Midway Cafe

No food & cash only! It might look a little sketchy from the outside but once you walk inside, it’s not a bad spot for a beer! It’s an adorable small music venue. The drinks are listed in colorful chalk on the boards on the wall and they have little Christmas lightings around the place. Hey! It adds character! (: Plus, they have a prettay prettay decent selection of drinks and beers to choose from!

If you like friendly People and the Grateful Dead come for the early shift on Friday night. The beer is cheap and cold. Regular crowd but nice. Punk band goes on at 9pm.

So, my husband is in a band (Something Something Buy A T-​Shirt) and they played here on a Sunday afternoon. It was a great space for them to play. Great stage, room in front of the stage, some seating around the bar and small bar/​table facing the stage. Great sound/​sound system. Cover charge is only $ 7.
They do have drinks and soda, but no food. With a name like The Midway CAFE, you’d think they did food, but nope. But you can bring in outside food. They are right next dorr to Burritos (see my other review for them!).
Also, really easy to get to. Right on Washington St. And I think of JP and get nervous. Really though, it’s not in a bad neighborhood.
Great band space. Great bar. No food. All in all, I really enjoyed this place. Hope to go back soon.

CASH ONLY!
We came here to see the Galactic Perimeter play on a rainy Sunday afternoon, and this place is a dive music venue out of the dreams of a budding rock legend. I felt like I needed a tetanus shot after using the ATM in the corner, but the bar tender was friendly and the glasses looked clean, so I had a couple drinks and settled right in.
The band sounded great, with the exception of a little reverb situation right at the start of the show, and looking around the place, I feel like it must be a piece of history, like so many other cool places in New England. There is the obligatory Drop Kick Murphy’s framed poster on the walls, as well as band memorabilia from a thousand other artists, and the graffiti in the bathroom made me feel like I was 15 again, sneaking into the local clubs in Hollywood.
Moral of the story here: it’s a great place to be entertained, as long as you bring cash and eat before hand!

What an amazing place for underground live music. Classic dive bar.
The neighborhood is a ghost town except for this one corner where you’ll find the Midway Café and a couple of other restaurants/​pubs.
But it’s worth the trip. The interior is even more authentic and «old-​school» than that «other» complex of four clubs in Cambridge. Midway is JP to a T.
Bring your cash and your earplugs, and don’t be afraid of cute strangers talking to you.

Great place for a queer dance party, the wait staff is amazing but DJ summers eve is literally a douche.

Not a bad spot to enjoy some local talent and a beer. They usually have wicked talented bands and artists. Great staff, cold beer, good music, cmon down to JP!

Shows. Shows. Shows.
I come out here every so often to listen to live music, because isn’t that what life is about? I def enjoy myself here. a little too much.
Things to know;
— cash only
— burritos has food next door
— awesome bartenders and staff
— great for live music
Love it here! It just stinks the drive from where I live, isn’t great. So I’ve lucked out on never having to drive here. but I’m sure one day I will. Getting there, from the north side of Boston is quite the commute. just saying. That’s all I can really say anyways.

I come here for the beer. Midway has a decent selection and a few that are new to me. I love coming here to try something new. The bartenders are friendly and well mannered.
The place is dark, but that doesn’t bother me. As for the music, I’m not going to hate on it because I’m really a House/​Trance/​Techno fan… yet the bands that play here manage to put a smile on my face. When the place brings in a small crowd, it becomes a small show and I can see how the customers enjoy themselves. I’ll always come here for a beer and a good time.

Live music and cheap drinks, I go when I know a band that is going, so I have only been there during punk shows. The people there all know eachother but they are friendly and welcoming to strangers. Bar tender of choice would be a girl there who I believe is named Jill, quick and makes a good drink, does not skip on the booze. Only thing stopping it from a five star would be, parking is a pain, and it just missing something to make the live music more worth it, the acoustics just do not carry well, I have heard worse, but could be better.

Great little place to drink beer and listen to loud music

One of my favorite little venues in boston. A small room with consistently interesting local and national artists. The crowd is local and approachable, and guarantees a good night out.

The Midway is the ultimate in dive bar and local music greatness. Strong drinks, great tap selection, and friendly bartenders make your experience so much fun you can forget about how bad some of the bands are. And yes, for all of the great music you’ll hear, there will be a few clunkers. But that’s part of the fun of it, so don’t let it deter you. The Midway is a great bar when you’re looking for a change of pace from your regular watering holes, and if you’re lucky enough to have friends playing there, you’re in for an awesome night. I have never left this place anywhere close to sober.

Has a super blast at their Polynesian pounce. Amazing blue Hawaiians and Labretta Suede and her band were fun too
Def be back.

I love everything about this place – too bad its so far from Cambridge. If you have friends that play in a punk band you’ve probably been here before – though you might not remember it at all since the drinks are so cheap. Putting your blackouts aside, lets you and I journey down the path of drunken recall and piece together why this place is so awesome. First off, it’s a dive. One hundred percent dive bar through and through, which means cheap drinks and a come as you are clientele. You probably shouldn’t have ordered that last shot, maybe you would have remembered being here (n.b. you still wouldn’t have remembered). Second, there is more live music than there isn’t here, so regardless of your cover (usually $ 5), you’re going to get your moneys worth of aural satisfaction. Pro Tip: If you come for the early shows on weekends you don’t need to pay for that later shows, so if you have the constitution (which it would appear that you certainly don’t, otherwise you’d remember being here) then you can have a music filled evening. Finally, and for me most importantly, the people watching here makes it worth it alone. I’m not saying I’m judging anyone negatively, I just like watching the human experience and this place is rife with it. Man brings baby to show with heavy duty earmuffs? I dig it and the kid loves it. Massive amounts of men marching in a circle then going into a crazy free for all? I’m not going to join but these guys certainly seem to be enjoying themselves. Musician jumps into the audience lays down and starts screaming while pelvic thrusting into the air? Sure…
Oh, that reminds me, what don’t I like about this place: stink bombs. I’m not sure why someone would do this, or what possible benefit they might receive, but it seems like every time I go, someone throws a stink bomb and this place becomes unbearable for a good 10 minutes. I should mention that I barely have a sense of smell so if its rough for me, I can only imagine what it is like for other people.
Anyway, even with the occasional asshat who decides to try and ruin everyone’s fun this place is awesome. Maybe one day you’ll actually remember going here.
–Dan C (six drinks in and counting)
P. S. Remember Dan, you’ve actually been here.

Today I’m reviewing places I frequent that are too obvious for me to review, apparently.
I don’t frequent the Midway, but I’ve spent some time there. It’s significantly uglier than any dive bar I’ve been to, but it’s obvious that they know it (or they don’t) and they own it. They have music and performance and queereoake just about every night of the week. They don’t just have crappy beers, for less than you’d pay for crappy beers elsewhere. It’s kind of nice in that respect.

What isn’t there to love about this place? You can whine about not liking the bands, the bar being too dive-​y, or the neighborhood being «sketchy,» (Yes, a high school and a famous restaurant — so sketchy!) but if you feel so inclined, stop and re-​evaluate what you’re whining about.
This is an affordable bar that showcases live music every night. Stop and repeat that to yourself a few times, oh whiner, and realize what you’ve gotten yourself into.
Now quit whining and have fun.

On the one hand, I love the Midway. Cheap drinks, Smilin’ and Seamus behind the bar, Dave being crazy. On the other hand… it’s often an interesting experience. So, here we are with 3 stars.
As mentioned in a lot of other reviews — if you or someone you know is in a band, you’ve been to the Midway. I’ve seen a lot of great bands here and I’ve seen probably twice as many awful ones, but you have to give them credit for giving everyone a chance.
They have Magners and Allagash on tap, so I don’t know what everyone’s complaining about. Except for one time, I asked for a Magners and got a Madras (I think? It was… orangey-​grey) and that was a little sad. (Don’t let me fool you though; I drank it.)
Oh, also, they sometimes grill during the summer and will then walk through the bar with sizzling hot steak tips! How can you go wrong?

This place is awesome!
It’s a nice venue/​bar with REALLY good bands playing.
Also, they have a lot of All Ages and 18+ shows, which is cool, most places are strictly 21+ shows.
Everyone working there is really polite.

UPDATE: The co-​owner actually contacted me and spoke to me at the Midway after I originally posted this review, and he assured me that steps were taken to ensure that Dave would be out on the floor much less and not bugging people anymore. Super polite, nice guy. And it’s true, I haven’t seen Dave since.
My friend’s band played here and I’ve never heard them sound better live. They had what looked like two or three sound guys running around perfecting everything, and they did a fantastic job.
This place rules.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
The doorman/​owner completely ruins the experience. Seriously.
So Dave the doorman (and apparently the owner now?) is really loud and obnoxious. Normally this wouldn’t be an issue in a dive bar with a music stage, but whenever he gets bored or concerned that he isn’t the center of attention anymore, he’ll start screaming random words or heckling the band, making everybody in the bar extremely uncomfortable.
The dude thinks he’s hilarious and charming, but he’s really just a big sad man-​child. For example, somebody spilled a drink, which prompted Dave to start screaming «CLEAN-​UP ON AISLE TWO!!» about twelve times, to make sure everybody in the bar heard just how hilarious and witty he is. We get it, dude. It wasn’t funny the first time. Can we stop paying attention to you now? Imagine if Michael Scott was a doorman.
Incredibly disrespectful to the bands and patrons. When a band he clearly doesn’t care for is playing and asks for a tweak on the sound board, he’ll basically tell them to fuck off and make a big scene of mock-​adjusting the knobs on the sound board. Seriously? This accomplishes nothing but making everybody is the bar feel very on edge, awkward, and uncomfortable.
The bar itself is cool enough; good atmosphere, good crowd, good bands. But I would avoid any place that has a loud awkward man-​baby storming around the place making everybody sad. Wouldn’t you?

I swear the door guy has been off his face whenever I’ve gone, which means that he’s friendly, giggly, loud, and offers you half-​eaten pizzas and I think some kind of chip dip. For Free!
Seriously though, the drinks are cheap (ca$h only) but strong and the bands are entertaining for the cover. A-​OK is right!

Small, tight. Loaded with lesbians to see 5 Funny Females — an all vajay stand-​up comedy extravaganza. A bartender that poured drinks stiffer than Kanye’s mom (first to review?) and only $ 4.50 a pop! Tables, or something. 12 stools at the bar, I believe.
There’s nothing remarkable about the night I went but the place itself had a most excellent feel. I respect that. Too far for me to go back but a solid nook for JP natives. Recognize.