🍳🤯 This brunch will blow your mind

🏒 Cheap playoff tickets? Say less! The Boston Fleet is offering B-Siders an exclusive discount on tickets to their home playoff games (think: as low as $25 a pop!). Grab them here.

👀 What’s on tap today:

Up first…

What’s better than breakfast and lunch? BRUNCH! With Mother’s Day on the horizon, we asked the best brunch spots around Boston where they like to brunch. Spoiler: It’s diners.

Here’s what they said: 

🥓 Brassica Kitchen + Cafe wants a bite of Harry’s All American Breakfast. Despite running one of Boston’s best brunches, Brassica’s chef-owner Jeremy Kean isn’t a brunch guy. His first reaction to launching a brunch menu was literally “I’m not doing this.” (He’s since come around.) But he has a soft spot for Harry’s, a classic diner in Roslindale where “the service is … friendly and lovely.” His order: An omelet or a club sandwich.

🍔 Harry’s wants a bite of Rox Diner. Harry’s server Savion Allen-Harding wants brunch with a personal touch — food that “feels like they put their heart into it” and servers who treat you “like a regular human.” Luckily, he doesn’t have to go far to find it, just a mile down the road to Rox in West Roxbury. His picks: A burger or patty melt.

🍳 Rox Diner wants a bite of Deluxe Town Diner. How does Rox’s owner John Fortin judge a good brunch? “I can tell everything about the place by the eggs Benedict,” he said. Are they making their own hollandaise sauce? Is the muffin well-toasted? “If you do it right, then I'm guessing you do lots of things right on your brunch menu.” Let’s just say, he loves the eggs benny at Watertown’s Deluxe Town Diner (and Emily agrees).

🥞 Deluxe Town Diner wants a bite of Kelly’s Diner. It’s not surprising that Deluxe Town server Dina Marenco loves a retro diner (see: Deluxe Town’s tin can exterior and twinkle lights). But when she’s not at work, she’s at Kelly’s in Somerville, a legit 1950’s diner car with a bubblegum pink and teal counter that feels like a time capsule. As a self-proclaimed “pancake girl,” she always gets the pancake combo.

😋 Kelly’s Diner wants a bite of Jac’s Cafe. After managing Kelly’s for years, Ann (who declined to give her last name), is generally not a breakfast person: “I haven’t had eggs in over four years,” she said. Her one exception is Jac’s, a small Winthrop cafe with a family vibe and “the best” staff — especially “the girls at the counter.” With eggs off the table, her go-to order is French toast.

🎶💸 If Coachella had a more affordable, cultured cousin, it’d be this. From June 25 to July 4, the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal is bringing 350 concerts (most of them free) to the streets of downtown Montreal, just a day’s road trip from Boston. No overpriced weekend passes or Ticketmaster wars — just you and a lineup of artists like Lionel Richie, Earth, Wind & Fire, St. Vincent, Willow and more. This year also marks the 100th anniversary of Miles Davis and John Coltrane, so expect greatness (and probably some tribute performances). Start planning your trip today. 

🌎 Boston’s new Climate Action Plan is locked and loaded. Mayor Michelle Wu just unveiled the city’s new strategy to tackle climate change. The goal: Slash emissions in half by 2030 and hit carbon neutrality by 2050 (both of which are v ambitious given the lack of federal funding). The strategy: Target emissions from buildings and transportation by doubling down on existing emission-cutting programs and adding new ones. The plan: Help folks switch to electric stoves, discourage driving (including exploring congestion pricing!), and plant more trees, to name a few.

👑 This is who pulls the strings in Boston. Boston magazine just dropped its 2026 Power List of the city’s 150 most influential people. In spite of *recent events*, Mike Vrabel and Drake Maye earned the No. 1 spot for leading the Pats to a Super Bowl appearance. Gov. Maura Healey, Mayor Michelle Wu, Jaylen Brown, Elin Hilderbrand, and Fleet goalie Aerin Frankel, also cracked the top 50. Our fav pick? Queen of New England Ann Michael Maye, who nabbed 150. Check out the full list.

🔥 We’re going to the cottage Fenway this summer. Translation: Fenway just announced a “Heated Rivalry” night on Aug. 31! Think: A pre-game dance party, a cottage-themed transformation of the Sam Adams deck, trivia, themed food and drink, tickets sales supporting LGBTQ+ youth, and obviously, merch galore. All attendees will get either an Ilya or Shane-themed jersey, and VIP guests can snag this iconic hat. Tickets drop April 30 at 10 a.m. Grab them here.

😬 Boston’s biggest dining controversy: Foie gras. Animal rights activists have been making waves at swanky local restaurants for protesting the use of foie gras, a fattened duck or goose liver dish. According to the activists — who have protested at the likes of Pammy’s and Asta — the dish is inhumane, since it’s made by force feeding animals through a tube. Though they claim they got Pammy’s to nix the dish (Pammy’s didn’t confirm), their intense tactics have raised some eyebrows. Plus, many chefs argue they have the right to choose what they serve. 

This month, B-Side Members can save more than $150 across our events plus monthly freebies like free coffee at Flour Bakery.

🌶 May 9: Boston Hot Sauce Festival, $12. The third annual Hot Sauce Festival is taking over The Foundry in Kendall Square with two Saturday sessions (12-4 p.m. and 4:30-8:30 p.m.). Expect global hot sauces from local makers, chef demos at the Spicy Food Lab, pepper-eating challenges, and fiery cocktails. B-Side Members save $5 on tickets. Register here.

🎸 May 9: Mojo Boston Music Festival, $10 off for Members. City Hall Plaza is turning into a full-day festival with two stages, AC Slater headlining, live art, a vendor village, and food trucks from noon to 10:30 p.m. Grab tickets here.

🥚Today: Something Rotten Giveaway, $75+ value. We’re giving away two tickets to a musical that pulls out all the stops. Members get a chance to see this laugh-out-loud production live! Open to Mass. residents 18+. Enter here.

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This BPL phone booth has heard a lot of secrets. Over 1,000, to be exact. 

Meet Tell-a-Booth, a bright red phone booth that’s been sitting in the BPL for two months, inviting patrons to step inside and spill their guts to Love Letters writer Meredith Goldstein … or just scream into the void (seriously). 

Over 1,000 calls later, Goldstein shared her takeaways. Apparently, tourists leave the happiest voicemails (many of them slightly tipsy); college students are stressed out about feeling left behind (but they all feel the same way), and young people are searching for community (the good news: everyone is looking). 

There’s a lot more where that came from. You can listen to her reflections in the newest episode of Love Letters.

— Written by Gia Orsino and Emily Schario

👀 Thanks for reading! If you can’t make it to the BPL to drop your secrets … our inboxes are open.

💜 Special shoutout to today’s sponsor, the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal, for supporting local journalism and giving Bostonians a chance to experience live jazz, the Montréal way.  

🧑‍🎓 The results are in: 60% of B-Siders said college graduation is more boring than fun. One reader said: “… but I am still going because this sh*t was hard.” That’s the spirit!

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