🥳🍣 This restaurant feels like a party

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💜 Alsoooo … New B-Side event alert! We’re co-hosting a B-Side Ride at Rev’d Indoor Cycling on May 3 followed by refreshments and mingling. Don’t forget: B-Side Members get $10 off … and a cute sweat towel. Grab tickets here!

👀 What’s on tap today:

Up first…

It might be April shower season, but Boston’s restaurant scene is giving summer … because it’s HOT. Boston.com and Boston magazine have the roadmaps to what’s new.

Here are some new restaurants worth a try:

🐯 Phat Thaiger, Malden. What does it take to get a rave review from Boston mag? In newly-opened Phat Thaiger’s case: A vibe and menu that mix the Thai and Japanese cultures, presentations that often include literal fire, and a “party” atmosphere. The menu takes the punchy flavors and energy of a Thai street market and combines them with the care and style of a Japanese izakaya. See: DIY omakase hand rolls, pad thai served in a ceramic “to-go” box, and tiny tabletop grills.

Items to try:

🍝 Little Sage, North End. Little Sage might be new to us, but it's not new new. The recent opening is a return home for Boston culinary duo Tony Susi and Jennifer Matarazzo, who, back in the 90s, ran an Italian spot called Sage. Little Sage is a modern reimagining of that venue, designed to please locals and tourists alike. The menu is slim, with typical North End fare like homemade pastas, seasonal al forno dishes baked in a brick oven, and even a few hits from the OG Sage (like gnocchi with lobster). 

Items to try:

🍹 Tall Order, Somerville. Tall Order’s mission: The vibes of a neighborhood pub with the expertly curated menu of a craft cocktail bar. All cocktails are $14, but aim to punch above their pricepoint with bougie, near-incomprehensible ingredient lists. There’s also a solid selection of curated low- and no-alcohol options, plus a full food menu of bar bites, snacks, and entrees from candied nuts to burgers. It’s open now.

Items to try:

🍔 McCarthy’s and Toad, Cambridge. If you love The Burren and The Bebop, allow us to introduce its newest siblings: McCarthy’s, a restaurant and Irish pub, and Toad, a cozy music venue. The pair officially opened (or, re-opened, in Toad’s case) on April 5. Like their siblings, you can expect live music at both spots, and a menu that places traditional pub fare (Guinness beef stew, shepherd's pie) alongside several vegetarian and vegan options (think: lentil stew, chickpea and cauliflower tacos).

Items to try:

🌍✈️ With the rise of AI, it’s hard to trust what you see — especially when booking a trip. In fact, 78% of travelers worry about fake reviews and 33% feel deceived by edited travel photos. That’s why Icelandair is taking a stand. “Our aim is to lead the way in showcasing the real, authentic beauty of Iceland,” says Icelandair CEO Bogi Nils Bogason. Can you tell the difference between real and AI? Take this quiz to find out. 

🙋‍♀️ Boston said “hands off!” this weekend. On Saturday, at least 25,000 people marched from the Common to City Hall Plaza in one of 1,200 national “Hands Off” rallies against President Donald Trump and Elon Musk. Here’s a WILD visual of the crowd. Along with the protestors, several high-ranking local officials like Sen. Ed Markey, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, Mayor Michelle Wu, and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (also, The Dropkick Murphys) showed up to speak out against the administration’s rollbacks in DEI and gender-affirming care, its immigration crackdown, and more.

🚦Mayor Wu is pulling an Uno reverse on street infrastructure. A new memo to Mayor Wu is the latest evidence that the city is pumping the brakes on bike and bus lane projects. She’s been hinting at this vibe shift for a while, since coming under fire from bike lane hater and mayoral opponent Josh Kraft. So expect the city to tweak or reconsider existing street infrastructure projects, and take new ones a lot slower, prioritizing community input, formulating comprehensive plans, and … preserving parking spaces.

👀 Is that … a CharlieCard vending machine? Yes! But don’t touch — yet. Orange Liners are the first to get a peek at the MBTA’s new fare vending machines that’ll eventually be a major piece in the MBTA’s upcoming fare reloading glow-up (think: reloading CharlieCards online). Eventually, the new machines will be rolled out at all stations, where they’ll offer an easier, more modern way to buy and reload CharlieCards. But for now, only a select few folks can use them. You can offer to be a guinea pig here.

🛵 Its official: Your DoorDasher needs a permit. Or, at least, they will in nine months. The City Council just voted to approve Mayor Wu’s plan that will require companies like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub to get permits in order to operate in Boston. The idea is to crack down on concerns over reckless driving, illegal parking, and increased traffic — though the council nixed a hot-button idea to add a 15-cent fee to cover enforcement. If a company fails to get a permit, it’ll be charged $300 per restaurant daily or per order. 

🌭 Chowdown on a Fenway Frank. STOP THE PRESSES! We found ~$11 tickets to tonight’s Red Sox game against The Blue Jays (and yes, there are seats that are covered and you can get a free bobblehead tonight!). 

🏀 Got an unbusted bracket? Or just wanna know how March Madness ends? You can watch the Men’s Championship Game tonight at both Sam Adams’ watch parties, Game On’s celly, or Urban Wild (which has games YOU can play.) 

🍦 Don’t forget your free ice cream! Now that would be a tragedy. April 8 marks Ben & Jerry’s annual Free Cone Day, where a scoop of whatever you please is yours for free. 

🤝 Do LinkedIn IRL. Annnd make some new gal pals while you’re at it. There’s a women’s networking night at the Seaport’s Capital One Cafe on April 9. Your ticket gets you apps, two drinks, swag, and new connections.

🍕 You’ll wanna pizza this. And by this, we mean this pizza-making class we’re hosting at Bardo’s on April 9! There are still a few spots left, and we wanna see you!

🖼️ Put your student ID to work. The MFA’s College Night is on April 10, which means that awkward student pic of yours gets you free admission to the museum, swag, photobooth pics, free dessert, and more. 

💃 Slay at bingo. If a drag show and bingo night had a baby, it would definitely be this aptly named drag bingo night at Idle Hands Craft Ales on April 10. 

🎳 Bowling + pizza + wine = a wild party. If you ever had a b-day party at a bowling alley, First Crush’s bowling pizza party on April 11 is basically that, just for adults (there will be wine and a vinyl DJ).

Looking for a way to brighten a New Englander’s day? This TikTok video from @melventures is a great option. Here’s what to do:

Buy an iced medium regular from Dunkin’, and drink it. Then, grab some iced-coffee colored paint, an extra-strength magnet, and a hot glue gun. Paint the cup to make it look like there’s still coffee inside, then attach the magnet to the bottom of the cup with hot glue. 

When it all dries, place the cup on top of your car, where it will sit, unmoving, while you drive around. Then wait for folks to start honking. Check out the official tutorial here.

— Written by Gia Orsino and Emily Schario

🍩 Thanks for reading! As Emily said to Gia, that’s an “excellent use of free will.”

💜 Special shoutout to today’s sponsor, Icelandair, for supporting local journalism and keeping travel real.

🤔 The results are in: 24% of readers say the “neighborhood” they spend the most time in is … Brookline. Again, kinda sus for a Boston newsletter, but hey, good to know! That said, there was a fair amount of Brookline slander in the write-ins: “Brookline has never wanted to be included in Boston; it shouldn't be an option. :P” TEA.

💃 Keep up with us @BostonBSide on IG, TikTok, and Twitter. Send comments and suggestions to [email protected] or [email protected].