The Muddy Charles Pub at MIT

Bar with the world’s highest average IQ?
(Or bar actively killing the best braincells)

The cheapest beer in Boston. Hands down.
Not only that, but as a self-​proclaimed nerd, I love coming here to pre-​game at a level more social than sitting on my couch watching ESPN with my friends. I love this place almost as much as I love disjointed, debatably run-​on sentences.
Grab your friends and go get a few beers at this place before heading out somewhere else. Play Star Wars trivia or Yahtzee. Talk to other nerds. And tip your bartenders.

Horrible bartenders and very cramped… only gets three stars because it’s probably the cheapest beer in Cambridge. And the free wings on Wednesday night. Still though, it’s not a social place, and the ambiance is all wrong.

This place is a joke. Had been several times just because of the cheap beer but yesterday saw one of the bartenders behaving in an unacceptable manner. First he refused to serve a pitcher 1 hour before closing and just after serving one to other group. After, at closing time, this bartender took a drink directly from a customer’s hand without any notice, refused the request to make a formal complaint and threatened with calling the police. Everybody was calm all the time and this was totally unjustified.

Subsidized by MIT, the Muddy makes a great watering hole for MIT affiliates and friends. Tucked into a small sitting room in Morss Hall (?) across from the EAPS (Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences) building, the «bar» is understated – adorned with furniture from times past. The focal point of the room is a large fireplace, which provides a comfortable, radiant heat on those cold New England winter days.
The beer and wine selection is adequate and cheap ($ 2-​$ 4). Don’t forget to tip the bartenders! They’re MIT students so you know it goes to a good cause.
Also, they are REQUIRED to check ID here for EVERYONE, so don’t get all huffy, even if you look like you’re 50 years old, when they ask.
Side note, this is a great place to study as well. It’s generally quiet and you get a great view of the Charles out the window.
PRO TIP: You ARE allowed to bring in food from outside sources so don’t hesitate to bring your own snacks.

Excellent location and awesome prices

Get yourself a job or convince a friend with a job at MIT to take you to here. Head over anytime after 2PM. Curl up in the foyer with a view of the river — get some work done. Or, show up later on in the evening, have a cheap pitcher of beer, order in any local eatery, and enjoy.

I’ve been here a few times, and I think «nerdy» and «boring» are the best ways to sum it up for me. It is full of MIT people, half of which are on their laptops and none of whom know how to talk to me, a girl. There is also NOTHING happening there. You just sit (if you can find a seat) and drink cheap $ 2 beer. I could drink cheap $ 2 beer in my own apartment and be more entertained. No music, or sports (except the TV), or any theme nights. Just you, a computer, and a cheap beer.
However, I do see the draw for the nerdy crowd who want to congregate with their own species, and this would be the perfect place to do it.

Super-​cheap beer, a decent selection, and an awesome, Tolkien-​esque vibe. The only con is that the place is STUFFED. It always gets crazy crowded, and your only seating options are these big tables that cater to big-​ish groups. If it’s just you+1, it can really suck. Also, an old dude once seriously creeped on me. Sigh.
Only open for MIT affils, students, staff, etc. too, though you can bring in your non-​MIT friends. Or I did, at least.

I love the muddy.
Its only for MIT students and affiliates and thats what makes it AWESOME. They are so chill and the atmosphere is very low key. Its a great place to swing by after class to grab a beer or cider. My friends and I will even come here and buy bottles of cheap champagne sometimes to celebrate (~$ 12 – 15) – cheaper than anywhere else around. Its a really great, down-​to-​earth place, run by students, so its dirt cheap.

Cheap beer at a great location with a view of the Charles. What more do you need?
$ 3-​$ 5 glasses of beer
$ 7-​$ 11 pitchers of beer
some seasonal beers are available.
they allow you to bring in your own food (pizza, etc.)

Wed. night free wings and cheap drinks. Need I say more?

I hate people who say this, but «it is what it is». The muddy feels like a campus rec room, with a thin layer of beer covering all surfaces. The customers are smart, the beer is good and cheap ($ 4 Fin du Monde, anyone?) and the free Wednesday wings have constituted dinner for me more than I’d like to admit.
There is no music, no atmosphere, and i don’t know anyone here. But I love it. Rock on, muddy.

This place is furnished like a nursing home cafeteria and smells like decades of very smart men who have wet themselves after drinking too many pitchers of Budweiser. If the walls could talk they would say «youuu are the my best friend… yer are such a great guys… I mean… I love you man.»
This fantastic bar is best reserved for a bunch of dudes with nothing to do on a Friday morning.
A classic bar with an excellent view of the Charles river and $ 6 pitchers. Add this to Bostons best values.

Free wings Wednesday nights! Round 1: 8pm. Round 2: 9pm. This is the only reason why I’ve been coming here every week. If you do go, please adhere to the «take 4 wings at a time» rule! We’re all hungry too!
Feel free to bring your own food or order delivery. They don’t serve food, just really cheap drinks (beer goes for $ 1.50 to $ 2.50, or $ 4 for the tasty tasty La Fin du Mond). Grad students come in large groups to drink and unwind. It’s hard to find seating on a busy night, but if you get there early enough, they’ve got many large tables that can accommodate large groups of 8 – 10 ppl.

The only reason it is getting 3 stars is because I feel guily for not having gone there. I’ve lived literally 300 yards away from it for almost five years and never went. For that I feel bad, and these are guilt stars.
On the other hand, here’s why this establishment won’t be getting five. They don’t have any light beers. None. Zero. Nada. Keine. Auncunes.
They have a pretty decent selection other than that, even featuring a Belgian import that has over 8% alcohol known as «La Fin Du Monde». They don’t serve any kind of food but welcome you to order some and have it delivered there. Some guys were getting dominos delivered earlier.
They have a giant projector where the Red Sox game was playing, that’s always nice and they have a lot of seating /​tables.
Overall it’s a nice effort to run a bar but the bottom line is, they aren’t using their liquor license properly. I feel like they could and should utilize it better by having more beers available, especially light ones.
Other than that, it’s mostly the nerdy MIT crowd that hangs out there. A few people were playing poker in a dark corner on the right, others doing a bit of homework.
Not bad, but I’ve seen better. On the upside, prices aren’t too bad.

Somehow the concept of being inebriated amongst geniuses is well captured by the Muddy Charles pub. Located in the heart of MIT, this pub caters to professors, students, and sometimes a local adult softball teams. The prices are insanely low, and they always have two decent beers on tap (Note: they have three taps, but one of the options is Budweiser).
The atmosphere is great for conversations with large groups of friends. They also have octagonal tables which is perfect for a game of Texas Hold’em. Bottled beers are listed on a solar panel; what more could you ask for in a college bar?

OK. So, MIT may be one of the world’s (possibly THE world’s) première science research institutes, but apparently at some point the students of the university got their shit together and said, «OK seriously guys. Even mad scientists gotta get their drink on sometimes.»
Come on – you have got to give them mad props for having such awesome (and CHEAP) on-​campus bars. While the Thirsty Ear has the advantage of offering a (much) larger food selection, the Muddy Charles is clearly the cooler place to hang. I mean, it’s got free food pretty much any night I’ve been there, OR you can bring in /​order your own; many games, including dominoes, to select from while you down a quick after-​school/​after-​work beer; *plus* the added bonus of being right across the street from the river and thus the perfect place to come after a quick sail in the evening.
If that weren’t enough, it’s also got a cozy, cuddly atmosphere, usually isn’t too packed (although on free wings night, watch out), AND it has *ridiculously* cheap beer! CHEAP beer. On tap and in bottles. Also sometimes cheap champagne.
I think you are technically supposed to show MIT ID to get in, but come on, who’s checking?

I had never tried either of MIT’s pubs til this week. Muddy is literally next to my dorm, so I decided to go on Wednesday for the free wings and the cheap beer. I missed the wings, but the beer is super cheap. This is the sort of place to come with a crowd, though, so don’t come and try to meet people because it probably isn’t going to happen as easily as in other bars.
But you can’t beat a cheap bar less than a minute away.

Any bar that has a singer singing Oro, Se Do Bheatha ‘Bhaile the day BEFORE St Patrick’s Day is a special one. Followed by a cover of Britney’s Hit Me Baby One More Time? It was successfully ironic enough to be enjoyable.
I don’t know if it’s a California thing, a middle class thing, or a public university deal but MY school never had a pub in it. Not that we weren’t adequately resourceful at the time, but still I was a bit envious.
The staff was friendly and the prices were set to fit a student budget. And if you are no longer a student like myself, then it is a steal! Wahahaaa.