Green Street Cocktail Bar / Restaurant

Cambridge / Somerville, Boston –

If anything, homey Green Street proves cocktail snobs don’t have to go to a swanky bar to enjoy a wide selection of artisan drinks. With a plain brick exterior, bare mint green walls, and only a handful of windows, the casual venue puts the emphasis squarely on prohibition-era beverages.

Hipsters in vintage duds vie for a spot at the simple wooden bar to sip elderflower and pineapple concoctions like the Parisian Orchid, while laid-back locals settle in around adjacent two-tops with a few Ewing No. 33s – a delectable mix of rum, Fernet-Branca, brown sugar syrup, and Angostura bitters named for Boston-born basketball great Patrick Ewing.

Up a few steps from the bar is the narrow dining area, where groups of foodies and amorous pairs attend to their martinis, nosh on upscale comfort food from lamb skewers to bacon cheeseburgers, or peruse the solid list of microbrews.

Scattered retro art account for most of the décor, and both the single TV and the soundtrack of indie folk are usually drowned out by conversation.

Taco night on Wednesdays ushers in a Mexican theme and a special selection of tequila-based libations that keeps the bar bumping from open to close, while Fridays and Saturdays routinely see the quaint establishment equally stuffed to the gills.

With a superbly executed cocktail menu and a friendly neighborhood vibe, Green Street is just another reminder that appearances can be deceiving.