😋🏆 Boston's best new restaurant is ...

🍸 Wake up babe, the Red Sox dropped an espresso martini hat. Currently screaming over these baseball hats (there’s also a dirty martini one!) that come with this ticket deal on July 20. Grabs your here before they’re gone!

💍 Speaking of the Red Sox … a pair of Yankee fans getting engaged at Fenway Park this week was NOT on our bingo card. Big congrats! The Yankees still suck!

👀 What’s on tap today:

Up first…

What’s that we hear? Is that … the sound of Boston’s bragging rights? 

Boston magazine just dropped this year’s “Best of Boston” list, crowning the city’s best bites, bars, shops, and hidden gems.

Here are some of our favorite picks:

💅 Want a little me time? Head to Covet and She She Nail Studio. Your next self-care day should look something like this: Start at Covet, a.k.a. THE place to thrift everyday essentials, with name-brand fashion that hits every time (Emily scored this $250 Elliatt dress for $5 at their monthly bin sale). Next stop: Sit back and relax at She She in the North End for an unbeatable Russian mani-pedi. I mean, hello! Look at this nail art!

🍕 For comfort food classics, hit up Posto, Jahunger, and The Haven. Pizza. Noodles. Burgers. Repeat. Boston mag thinks Posto’s Neapolitan-style pizza is the best in town, with the perfect char-to-flop ratio. Or head to Michelin Bib Gourmand Jahunger for their spicy, beefy hand-pulled noodles. The Haven, a Scottish pub in JP, has had a ton of action recently, but their burger, with its bacon-onion marmalade and pickle aioli, will apparently outlast the Tartan Army. 

🍫 Dessert heads, look no further than Yafa, Zuzu’s Petals, and Michette. Palestinian bakery Yafa has the best, and maybe longest, menu of baklava. Chocolate and pistachio? Walnut and tahini? You name a combo, they probably got it. Boston’s best brownie lives at Zuzu’s Petals, a screen-free wine and dessert bar. (Pro tip: Get free AYCE brownies on Mondays with any glass of wine!) And for the best bakery in all the land, enter: Michette. Their cardamom buns alone will keep this spot in your rotation.

🌟 Meet the new kids: Fallow Kin, Capri and Darling. At the city’s best new restaurant, Fallow Kin, there are no wrong choices. From their gin sour to panna cotta, apparently everything’s *chef’s kiss*, especially the veggies. Capri is home to the best new patio, where you can chow down on ribeye and honey buns while sipping a spritz, all under big striped umbrellas. And the best new bar title goes to Darling in Cambridge. Boston mag’s rec? The “silky AF” clarified milk punch, topped with a taro foam.

🤪 And the special silly awards go to … RHORI and … a phone booth? The cast of “The Real Housewives of Rhode Island” was crowned the best toxic friend group (lol). We can’t help it — our eyes are glued to every minute of hair pulling and gaslighting. But if you want advice from real people (not housewives), try this new phone booth for Boston’s best way to call a boomer. You can connect directly to a senior home in Reno, Nevada, for guidance, wisdom, or just a sympathetic ear.

🤩 Want more? See the full “Best of Boston” list  here. 

🇯🇲🔥 A whole weekend of Caribbean flavor and music? Yes, and yes again. Boston JerkFest is taking over July 11–13, bringing together the best Caribbean food vendors, live reggae and soca performances, and a full lineup of cultural celebration. Come hungry, dance the weekday work stress off, and explore vendors slinging everything from jerk chicken to oxtail to tropical cocktails. Get your tickets here.

🚘 Buckle up for some bumpah to bumpah. ‘Cause we’re having record-breaking heat AND travel this week. With MA250 and July 4 festivities all happening at once, AAA predicts the highways will be jammed, as more than 1.7 million Massholes will travel at least 50 miles for their holiday weekend plans. Their pro tip: Hit the road before noon, and consider leaving as early as today, to avoid the worst of it. Stuck at work this week? Aim for Thursday morning at the latest. If this is you this weekend, thoughts and prayers!

🧑‍⚖️ A Supreme Court decision dealt a huge blow to local industries. The Trump admin now has the power to nix an immigration program that allows more than 10,000 Haitians to work in Mass. Translation: Industries like nursing homes, transportation, and construction could take a HUGE hit. These Haitians have had Temporary Protected Status for years, given to those facing issues like environmental disasters or war in their country. But since Trump’s expected to revoke their TPS any day now, experts are anticipating economic decline and major labor shortages.

👨‍❤️‍💋‍👨 The World Cup is giving Boston’s dating scene a much-needed boost. At least that’s according to this Globe story. The Scots’ chattiness definitely kickstarted that social train after noticing that Americans sometimes keep more to themselves, and the tourney is basically a layup icebreaker. Plus, everyone’s feeling less pressure since they’ll probably never see these strangers again. And NGL, it certainly helps when the Tartan Army is *literally* sweeping women off their feet.

🥘 Eat like you’re in the Caribbean. Cancel your dinner plans on June 30 and July 1 because the city of Boston is closing out Caribbean American Heritage Month with *free* bites from many of our fave Caribbean restaurants. Stop by any of the participating spots, like Blue Mountain in Mattapan and JP Roti Shop and Cool Shade in Dorchester to get in on the food crawl. Plus, the menu lineup looks GAS. Think: Jamaican patties, Trinidadian pholourie, pastelitos, empanadas, and more! 

We’re co-hosting a pizza-making class with Girlfriends Boston on July 10 at Bardo's in Southie. Learn the techniques behind their legendary South Shore-style crust — thin, fluffy, and perfectly crisp. Your ticket comes with a drink from Castle Island Brewing!

PLUS: Members get their first month of the Girlfriends Boston membership for free and 12% off thereafter, so now might be your sign to get out and make new connections! Grab your ticket here.

Gloucester locals love to hit the pole. That is, the annual Greasy Pole Contest, of course. 

It’s like Capture the Flag, but your opponent is a 45-foot telephone pole hanging over the harbor that’s been doused in 200 pounds of grease from Crisco, lard, and … fish guts. This slippery race has been a long-standing tradition of St. Peter’s Fiesta, a five-day celebration of the town’s fishing community. 

Who won this year? Well, there are three contests throughout the festival. Friday and Saturday’s champs, respectively, were locals Frank Neal — who’s been trying to win for 20 years — and Chase Sargent. 

And Sunday’s title was given to local legend Derek Hopkins (again). He’s literally been training his whole life for this challenge, and TBH, we wouldn’t be surprised if he could walk on water, because this is his seventh (!) Greasy Pole victory.

We nearly fell over from this video. One commented: “Shattered my spine in 3 places just watching this.”

— Written by Kelly Chan and Emily Schario

😩 Thanks for reading! Derek, drop the core routine STAT.

💜 Special shoutout to today's sponsor, Boston JerkFest, for supporting local journalism and bringing the heat (and the vibes) all weekend long.

🚃 The results are in: 44% of readers laughed at how the AI-generated MBTA map had the aquarium on its own island. One B-Sider said, “I think they should go through with this one. Entire island just for an aquarium? Sign me up!” Train Daddy, you listening??

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