Even without the music-focused, minimalist Altar yet on the nightclub scene – and even having said goodbye over the years to venues such as All Asia and T.T. the Bear’s Place – there are plenty of places to go around Central Square for a drink and dance.
And then the time-honored local ritual of complaining about a lack of late-night food options and figuring out whether to walk or call a Lyft home when the T shuts down before you do.
The Smoot Standard
313 Massachusetts Ave., The Port
Genre: Restless but high-energy house
Vibe: Art gallery on reception night
It’s coffee and sandwiches by day, then Smoot Sounds for 100 under a disco ball by night in a high-ceilinged brick space lined with paintings. Lounge on the balcony or get down down-below to DJs or a band serving Chicago-style blues.
Opened: 2024
ManRay
Genre: Industrial, goth, metal, ambiguity, David Bowie
Vibe: Dark arts
You can see Dark Portal raves, or perhaps a techno burlesque show. Anything is possible at ManRay. Anything. Even its own revival: After a run on Brookline Street between 1983 and 2005, the club spent more than 17 years as just a concept in the head of founder Don Holland and a mission to reopen. He pulled it off, and now the place is back to seeming right out of “The Matrix Reloaded,” sexy and strange. Ball caps, no service. White sneakers, no service. Strict all-black dress code or the more daring equivalent.
Opened: 1983 (as Campus), 1985 (renamed ManRay), 2023
Cantab Lounge
Genre: Dive bar
Vibe: Cheap drinks and dancing like no one’s watching
Going from around 50 years of ownership by a guy known as “Fitzy” (Richard Fitzgerald) to getting picked up by a partner in a private equity firm named Tim Dibble might not have worked out so well anywhere but here. Dibble’s rescue and refurbishment out of Covid has been good vibes nearly the whole way through, and getting local faves Chicken Slacks back to entertain is the seal of approval for a max of 250 people nightly, a beautiful mix of townie and hipster, young and old, Black and white and otherwise.
Opened: 1938 to 2020, reopened 2021
La Fabrica
Genre: Bachata and Latin-tinged jazz
Vibe: Big and brassy, glamorous, often just a bit out of control
It was hard for Solmon Chowdhury to stay out of trouble at his Harvard Square club Om and Central Square restaurant and nightclub Moksa and Naga, even when those rebranded as Monroe, slipping on a pair of specs to push up the bridge of its nose. The occasional night-out scuffles and allegations of overserving followed when Hector and Nivia Pina and former vice mayor Dennis Benzan switched to a focus on Spanish Caribbean cuisine (with some Peruvian tossed in), but this is your spot for the best-dressed waits at a velvet rope, even with an occupancy of 486.
Opened: 2017
The Mad Monkfish
Genre: Jazz
Vibe: Classy, low-key
A hot spot for nightly jazz – cover charge $5 – right near the red line on Massachusetts Avenue, and specializing in sushi. Occupancy is only around 100, and half that on the music side.
Opened: 2011
Middlesex Lounge
Genre: DJ, bar
Vibe: The Overlook Hotel bar, if it was cool and not creepy
From Slick Vick spinning every Saturday to its incredible mojito, Middlesex has what a disc lover wants: DJs every night and a wide variety of tasty treats. Check this place out if you’re looking for a cozy night on the town with 149 or so other folks looking to drink and dance.
Opened: 2004
Havana Club
Genre: Sixty percent bachata, 40 percent salsa
Vibe: Old world nightclub with dance lessons
Anything from dance lessons to a salsa party can be found at this “cool classy” joint for 300-plus people where smart casual attire is asked. Look for themed parties (such as for Halloween). Cash cover, bar takes card.
Opened: 2004
Phoenix Landing
Genre: DJ, jazz
Vibe: Soccer, pub atmosphere
Whether you are a Liverpool FC fan or a trivia fanatic, this place is for you. Open from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. except for Mondays, when it opens at 5 p.m., it’s called one of America’s greatest soccer bars – a place for up to 156 people to gather, watch a match or catch some Friday jazz.
Opened: 1995
The Middle East
Corner and Downstairs, 480 Massachusetts Ave.; Upstairs, 472 Massachusetts Ave.; Sonia, 10 Brookline St.; ZuZu, 474 Massachusetts Ave.
Genre: Everything (cover bands, electronica, rock, etc.)
Vibe: Sonia is a rock ’n’ roll ballroom, Zuzu is a musical hole in wall, upstairs is a dance club and downstairs is a proper music venue
This place is in the heart of Central Square and for some may be the heart itself, whether for Mediterranean pub fare, drag shows or heart-pumping raves. See anything from a big act such as GZA of the Wu-Tang Clan to a Hootie & the Blowfish cover band in mainly ticketed shows with full bar, no dress code and no dedicated parking. The venues range from the 75-person Corner to the 575-occupancy Downstairs. Welcome to cambridge nightlife.
Opened: 1970
About The Author
