😎🍷 In da (supper) clerb, we all fam

💋 What’s Boston’s BEST first date spot? Is it cozy? Moody? Have lots of unobstructed exits? We’re cooking up a first date guide for our next B-Side hotline and want to hear from you! Drop your suggestions here!

👀 What’s on tap today:

Up first…

These days, Gen Z’s favorite club … is a supper club. As third spaces dwindle and traditional dinner parties are less accessible, supper clubs have become the hottest ticket in town. 

Here’s what to know:

🍷 Supper clubs are the new dinner parties. “Everyone is dying to get around beautiful tables and meet new people,” said Aperitivo Society founder Maria Colalancia. But most 20-somethings don’t have the space, time, or friend group to host. Enter: Local clubs like Aperitivio, Drop Clock Club, and Pizza Le Beth, which do the heavy lifting for you by organizing ready-made, often aesthetically-pleasing dinner parties with good food and full tables. All you have to do is buy a ticket.

🍕 See: This cozy table at Pizza Le Beth. Co-founder Elizabeth Weihs and her husband, Peter, started their club after moving to Boston from Minnesota, where “everyone hung out at each other's houses all the time,” she said. When they realized that was not the vibe in Boston, they took matters into their own hands: inviting strangers into their North End apartment for dinner. (Though they’ll be shifting their format to restaurants in the future after a snafu with the city.)

💬 Gen Z LOVES a hobby club. Andrew Roth, co-founder of IRL community marketing platform Offline, calls these types of gatherings “fourth spaces.” His thesis: After third spaces took a hit during the pandemic, young people shifted from gathering around places (think: gyms, cafes) to interests, creating a boom of hobby-based clubs like book clubs, run clubs, or craft groups. “Hosts are the new influencers,” he said.

🍴 The dinner table is a natural place to gather. Unlike clubs that center activities like running or crafting, sharing a meal immediately levels the playing field, since “everyone knows how to sit around a table and have dinner,” said Drop Clock founder Han (who doesn’t share her full name for anonymity). Colalancia agrees: “Just by introducing food into the situation, it breaks down a lot of barriers for people and makes people more comfortable.”

🤝 And small talk with strangers is good for the soul. Though friendship-making events are all the rage in Boston, Weihs’ goal for her dinners isn’t for folks to leave with a new bestie. It’s for everyone to spend a night feeling like they’re not alone. “You don't need to be best friends with everyone, but there's still a sense of community in knowing your neighbor,” she said. “It’s wild how much people need that.”

☀️ The perfect weather weekend we’ve been waiting for is here! After eight straight weekends of chilly, rainy nonsense, Mother Nature is giving Bostonians the gorgina Saturday-Sunday combo we deserve: The forecast calls for dry, sunny weather in the mid-to-high 70s. Even better: Early projections show it’s only going to get nicer from there, with temps hitting the 80s on Monday and Tuesday. We’re not telling you to play hooky, but if you did … here are our fav places to swim around the city.

🎨 Latino arts have a new home in Boston. Introducing: La CASA, the largest Latino arts center in New England, which just opened in the South End. It’s the handiwork of local nonprofit Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción, which was established in the 1960s by local Puerto Ricans who were fighting displacement. Today, IBA works to help low-income families through affordable housing, education, financial empowerment, and arts education, and La CASA will become a new home for that work, as an event space and community hub. Here’s a peek inside!

☕ Mayor Michelle Wu wants to get coffee with YOU. Translation: Neighborhood coffee hours are BACK, where Wu and city staff head to Boston neighborhoods to chat directly with residents over a cup of Dunkin’ and doughnuts. Besides a chance to chat with the mayor IRL, the events will have lawn games, gift card giveaways, raffles, and free plants! It’s all kicking off in Elliot Norton Park on May 18, then Copley Square on May 27. More dates and neighborhoods will be coming soon, so stay tuned!

🍅 Big news for those who make artisanal jams their personality. The Copley Square Farmers Market, Boston’s largest farmers market, is back for the season in the newly-renovated Copley Square (which, BTW, may not be as terrible as the internet thought). The market will pop-up every Tuesday and Friday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Nov. 24, with products from over three dozen Mass. farmers and food producers. Stop by today to catch special performances, food demos, and giveaways. Here’s a full vendor list.

🐼 Eat like a panda. Pandafest, one of the country’s biggest outdoor Asian food festivals, is in town all weekend long. Think: 80+ hand-picked food vendors serving panda-themed bites.

🌱 Become a plant parent. Emerald City Plant shop will be giving out free tropical plants on May 16 at the Mattapan BPL branch! They’re first-come, first-served, so get there early to claim your new baby. 

💃 Salsa with fellow singles. If you’re single, chaotic, and love to dance, this chaotic singles salsa party on May 16 is for you. Bonus: Invite a dating app match and send them a screenshot for $5 tickets!

📚 Beef up your summer TBR pile. Meet iconic local authors, listen to panels, and shop from small book businesses at the fourth annual Greater Roxbury Book Fair on May 16.

🥳 Spread joy on the dance floor. Every month this summer, Roundhead Brewing Company’s JOY dance party is bringing good food, house music, and big energy. Check it out on May 16.

🚲 Join a pedal party. A.k.a. the city of Cambridge’s beginner-friendly group bike ride on May 16. The ride starts and ends at Joan Lorentz Park, bookended by a light breakfast and lunch. Bonus: It’s free!

🧘 Sip, savasana, and socialize. It’s all going down at NA bottle shop Dray on May 16: An all-levels yoga class, sound bath, and NA bev social.

🛍️ Shop your way though Inman Square. Delicious eats from local restaurants AND quirky maker markets? Say less! It’s all at the Inman Eats & Crafts fest on May 17.

Strides for Action is celebrating 40 years of the Boston AIDS Walk on May 31 on the Common. Show up, get your steps in, and support a cause that matters — your participation keeps HIV prevention programs and LGBTQIA+ health services running across Mass. It's free to register, the vibes are amazing, and you'll probably make some friends. What more do you need? Sign up here.

This is not a drill, B-Siders: “Love Is Blind” is finally coming to town! On Wednesday, Netflix announced the hit TV series’ 11th season will be set in Boston.

If you’ve been living under a rock, “Love Is Blind” is a reality dating show with a twist: couples meet, fall in love, and get engaged … all without seeing each other (until there’s a ring). Generally, it goes about as well as you can imagine. 

Reality TV heads and longtime B-Siders know this has been in the works for a while (see: us announcing the casting call in 2024, and gossiping about filming locations in 2025). Since then, we’ve been waiting for the announcement, and after sitting through seasons in Minneapolis, Denver, and Ohio, we finally get our time.

The dates and details are TBD, but we know it’ll come out this fall. We’ll be counting down the days!

— Written by Gia Orsino and Emily Schario

👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨 Thanks for reading! Between this, “Love on the Spectrum,” and RHORI, we’re not sure what we did to deserve all this.

🥪 The results are in: 80% of B-Siders said they bring lunch instead of buying it. One reader said: “Third option: they make it for us.” Just curious … where do you work, and … are they hiring?

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