Commentary on hookahs, smoke rings, and The Dream

The HoboHookah crew was up in Boston this weekend to spread the dream. You can check out a couple of the establishments we graced with our presence below.

Boston itself is like a more manageable version of New York. Its like taking New York and shrinking it to a tenth the size, with a tenth as many bars, Broadway shows, and open late restaurants. There are three big problems with Boston for the Party Pioneer, however: 1) The bars close at 2pm, which is fine if you need your beauty sleep, 2) The subway (or T) closes at 12pm, which is fine since a cab ride will cost you probably half of what it would in NYC, 3) There is no food past like 10pm here, which means you should pack a sack lunch if you are going to be out late. Due to these restrictions, though, the city has a vibrant apartment/house party social scene, which allows Bostonians to be Party Pioneers on their own terms, while enjoying one of the most fun and beautiful cities in the US.

If you are traveling or living in Boston, you absolutely need a HoboHookah these days. Most of the hookah bars are halas (finished) and the ones that are still around are going to make you pay. Tangierino, the only real hookah bar left, is in Charlestown and will gouge you $30 for a head of shisha. That’s not their fault, that’s just living in Boston as it wages its war on tobacco. Kashmere, which is on Newbury Street, will make you pay similarly, and you can only get hookah there while the days are still long and the patio is open. The nice thing about these hookah bars, is that they aren’t one trick ponies, they have awesome food and atmosphere to boot. You got to pay, but for a full night out on the town, they are an excellent addition to the itinerary.

Meanwhile, there are some awesome parks and other hookah friendly bars (mostly in the North End and in Cambridge), where lighting up the Hobo will give you an arguably better setting for a smoke. Saturday night, after being escorted from Tia’s (see below), we hung out in Columbus Park, on the water, with a bunch of newly minted friends. Definitely, the best part about having a HoboHookah around, is the people you meet, which just doesn’t happen by itself.

I did make a stop at an old favorite, John Harvard’s Brew House, near Harvard Square. You can’t smoke in there, but their 64oz growlers for $8.95 are a great buy, and a great addition to any HoboHookah. We recommend getting the growler of stout, probably my favorite stout beer on the planet.