Square Allston

Union Square has some of the best food and drink in the Boston area. You’ve got Alfredo’s, twin donuts, toms, grasshopper, deep ellum, and so on. Genuinely a great spot.

Everyone likes to crap on Allston but really the problems with it are aesthetic and ephemeral. OK, *yes,* there are some rats. However, I have noticed a huge improvement in the area – last year I would see rats the size of small children at least three times a week; this year, I haven’t seen a single one. Also, there’s no denying that the storefronts are a bit dingy, the streets a bit run-​down. Beacon Hill it ain’t.
But for all that, Allston maintains its independent vibe and Union square reflects this in its eclectic mix of restaurants, dive bars, ethnic grocery stores and used clothing/​furniture stores. It’s a place that embraces and provides options for people who are different, who are poor, and/​or who like to get drunk.
You won’t find boring chain stores stifling this area. What you will find is a dizzying array of restaurants, from Chinese, Japanese, Nepalese, Burmese, Vegan (two!), Lebanese, Thai and Brazilian. You can get your shoes repaired, your nails painted, and your hair did all on the cheap.
OK, it’s not a place to come visit if you’re a tourist, but it’s a great place to live. It’s urban, but still mostly safe (just avoid Linden Street after 1am…) and has plenty to offer its residents.

Maybe I’m biased because I live nearby, but man, there aren’t many places that have more character than Allston’s Union Square.
All the international restaurants/​grocery stores/​fabric shops you could possibly want. Several thrift stores (even if they aren’t that thrifty). TWO VEGAN restaurants RIGHT next to each other. Dive bars galore. And the smell of yummy yummy donuts wafting through the air to reinvigorate you aaaaaall niiiiiiiiight looooooong.
Also, not that complicated to get to. About 75 buses go through (alright, maybe only 3), and the Green Line ain’t that far away. So quityerbitchin.

A seeping pilonidal cyst on the coccyx of Allston, Union Square is the terminus of the x-​axis cathetus if you draw out a right triangle consisting of points at Harvard/​Comm Ave (y-​axis terminus), Harvard/​Brighton Ave and Brighton Ave/​Cambridge St. (Union).
Woe ye who venture through this Bermuda-​esque Triangle of doom and despair — make the appropriate preparations beforehand (e.g., write out a will), travel in a sturdy, lead reinforced vehicle (preferably something military grade), and wear a hazmat suit at all time, or you’re untimely disappearance and eventual demise is all but guaranteed.