Recommends

Michael S.

Joined 1 year ago

Awesome atmosphere, great overall bar. I honestly don't have anything bad to say about this establishment. The food is good, affordable, and the service is excellent. Friendly staff, fun atmosphere! EASILY in my top 5 favorite bars/pubs. RED HAT!

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laughingoddess

Joined 3 years ago

Best Wings!. While I love the waitresses at Red Hat they are agonizingly slow and often forget to wait on certain tables...

I've taken to approaching the waitress to put in my order and pick up my check.

It is always packed on trivia night (Wednesday).

My favorite low key bar in downtown Boston, best wings. Ever. Aaand AMAZING sweet potato fries!

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villafrancesca

Joined 3 years ago

So it's a hole but drinks are good, wings cheap!. Unless you know Bowdoin and the area around Gov't center, odds are you've never been to Red Hat. It's a good place to catch a few odd Bruins though after a game. For serious. They're probably there for the 10c wings. Or the shots ;)

So getting to the game: you know those touch screen games with naughty games? I need to play the naked lady match game every time I see it. It's the best game ever. I challenge you to beat my score...

Doesn't Recommend

jspiker1974

Joined 5 years ago

At the bottom of the Hill yet going downhill. This place used to be a go-to, comfortable dive for me. A couple years ago it was purchased by a corporation and it just gets worse every day. You can still get reasonably cheap beer and the physical improvements have been good without affecting the basice atmosphere. But that's about all there is to recommend this place anymore. The staff has become disinterested. The music has become very loud. And, worst of all, the food--which used to be excellent bar food for the price--has become downright lousy. The menu has been pared way back. The food quality, even moreso. But the prices have gone up. The Hat used to have some of the best Buffalo wings around. I now regard them as some of the worst. Bit by bit, the sauce has got thinner and thinner with less and less flavor. The sauce is now so thin, in fact, that you cannot get any on your wings; it will run off that easily. Ten-cent wings (Monday and Tuesday nights) that you don't want to eat aren't a bargain, even if they are just 10 cents. On top of that, they have begun charging for extra Buffalo sauce (which will run right off the wings anyway so why bother right?). I have stopped going to the Hat altogether now.

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schevaiswood

Joined 6 years ago

a total dive. cheap wings.. it's a bit of a walk but this is where i like to go pre-game for garden events. they have cheap beers and free popcorn.

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distanttraveler

Joined 7 years ago

Best drinks in town!. I've visited a lot of bars in a lot of towns in a lot of different places. I always come back to the Red Hat for two things...good drinks and good company. Like the "expert" review indicates, I started at this place as a Suffolk student and it's been my go to spot every time I return to Boston. You can't beat the food, you can't beat the prices and the one constant that has been there since my college days....Chris the bartender! The entire place has been completely redone, so you get the ambiance and atmosphere of a "fine dining" eatery upstairs, but you can still hang out and watch the games on the flat screen TV's downstairs. It's a great place to kick back and just be yourself while enjoying drinks and friends.

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Contributor

Joined 10 years ago

Quintessential dive bar provides Suffolk students and downtown workers with a casual spot for watching the game over cheap drinks.. In Short
Cheap bar snacks, cheap pitchers of beer and plenty of TVs combine to yield a solid dive bar experience at the Red Hat. Wildly mixed crowds tend to include a combination of the following: college students, construction workers and State House employees. Only a 10-minute walk to the TD Banknorth Garden, this is one of the cheaper spots for pre-game drinks.

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shortcakebake

Joined 7 years ago

Love the TEN Cent Wings. The Red Hat is making a come back. New stools in the bar so you can sit and watch a game all day. The wings are great on Monday and Tuesday. The dining room looks much better after the floors were redone and new chairs.