Joey Mac’s

RIP Joey Mac’s
I loved this place. A proper dive bar, not overtaken by hipsters.
It was possible to feel intimidated in there. I loved it.

Joey Macs is the epitome of a Local Dive Bar. Its got Darts, Pool, and Cheap Beer. Really reminds me of my old Dive Bar hangout in Tucson (The Golden Nugget) which I miss.
Negatives:
Every once and a while can get interesting locals (not necessarily a negative but worth pointing out).
Only take Cash (Not really a negative either)
Jute Box (I feel like a bar such as this should have a classic jute box that takes Quarters, not credit cards)
Definitely a good bar though!

Well, this bar just reminds me of every terrible place I’ve ever loved.
A lot of its charm, unfortunately, has to do with the fact that it is hidden in somebody’s* buttcrack so people either can’t find it or can’t manage to squeeze on in. Hell, even my cab driver had no idea and those guys are usually pretty awesome at «buttcrack».
Businesslike yet friendly staff. All kinds of creepy and/​or friendly patrons, depending on your POV. Darts. Pool. Video games that are not Buck Hunter (whyyyyy youuu little…)
My friend Pascal just couldn’t get enough.
*somebody=east cambridge

Great dive bar PERIOD! Plenty of character and characters. Dart board and pool table. No Heineken Light? DAMN! Still a great place to go if you are a local, go with a local or are willing to act like a local.
BARNEYS NEED NOT APPLY!

If this is a ‘dive’ bar I must be in heaven (btw, biz owners with bad reviews, you’ll be glad to know that, apparently, the people working, and drinking, in heaven have no idea what « Unilocal» is). I went for the first time on a recent early weekday night and expected a dingy, smelly and beer stained joint like the dives of my youth (Cronin’s, The Hammond, Mary Ann’s & the one where Redbones now operates). Much to my surprise I found a little gem of a bar which seemed unusually clean and well appointed (loved the ‘saddle’ stools). Sam and Stella in the bottle are $ 4. Most importantly, for me, the pool table is in great shape for a bar table; Renee, the wonderful bartender, called it «the most pampered table in Cambridge».

There’s really nothing to dislike about Joey Mac’s. Dartboards, and home of a quality dart league. An unrealistically amazing karaōke night, full of regulars, crazies and spotlight hounds. People watching galore. Free (actually quite good) food on football Sundays, $ 8 pitchers, and a great location in East Cambridge make this a sweet spot to go any night of the week for a few beers and a sandwich, a weekend spot to throw some dars, or a nook to settle into to watch your fantasy football team shit the bed.

Dive bar? Uh-​yup.
I like me some dive bars. This place showcases the locals, cheap beers and spirited bartenders.
Cash only. I will have to go back to make a serious review — it’s been a while since I’ve been back.

Yes, this is a Dive Bar… but in my humble opinion a pretty damn good one by all accounts. Post softball game the opposing teams met up for a couple socials. The bartender reminded me of the inappropriately cool mom back in high school who would let us drink in her basement. «You kids need some more snacks down there?»…peanuts in the shell, pretzel sticks… cheap High Lifes… what else does a girl need. I wanted to buy a round but hubby had to run to the ATM (no credit cards/​debit cards… sorry.) I asked if I could start a tab… nah…“no worries, honey, just pay when he gets back“
They do dive just right.

One of the last of a swiftly dying breed. (The Cambridge Dive Bar)
The Windsor Tap is gone (now King Hobo) the Cambridge Port and Abbey lounge – also gone.
Joey Mac’s, Cantab, Courtside, and Charles River are still around as is Paddy’s lunch.
Of all of these, Joey Mac’s is the only that features darts and pool.
This place is full of hard-​drinking regulars who are friendly. It is also a favorite hang of local biker gang The Rum Pot Rustlers, try to make friends with some and get invited to the annual pig-​roast (in Quincy if I remember correctly.)
I especially like to come to Joey Mac’s on the weekend to get away from the crowds.

This place is exactly what I was looking for.
Sketchy? Pretty much
Full of locals? Yes!
Beer? You betchya
Pool table and darts? mmhmmm!
Listen– I’m a girl raised on dives, and Boston is seriously lacking. But this place is a gem. The bar flies we talked to were social (however, please take notice that one of my friends has a wonderful knack at making friends with anybody and everybody), the beer was plentiful, and the music on the jukebox was enjoyable (Led Zeppelin, Tom Waits, etc.)
Oh– And this impressed me: There is both a men’s and women’s restroom… despite the line of men… the women’s was open for use. I know if I were in any of those dude’s places I would have jumped into the ladies’… but they didn’t! I walked right in :)

This was one of my regular dive bar stops back in my 20s and early 30s, along with the late, lamented Cambridgeport Saloon, The Bradford (RIP), Pug’s, and the Crystal Lounge AKA the VFW (also RIP). I recently went there and nothing has changed except the clientele isn’t strictly townie anymore but rather an interesting mix. There is still an undercurrent of hostility toward non-​townies and the feeling that someone could get stabbed at any moment, but it is a far cry from the drug-​infested hellhole that it was in the late 80s/​early 90s. It’s also nice to see that it has withstood the gentrification that has plagued the rest of Cambridge. It’s nice to be able to get a buzz for under $ 10!

I recently went to Joey Mac’s on a Thursday night. I don’t know how typical the crowd was, as I was attending a fundraiser, but it was a really interesting mix of of people (aka a lot of townie types and über liberals). There was karaōke, which was led by a very interesting cowboy. Again, not sure if karaōke is a normal occurrence here, although the bartender’s rendition of a Frank Sinatra song kinda makes me think it might be. The best thing about this place would be the really cheap drinks. I ordered a Jameson and diet and a Stoli Vanilla and diet, and remember being stoked at how cheap they were — definitely no more than $ 5 or $ 6 a piece. I don’t know that I would go out of my way to come here, but Joey Mac’s is definitely worth stepping into if you find yourself in that neck of the woods.

Cheap booze, pool, a Wii on certain nights (wednesdays and saturday!), darts, and quite possibly the strangest crew and bar tenders I’ve seen for quite a while, Joey Mac’s is a remaining dive that I’m going to have to put on my «Do Visit» list.
While it was pretty dead on Saturday, the music was awful top 40 mix, it had a little bit of charm in the, «I can get wasted on less than 20 bucks» type charm that I always love. I wish they would turn the lights down a little bit though, as I’d rather not be examining the finer parts of the flooring.
Do a shot of Glenlivet and a High Life. It’ll be cheaper than whatever you buy at anywhere else in the area.

Ah, a pool table. I actuallly SUCK at pool, but I do dig a bar that actually has one nowadays. And darts. This place is just a simple bar. No frills, very local, and nice and cheap ($ 2.75 bottles of Bud Lt — hells yeah).
Not worth the travel to get here — because wherever you are (and if you are lucky) you will find a Joey Macs in that neighborhood too. In a city where the Hammond Lounges of the world are turning into upscale, dark wood taverns, it’s nice to see places like this stick it out.

Don’t believe the… uh… you know… whatever the opposite of hype is. Yes, Lydia, it’s a dump; yes, my vocabulary seems to have suffered a sort of mini-​meltdown since last night — attributable, perhaps, to JM’s utter lack of ventilation and camphorated bar-​top snackfoods and videotastic jet-​decibel jukebox brassing out all of the Ronstadt and ABBA you could ever, ever conceivably ask for; yes, the bathrooms have no locks; yes, there’s nary a Pabst to be found on the premises; yes, yes, yes. Okay. But Lydia, really. What IS charm? Well, what? Boil it down, reduce and decoct it — and what do you have? I couldn’t tell you, myself; my head hurts a little too much right now for that kind of concentration. Charm. Are YOU charming, Lydia? More charming, I mean, than Joey Mac’s regulars? Because they seemed pretty damn charming to me. Don’t judge a regular by his bridgework, I say. And don’t be afraid of offending someone with errant looks — after five or six beers your eyes aren’t going to obey orders anyhow. We all need our dives; and on that count JM more than delivers. A class-​A experience, as far as I can remember.

This place is REAL dump. Yes, it’s cheap. But you probably have more teeth in your head than all the regulars combined. It has none of the charm of the late, lamented Cambridgeport Saloon, or Pug’s for that matter. It’s worth a visit just to see what Cambridge and Somerville was like before gentrification. Just don’t look at anyone the wrong way.