Doyle's Café

You'll like Doyle's even if you're not a Democrat, but wearing a donkey on your shirt will get you in good here. Think of Boston, think of Irish politicians, and you'll begin to get a feeling for what Doyle's is like -- big, rambling, noisy and re-elected (that is, voted the city's best neighborhood bar) time and again.

Doyle's opened in 1882 and boasted the city's first draught pump and first tin ceiling. One wall of the original building remains, and the long, wooden bar dates to 1905. It used to be located under elevated-train tracks, but all that survives of the El today are some photos and one of the original signal lights.

Doyle's was a speakeasy during Prohibition. Mayor James Michael Curley himself reopened the bar upon Repeal. Mayors still come here, as do Congress members, city council members and other politicos.

We couldn't help but love Doyle's after a regular, a retired airline pilot named Duffy, grabbed Stan by the shoulders and gave him an extended tour of the premises, then introduced us to one of the owners. (We were traveling incognito, as usual.) If these walls could talk! Murals, World War II posters, photographs, newspaper clippings, a dining room dedicated to Irish freedom fighter Michael Collins, another room that pays tribute to John "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald, JFK's grandfather, they're all here.

Doyle's is a flagship bar for the Boston Beer Co., whose Jamaica Plain brewery is nearby. The bar is one of the first to get a new Sam Adams beer or to celebrate the release of one of the seasonals, and it serves the Triple Bock from a cask. Doyle's also sponsors trips to the brewery. Doyle's offers a wide variety of beers, imports and micros (both regional and national) on tap. Two Tremont ales are often available on handpump. The spirits menu includes 35 single-malt whiskies and 10 small-batch bourbons.

Children are welcome here, and so are grandparents. The crowd is usually quite diverse. The menu features a corned beef and cabbage dinner on Thursdays ($6.95), daily fish specials, barbecue steak tips, pizza, half-pound burgers and homemade desserts (Grapenut pudding, $1.75). The best deal, Duffy told us, is the $9.95 prime rib dinner served with real mashed potatoes.

1995