Nightlife

Countless musicians, actors, and comedians went to college or got their start in the Boston area, and it's a great place to check out rising stars and promising unknowns. You might get an early look at the next Branford Marsalis, Denis Leary, Bonnie Raitt, or Yo-Yo Ma. And you'll certainly be able to enjoy the work of many established artists.

The nightlife scene is, to put it mildly, not exactly world-class -- you can be home from a night on the town when your friends in New York are still drying their hair. Clubs close at 2am, which means packing a lot into 4 hours or so.

For up-to-date entertainment listings, consult the "Sidekick" section in the daily Boston Globe, the "Edge" section of Friday's Boston Herald, and the Sunday arts sections of both papers. Three free publications, available at newspaper boxes around town, publish nightlife listings: the weekly Boston Phoenix and the biweekly Stuff@Night (a Phoenix offshoot) and Improper Bostonian. The Phoenix website (www.bostonphoenix.com) archives the paper's season-preview issues; especially before a summer or fall visit, it's a valuable planning tool.

Got a Light? Not So Fast!

Massachusetts state law forbids smoking in all workplaces, including bars, nightclubs, and restaurants.

The Bar Scene

Bostonians had some quibbles with the TV show Cheers, but no one complained that the concept of a neighborhood bar where everybody knows your name was implausible. This tends to be a fairly insular scene -- as a stranger, don't assume that you'll get a warm welcome. This is one area where you can and probably should judge a book by its cover: If you peek in and see people who look like you and your friends, give it a whirl.

Hotel Bars & Lounges--Many popular nightspots are associated with hotels and restaurants; as a rule, these are the only watering holes in town where you don't have to shout to be heard. The following are particularly agreeable, albeit expensive, places to while away an hour or three.

The Classiest Pickup Joint in Town--On the first Friday of each month -- and every Friday in the summer -- the Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Ave. (tel. 617/267-9300; www.mfa.org), becomes a spirited nightlife destination. From 5:30 to 9:30pm, music, a cash bar, and a crowd of 20- and 30-somethings liven up the galleries. General admission to the museum ($13 after 5pm) includes admission to "firstfridays."

Gay & Lesbian Bars & Clubs -- In addition to the clubs listed here, some mainstream venues schedule a weekly gay night. The particulars are current at press time, but always check ahead. On Sunday, Avalon plays host to the largest gathering of gay men in town. Also check out Monday nights at Axis. Buzz is the Wednesday dance party that's currently at Venu, 100 Warrenton St., in the Theater District (tel. 617/267-8969; www.buzzboston.com), but check the website, because it moves around. Women congregate on Sunday night at the Milky Way Lounge, 401 Centre St., Jamaica Plain (tel. 617/524-3720; www.milkywayjp.com), which features live entertainment. For up-to-date listings, check Bay Windows, the Improper Bostonian, and the Phoenix; worthwhile websites include www.edgeboston.com and http://boston.lesbiannightlife.com.

Coffeehouses & Tea Salons

As in most other American cities, you won't get far without seeing a Starbucks. I'll submit to the passive-aggressive counter routine if it ends in a frozen drink, but for coffee, tea, and hanging out, there are plenty of less generic options. Many are in the North End. At all of them, hours are long and loitering is encouraged -- these are good places to bring your journal.

Bowled Over

Bowling is both hot and cool, and Boston has a number of good places to indulge. Kings, 10 Scotia St. (tel. 617/266-BOWL; www.backbaykings.com), off Dalton Street across from the Hynes Convention Center, occupies part of a former movie theater. It has 20 bowling lanes (4 of them private) and an eight-table billiards room. It's open until 2am daily; after 6pm, patrons must be at least 21. Lucky Strike Lanes (tel. 617/437-0300; www.luckystrikeboston.com), the local branch of the national chain, boasts 16 lanes and a dozen pool tables. It's in the Jillian's complex at 145 Ipswich St., across from Fenway Park. After 8pm, the crowd is 18-plus Sunday through Thursday, 21-plus on weekends.

Pool Plus

Plenty of bars have pool tables, but at Boston's upscale billiards palaces, drinking is what you do while you're playing pool, rather than the other way around.

Films

Free Friday Flicks at the Hatch Shell(tel. 617/727-5215) are family films shown on a large screen in the amphitheater on the Esplanade. On the lawn in front of the Hatch Shell, hundreds of people picnic until the sky grows dark and the credits roll. In the last few years, the films have tended toward recent releases (no big thrill for anyone with a Netflix subscription), but a few classics usually crop up, and the movie is only part of the experience. Tip: Bring sweaters in case the breeze off the river grows chilly.

True revival houses -- they feature lectures and live performances in addition to foreign and classic films -- include the Brattle Theater, 40 Brattle St., Cambridge (tel. 617/876-6837; www.brattlefilm.org; T: Red Line to Harvard), and the Coolidge Corner Movie Theater, 290 Harvard St., Brookline (tel. 617/734-2500; www.coolidge.org; T: Green Line C to Coolidge Corner). The Coolidge also schedules midnight shows. Classic and foreign films are the tip of the iceberg at the quirky Harvard Film Archive, 24 Quincy St., Cambridge (tel. 617/495-4700; http://hcl.harvard.edu/hfa; T: Red Line to Harvard), which also shows student films.

For first-run independent and foreign films, head to the Kendall Square Cinema, 1 Kendall Sq., Cambridge (tel. 617/499-1996; www.landmarktheatres.com; T: Red Line to Kendall/MIT). The best movie theater in the immediate Boston area, it offers discounted parking in the adjoining garage. Second-run current releases at discount prices are the usual fare at the Somerville Theater, 55 Davis Sq. (tel. 617/625-5700; www.somervilletheatreonline.com; T: Red Line to Davis), which schedules occasional concerts, too. A great place to see mainstream releases is the 19-screen AMC Loews Boston Common, 175 Tremont St. (tel. 617/423-3499; www.amctheatres.com; T: Green Line to Boylston), which has stadium seating and digital sound.

Lectures & Readings

The Thursday Globe "Calendar" section is the best place to check for listings of lectures, readings, and talks on a wide variety of subjects, often at local colleges and libraries. Many are free or charge a small fee. Most of the bookstores listed in section sponsor author readings; check their websites or in-store displays, or surf ahead.

Late-Night Bites

To be frank, Boston's late-night scene needs to climb a couple of notches to reach pathetic, and Cambridge's wee-hour diversions are even skimpier. The only plus is that just about every cab driver out cruising knows how to reach the places that are still open. If you're out and about in the late evening, especially on weekends, you have it a bit easier: Hit a restaurant that keeps relatively late hours. They include Brasserie Jo, the lounge at Troquet, Davio's, Jacob Wirth, and Pizzeria Regina.

Two promising late-night destinations are near the Theater District and Chinatown. The South Street Diner, 178 Kneeland St. (tel. 617/350-0028; www.southstreetdiner.com), is a '50s-style joint with a wine and beer license and a jukebox; it's open 24 hours and is a popular morning-after destination. The upscale News Restaurant & Lounge, 150 Kneeland St. (tel. 617/426-6397; www.newsboston.com), is open until 4am during the week and around the clock on weekends. Besides the entertaining patrons, diversions include abundant periodicals, flat-screen TVs, and Internet access. A number of Chinatown restaurants don't close until 3 or 4am. Asking for "cold tea" might -- might -- get you a teapot full of beer. The hottest scene is at Ginza Japanese Restaurant, 14 Hudson St. (tel. 617/338-2261). In the North End, Caffe Pompei, 280 Hanover St. (tel. 617/523-9438), draws club-hoppers and neighborhood shift workers until 3:30am. Or make like a college student and road-trip to the International House of Pancakes at 1850 Soldiers Field Rd. in Brighton (tel. 617/787-0533). It's open 24 hours daily.