>  ML> it's ML unrecognizable in every way
> I started Googling some of my old haunts from the two for a quarter
> draft days. Most are long gone.

Some of them perhaps no great loss. Mine, they've adapted 
with the times or gone under.

Boston
Bull & Finch - we used to go here, my first time in 1971.
It seemed to have been there forever, but in fact it arrived
on the scene the same year I did for permanent, '69. It was
cheap, dark, dim, dingy, and close, but it was saved by being 
the site for the outdoor shots of Cheers and survived by 
changing its name to Cheers. Tourists crowd around the 
outside, but if they go in, they are disappointed, because
it's expensive, dark, dim, dingy, and close.

Dugout - still there after 50 years or so, catering to
generations of underage BU drinkers, surviving numerous
busts for serving underage BU drinkers. Apparently renovated
several times since my time. There was also another place
that I kept confusing with the Dugout that was similar.

Harvard Gardens - the aforementioned place, pretty underbelly
in an underbelly neighborhood that picked itself up and 
became an overbelly neighborhood, thenceforth deemed suitable 
for medical professionals and the like (it's a block from 
Massachusetts General Hospital). Pool tables replaced by seating. 
Food rather upscale, rather overpriced (truffle fries, quinoa 
burgers, chimichurri anyone?). No more obvious hookers, so 
instead of getting a social disease, the med students now risk 
getting the ultimate social disease, lots of squalling children.

The Red Hat - a haunt of the aides from the State House, 
nearly went under, became an Open Table place, picked itself
up, has remained picked up. Food worse than ever last I 
checked, several years ago. But hey, you got points.

Sunset Bar - first it reinvented itself by offering 104 taps
in a gentrifying neighborhood. Then it imploded and has been 
gone for several years.

Union Oyster House - yes, I used to come here and spend my
hard-earned pennies on 50c oysters when they were half that
some places. Now they are 3- each, rich for my taste and not
so fresh as once they were, so more recently I've gone to the 
Kinsale across the way for fried chicken wings for a buck; 
sadly, that's gone the way of all COVID, whereas the Union 
Oyster House, fueled by an unlimited supply of tourists, goes 
ever on.

Les Zygomates - I used to go here because a friend was a
marimba player and used to perform at the bar, but then I
discovered that the food and wine, though costly, were pretty
respectable, plus there was at one time dollar oyster night -
there no longer is. I still go there for old times sake; it's 
the quintessential yuppie bar restaurant, and there are a lot
of quintessential yuppies around.

Cambridge
Charlie's Kitchen - used to be a double cheeseburger for 50c
and a beer for a quarter. Now it's 10- for the burger and 5 
for the beer; but it's right in the Square, so it won't die 
unless it wants to.

Forest Cafe - the owner used to turn a blind eye on underage
drinking, and so I drank there from when I was underage to
until I was overage. He used to also hire underage staff; one 
of the waitresses who was barely legal recounted the story of 
a friend(?) of ours who came in for an interview, and when 
asked if she was 18, said, I'm gonna be, and she was hired: 
what she didn't tell Cy was that she was gonna be 18 in a year 
and three months. This latter was nicknamed "the Golden Rule," 
as she had waist-length blonde hair and was a bit of a law unto 
herself (also that was what her name sounded like). Everyone 
including myself drooled over her; I called her the Golden 
Mean, because she was rather unkind in general. I hadn't 
thought about this place until I just looked it up; it 
unaccountably closed around a decade ago.

Wursthaus - run by the Cardullo family, friends of Julia's, it 
was nicknamed the worst house, as the food was shameful and the 
lengthy beer list had dozens of names crossed off with the 
notation "temporarily out of stock." Eventually when the 
original copies were sufficiently tattered and the prices out 
of date they had to reprint the list, which was printed with 
the names lined out with the notation "temporarily out of 
stock." It being a laughingstock, it eventually went out of 
business. Actually, we all mourned it.

Somerville
The Burren - I'd go here only if someone I knew was
playing. The food was too Irish, the vibe was too Irish.
Still is, decades later, but it's hit on a sure-fire
Boston-area success strategy: be Irish all the time!

Redbones - still there, since 1987, though it felt like
it'd been longer. Lots of beers on tap, way overpriced,
Since S2, takeout only, not great for a bar, but as the
barbecue is the best in the state, it limps along.

> ... The 60s. It's hard to be nostalgic when you can't remember anything.

The one and only Sticky Fingers Brownies' recipe
categories: Californian, antinauseant, dessert, use with caution, chocolate
yield: 96

8 oz Magic
1 1/4 lb butter
16 eggs
6 c sugar
3 c flour
3 Tb baking powder
4 ts salt
1 lb unsweetened chocolate

Magic, where legal, is oven-dried, powdered, sifted
California-grown sinsemilla leaf. Note: chaff may be
used later for grass oil.

Melt butter in a double boiler and stir in the Magic. 
This is the ghee.

Combine eggs and sugar in a large bowl.

Slowly melt chocolate in another double boiler.

When the ghee has cooked 30 min, add flour, baking
powder, and salt to the eggs and sugar. Then add the
ghee and the chocolate.

Pour into 4 9x12" greased baking pans.

Bake at 400F, patting down the batter several times
with a spatula to keep it from rising. When the 
brownies are solid but still very moist, remove from
oven and cover with a towel to keep moisture in.

When cool, cut into 2x2" squares. You will note that
there is some fuzzy math involved, either that or 
about 11% leeway for edges and crumbs for the cook.

Courtesy of Meridy Volz via Alia Volz via Bon App
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