🥳 The ultimate Summer Friday starts now

Happy Friday, Boston!

🧋 Cheap food alert! To celebrate their 2,000th location, which is in Davis Square, Gong Cha is offering a limited-edition Boston Cream Tea with a Union Square Boston Cream doughnut for only $2 today.

⭐ Bonus: If you’re one of the first 200 customers, you’ll also get a free signature Black Pearl Milk Tea. And if you’re one of the first 20, you’ll get your free tea in one of those viral Mega Mugs. Not an ad, just love a good deal.

👀 What’s on tap today:

• An iffy beach day

• A four-star review

• Elevated girl dinner

Up first...

SUMMER FRIDAYS

Soccer, SoWa, and Shakespeare

Everything you’ve been waiting for is finally here. Barbenheimer, the Women’s World Cup, and a weekend forecast without any rain (fingers crossed).

You know the drill. Here’s how we think you should get out of the house this weekend:

⚽ Watch the U.S. take on Vietnam in the Women's World Cup. Tonight is their first game of the tournament as the No. 1 seed, and they’re on a mission to win a historic, third straight World Cup. Plus, two Mass. natives are on the squad! Soccer bars like The Banshee in Dorchester and Phoenix Landing in Central Square will be home to the most die-hard fans, but you can’t go wrong with these other classic bars known for watching the big game. And if you’d prefer to watch from the comfort of your couch, here’s the U.S. team’s full TV schedule.

🍳 Pre-game for Barbenheimer with brunch and beer. More than 40,000 people in the U.S. have already booked tickets at AMC theaters to see the Barbenheimer double feature. But how you prep to see either is equally important. Boston magazine put together a comprehensive list of Barbie-themed parties, drinks, and food specials in the area (like Barbie Brunch at City Tap House and glittery fried chicken bites at ShyBird). And the Mass. Peace Action is hosting an Oppenheimer pre-watch party at The Burren to raise awareness about the danger of nuclear weapons.

🎤 Grab last-minute tix to two summertime concerts. You can get tickets to Luke Combs’ concert at Gillette Stadium tonight for as low as $20. And unlike the Beyoncé tour, there are still some spots on Saturday’s train to Gillette. Post Malone will also be at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield on Saturday with his “If Y'all Weren't Here, I'd Be Crying” tour. That said, tickets are on the steeper side at $143 for “last chance lawn” seats.

🍻 Go to food truck and craft beer heaven at SoWa. The Boston Food Truck & Craft Beer Festival kicks off Saturday with dozens of regional and national craft breweries, along with a laundry list of food truck faves from the North Shore Beefie Boys to a cannoli truck. You can see the full lineup here. Make sure to buy your tix ahead of time to save some money at the door.

🍿 If you’re not feeling Barbenheimer, how about a free outdoor movie? Minions: The Rise of Gru is playing at the Pru’s South Garden on Saturday and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby at Christopher Columbus Park is on Sunday. And while not a movie, make sure to catch a Shakespeare on the Common performance of Macbeth while the weather is nice. You can read our full write-up on the show here.

🧺 Spend your Saturday at the Afrovybe Festival. This cultural extravaganza at Bow Market features a vibrant vendor market with fabrics, handcrafted jewelry, and unique artifacts steeped in African heritage. Plus, there will be African food vendors, music, performances, Henna, and more. Entry is free.

🇫🇷 Celebrate the French Revolution with a Cantabridgian “je ne sais quoi!” Harvard’s belated Bastille Day Block Party kicks off Friday evening with an abundance of French wine, food, pastries, music, and more. Admission is free, with drinks and food for purchase.

CITY

Quick & dirty headlines

😬 You may want to re-think that beach day. The weekend weather may be cooperating for once this summer, but the water sure isn’t. As of Thursday afternoon, over 70 beaches in Mass. were closed due to unsafe levels of bacteria, harmful algae, and sewage overflows, including all beaches on Plum Island. That said, you can still technically go to said beaches, you just can’t go in the water until the Dept. of Public Health gives you the green light. You can see the most up-to-date closures here.

🌟 A Seaport restaurant just got a four-star review from the Globe. And they don’t dole out stars like that to just anybody. Woods Hill Pier 4 has been in the Seaport for a few years, and according to Globe food critic Devra First, it “brings together farm-to-table dining and Nantucket chic.” She was particularly taken with the sticky and sweet lamb ribs and the thoughtful list of cocktails and mocktails. The restaurant’s spectacular waterfront view is just the cherry on top. You can read First’s review here and see the menu here.

🧀 This new charcuterie board shop will up your girl dinner game. Specializing in cheeseboards, grazing tables, and all things charcuterie is The Dirty Italian, whose storefront location in Southie just opened this week. Owner Talya Pessolano’s cheese career took off after a popular IG account shared her stunning charcuterie boards, and she’s now bringing her online business IRL with to-go meals, sandwiches, salads, classes, and more. You can read our profile of Pessolano here. Can personally confirm her charcuterie spreads are incredible.

QUICK QUESTION!

🤷 What’s worse?

ONE LAST THING

Keepin’ it local

How about a summer day trip in your own city?

Boston-based creator Iona McGowan created a go-to list of summer things to do if you don’t feel like leaving the Boston area. She highlights everything from hitting up the outdoor public pools (which are low-key hidden gems) to doing a DIY beer garden crawl (especially now that most of them are dog-friendly).

And again, given the forecast, it’s a great weekend to give her list a go. You can see her itinerary in this IG video here.

🏊 Thanks for reading! Apologies in advance for not gatekeeping the pools. They’re just too good not to share.

💕 The results are in: More than 50% of readers are most excited to see Barbie this weekend, with one reader writing, “I know how Oppenheimer goes. Not good. Give me Barbie!”

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

Correction: A previous version of our Luke Combs write-up implied the special event train runs on Friday. It does not, but it runs on Saturday. This story has been updated.