🫨🌭 Your Fenway Frank is QUAKING

It’s Thursday, Boston.

🤡 We thought we got out of April Fools’ unscathed … until we logged off from work on Tuesday and got got by this post from Friends of the Public Garden. Yeah, we actually thought they filled the lagoon with tea. Maybe next year.

👀 What’s on tap today:

• Local James Beard baddies

• An energy bill break

• Capital letter-gate

Up first…

FOOD & DRINK

Your game day just leveled up

T-1 day till Opening Day at Fenway! And in an incredible stroke of luck (or really, some excellent editorial planning), Boston magazine just revamped its guide to Fenway’s best restaurants.

So next time you’re in the market for a new pre- or post-game treat, try one of these spots. Trust us, Tasty Burger and Bleacher Bar won’t miss you:

PRE-GAME 

☕ If you want to get caffeinated … You can’t do much better than Phinista Cafe’s Cà phê Sữa Đá, a.k.a. Vietnamese iced coffee. Plus, their Banh Mi and strawberry matcha latte are fab. The Sipping Room by Breeze is more lowkey, but just as good, with a slim menu of tasty Asian-inspired drinks. We’d try the Hong Kong milk tea. 

🍺 If you want to get buzzed … There’s no reason to pay $25 for a ballpark White Claw when you can get a pint of Cloud Candy at Mighty Squirrel Brewing Co. They have draft beer, seltzer, and even a full kitchen with killer pizza. Not into beer? Fool’s Errand is a cozy spot for a cocktail and, dare we say, an upgraded Fenway Frank.

🍗 If you want a quick snack … Let it be KChickin’s Korean fried chicken. They have a drool-worthy assortment of wings, from soy garlic to “spicy crazy Korean,” plus a solid sushi menu. Another solid pick: Spring Shanghai Pan-Fried buns, where pan-fried buns take center stage. Boston magazine recommends the pork dumplings and pork-and-shrimp wontons.

POST-GAME 

🍽️ If you want a sit-down dinner … We have two ideas: 1. Japanese tavern Hojoko is described as “beautifully bonkers” with sashimi, noodles, even a Wagyu cheeseburger. 2. The new Indian fusion “gastopub” Don’t Tell Aunty is already making an impression with dishes like the kothu bolognese and rasam ramen.

🐔 If you want a slightly more casual bite … Rod Thai Family Taste will give you heaping portions of Thai street foods, like pad thai, drunken noodles, and curry, for under $15 a dish. Or, grab some elevated chicken nuggets with rosemary fries at Shy Bird’s Fenway location.

🍩 If you want to a sweet treat … Step one: Head to Back Door Donuts, which operates out of Loretta’s Last Call (it’s open till 2 a.m.) and grab yourself a massive apple fritter. Step two: While you’re munching on said fritter, walk over to Matcha Café Maiko and finish the day with an Instagram-worthy matcha soft serve. 

TOGETHER WITH MFA BOSTON

Van Gogh? More like Van Stay…

🖼️🎨🧑‍🎨  Because you’re going to want to check this out. Now open at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, is Van Gogh: The Roulin Family Portraits, a first-of-its-kind exhibition exploring the artist’s bond with the Roulin family while living in the South of France. It’s your chance to get up close and in your feels as you experience the emotional depth of these portraits. See 23 of his iconic pieces, including loaned masterpieces from MoMA, the Met, and the Van Gogh Museum, alongside earlier Dutch art and Japanese woodblock prints that inspired him. Get your tickets now.

CITY

Quick & dirty headlines

🏆 New England dominated the James Beard award finalists list. As for local chefs and restaurants that made the cut, Erin Miller from Cambridge’s Urban Hearth got a shout for Best Chef: New England; Brookline’s Merai, a Thai dive bar concept and sibling to rockstar Mahaniyom, made the cut for Best New Bar; and Cassie Piuma, of Somerville’s Sarma (who was featured in a recent telephone tag, NBD), is up for Outstanding Chef. Now we just have to wait till June 16 to see who takes home the gold.

💸 President Trump is giving big vibecession energy. ICYMI: Trump just dropped a metric ton of new tariffs in what he called “Liberation Day,” including a 10% minimum on all imported goods. The idea is to create a renaissance in U.S. manufacturing, in part by forcing manufacturers to set up shop here. Buuut, as a result, local leaders are bracing for price increases on pretty much everything. Gov. Healey has warned of spikes in housing, energy, and gas prices, but industries from cars to restaurants to parmigiano reggiano cheese are speaking out.

🔌 Some National Grid customers are getting a BIG bill break. If you’re one of the 35,000-plus National Grid users who got your October and November bills more than 60 days late, you’re off the hook! Apparently, the company has had ongoing major billing issues, which led to thousands of customers receiving late bills with multiple charges at once. So, the Department of Public Utilities clapped back hard, saying that National Grid can’t charge affected customers for more than two months. If you already paid, you’ll get a refund.

🥗 Plant-based girlies, rise up! Because “Best of Boston” vegan restaurant Lulu Green is opening a second location in Kendall Square this spring. The opening date is still TBD, but we do know all the menu staples will be sticking around, including *location-exclusive* hand-cut fries. Meanwhile, here’s another pretty sweet deal: Through April 6, CNCPTS is celebrating its first female footwear launch by transforming the cafe and patio of its Newbury Street shop and offering free doughnuts with any drink purchase while supplies last.

QUICK QUESTION!

🚶 Which neighborhood(s) do you spend most of your time in?

Note: If your favorite hood isn’t here, don’t worry! We’re running another poll with more tomorrow.

ONE LAST THING

Capital letter-gate

Recently, WBZ reporter Matt Shearer asked a brave question: Why are only some Mass. town signs in all caps? And the answer’s actually … pretty simple.

Here’s the deal: The all caps signs are from before 2009, when the Federal Highway Administration decided that mixed-text signs are easier for seniors to read. But MassDOT was understandably not down to replace every single sign in one go, so instead, the signs were updated when they needed to be replaced. Mystery solved!

And if that sounds a little dull, just imagine Shearer with a guitar performing all of this into a microphone, and then transitioning into “Love Story” by Taylor Swift … for some reason.

— Written by Gia Orsino and Emily Schario

🎤 Thanks for reading! Reporter, singer(?), trombone player — a man of many talents.

💜 Special shoutout to today’s sponsor, MFA Boston, for supporting local journalism and bringing culturally rich experiences to our city. 

🎓 The results are in: Although 39% of B-Siders guessed that tuition to Wellesley College was $96,829 a year … it’s actually an absolutely mind-blowing $100,541. We hit six figures, y’all! One reader said: “As an alum, it’s not even worth the price point.” Tea. 

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