🦞😍 Boston’s summer love language

⚾ PSA: The Red Sox just released a wild gameday deal! Four tickets + four hot dogs + four sodas = $99. So grab three besties and get your tickets ASAP! 

👀 What’s on tap today:

Up first…

They see me (lobster) rollin’. But we hope they aren’t hatin’, ‘cause for this month’s small business telephone tag, we called up the folks behind some of Boston’s best lobster rolls to ask where they like to get a roll when they're not chowing down on their own. 

Here’s what’s on their list:

🥂 Saltie Girl loves Bubble Bath in Back Bay. Let’s just say, when Saltie Girl owner Kathy Sidell says she loves Bubble Bath’s little lobster bun with lobster sherry aioli and brown butter mayo, you listen. The real magic of this roll is “the layering of one flavor,” Sidell said. “It’s not enough to have gorgeous lobster meat, but reinforced in each bite is the lobster stock reduction that makes the mayo and the lobster oil. Sheer genius.”

🦪 Bubble Bath loves Neptune Oyster in the North End. And honestly, it’s probably a LOT of people's favorites just by looking at this line and the Globe’s “Best of the Best” list. The simplicity of Neptune’s lobster rolls is the star of the show, according to chef-owner Tiffani Faison. “It is just drawn butter, lobster, and salt.” Think: The ~cool girl~ of lobster rolls. Faison is team hot lobster roll with butter at Neptune, but if you’re a mayo head, they thankfully do it both ways. <3

🦞 Neptune Oyster loves Belle Isle Seafood in Winthrop. This beloved cash-only haunt is shelling out a lobster roll triple threat: “lots of meat, super fresh, on the water,” said Neptune bartender Lindsey Clark. What more could you want?! Clark is team cold lobster roll with mayo, which ironically, is Belle Isle’s bread and butter. “It’s simple, and it does the job. The value is absolutely there,” she said. Pro tip: Get a side of their coleslaw, too. Clark thinks “it’s amazing.”

⛵ Belle Isle Seafood loves Yankee Lobster in the Seaport. When we asked where Belle Isle’s owner Jim Costin fancies a roll, his first words were, “We’re snobs … I eat so much [lobster], I don’t wanna eat it after …” Fair! But if he had to pick, he’s heading to Yankee Lobster. “They always have fresh meat,” Costin said, which is key. “Some people use stuff that’s frozen, believe it or not. You really want that stuff fresh.” And he’s obviously team cold roll with mayo.

🧈 Yankee Lobster loves Eventide in Fenway. Yankee’s operations director Frank Zanti fell in love with Eventide’s famous brown butter lobster roll on a steamed bun in Portland, Maine. I mean, c’mon, just look at her. So color him pumped when they opened up a Boston location. “The sweetness and caramelization of the butter … it’s just a unique take,” he said. “It’s one of the lobster rolls that you have to get when visiting Boston. It has to be on the map.”

🥳 Everyone put your B-Side hands together for Claire Nicholas!!! ICYMI: Claire is the baddie behind B-Side’s Membership program. So if you’ve ever been to one of our delicious Supper Clubs, matchmaking nights, or literally any other B-Side event, she’s the one that made it shine. Claire’s ultimate b-day wish is obviously for you to become a B-Side Member, so do your girl a solid and sign up below. We love you Claire!!!

Life with team sports > life without team sports. Our recommendation? Head to the beach or Club Volo for volleyball! Volo Boston offers volleyball leagues all summer at sweet venues like Carson Beach in Southie, and it’s your last chance to join. Play competitive four-on-four leagues, six-on-six leagues, even Friday flip cup volleyball at Club Volo if you’re feeling less beach and more party. The best part? You can customize your commitment level. If you're ready to commit to a full season, you can join a league for weekly games and playoffs. Or, if you’re just trying to dip your toes in, you can drop in for a single game or play pickup. 

🍻 Gov. Maura Healey is Team Bring Back Happy Hour. Is this the “Twilight Zone”? First, Healey signed a 3 a.m. last call. Now, she dropped the news that she “personally” supports a local option for happy hour. FYI, this is a complete 180 on her stance from two years ago. Healey said she wants young people staying in Boston and Mass., which = creating more social spaces. Previously, the Senate pushed for a bill to allow for discounted booze, but it’s never gone through the House.

🚌 These fare-free bus routes aren’t going anywhere. Good news: Mayor Michelle Wu just announced the city’s fare-free program on the 23, 28, and 29 buses will be extended through December (they were supposed to end this month!). The city originally piloted this program four years ago to not only make transit more affordable, but to also speed up traffic and efficiency. The results? Ridership grew faster than any other MBTA bus route, running 23,000 fare-free trips each weekday. What about 2027? TBH, the city isn’t sure yet … 

🥪 Don’t hate us, but … these $30 sandwiches might be worth it. Globe food critic Devra First went to two hot sammy spots that aren’t exactly known for their cheap prices: Sam La Grassa’s and Table Mercato. Her conclusions? All of the sandwiches were MASSIVE, making them a good bang for your buck. She even split one of them and was still full, so really, girl math says that’s a $15 lunch. The Table sandwiches were so big that they could feed a family of four. 

🏓 Pick up a paddle for just $1. Need a cheap hobby just for the night? PickleBOS is offering $1 pickleball clinics for beginners to celebrate their newly-opened location in Charlestown. For just one buck, you can have a guided sesh to learn all the rules and fundamentals to get you started (don’t worry, all equipment is included). Plus, keep your eye out for their free clinics all month long. Sign up here!

B-Side Members can save $5 at the 13th annual Boston JerkFest Caribbean Foodie Festival! Head to Ohiri Field in Allston July 10-12 for a three-day celebration of Caribbean food, culture, and music. Think: Jerk chicken, fresh seafood, vegetarian options, local artisans, and Soca beats to groove to. Grab your tickets here and start planning your weekend!

WTF is up with this Providence welcome sign? Well, it's actually a long Reddit comment about “The Real Housewives of Rhode Island.”

Darian Newman is the artist behind it. He’s a master’s student at the Rhode Island School of Design, who said that this … was basically homework. The assignment? “Activate a space,” he said. That’s one way to do it!

He was fascinated by everyone talking about how accurate the show felt, and now, the billboard has sparked debate about how much people talk about Rhode Island. One user wrote, “I never shut up about Rhode Island.” Newman even went further and posted stickers on street signs and poles with more “Real Housewives” comments.

And the Redditor featured on the billboard? Her name is Danielle. She admitted it was cool, but said, “I was probably half asleep when I made that comment.”

— Written by Kelly Chan and Emily Schario

🍿 Thanks for reading! RHORI activates our living room every Sunday night. Does that count?

💜 Special shoutout to today's sponsor, Volo Sports, for supporting local journalism and providing us with a healthy dose of competition and a social life. 

⚽ The results are in: It looks like 43% of you are drinking the World Cup Kool-Aid this summer. But one reader is STOKED to go to four games: “[I] got so hyped listening to Shakira that I actually cried.” She makes a woman go mad, fr.

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