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South End & Chinatown SOUTH END | CHINATOWN | THEATER DISTRICT | LEATHER DISTRICT

Neighborhood Top Five 1 Hitting Chinatown 3 Packing into Wally’s 5 Dressing to the nines (p99) for pork buns, dump- Café (p102) for old-time jazz and going out for a night lings and other dim sum and blues. in the Theater District, delights. whether for comedy at the 4 Sampling the stylish (p103), 2 Browsing at the SoWa vintage threads at Bobby opera at the Shubert Thea- Open Market (p103) and from (p103). tre (p103) or dance at the SoWa Vintage Market (p103). (p104) followed by Sunday brunch in the South End.

11 11 B e Boylsto r Public C n St k e h e Garden CHINATOWN e Av l a t e t v r S y l A THEATER e t S S 1# LEATHER s c n n i mmonwealth t t Co St DISTRICT S o o n t DISTRICT n BACK to t s m g a l l oy S B 5# e n K t i n BAY r ee A h la uart St T n St ve s d S A a t s W

umbu Turnpike ol C B Mas e sach r us k ett e s T l ur e npi y ke

S t Broadway E B erk ele Titus y S Sparrow t Park t St SOUTH e on v em END A Tr 4# us ve 2# W F t A our u St th m on St Columb w gt ha in 3# S h as e Southwest W Av n Corridor Blackstone y w Park Square p arriso x Franklin H E t Square St s a ny e SOUTH M ba h a Al t BOSTON s u Ol sa o chuset S d C ol on ts y ROXBURY A ve 0500 m A e# v 00.25miles e For more detail of this area see Map p240 and p242 A 95 Lonely Planet’s Explore South End & Chinatown Top Tip Four side-by-side neighborhoods are home to Boston’s Budget travelers will find lively theater scene, hip-hop-happening nightclubs Boston’s best restaurant and its best international and contemporary dining. bargains in Chinatown at Once downtrodden, the South End was claimed and lunchtime. Go straight to cleaned up by the gay community, and now everyone Kneeland St to take advan- wants to live there. And why not? The neighborhood tage of amazing lunch spe- boasts the country’s largest concentration of Victorian cials. Chow down on soup row houses, the city’s most innovative and exciting op- and a main course for less tions for dining out, and a vibrant art scene. than $10 – bargain! Although tiny by New York standards, Boston’s Theat- er District has long served as a pre-Broadway staging area. Many landmark theaters have received facelifts 5 Best Places in recent years, and their colorful marquees and posh to Eat patrons make for a festive night out on the town. The ¨¨O Ya (p101) Theater District is also Boston’s club hub. ¨¨Toro (p97) Nearby, Chinatown is overflowing with ethnic restau- ¨¨Gourmet Dumpling rants, live-poultry and fresh-produce markets, teahouses House (p99) and textile shops. As well as the Chinese, this tight-knit community also includes Cambodians, Vietnamese and ¨¨Q Restaurant (p100) Laotians. Chinatown is a popular stop for lunch, a pre- ¨¨B&G Oysters (p97) theater dinner or a post-clubbing munch. For reviews, see p96 A East of Chinatown, the Leather District is a pocket of uniform brick buildings that also shelters some fine res- taurants. In all four neighborhoods, there is a dearth of Best Places traditional ‘sights’ to see, but there is a superabundance 6 South End & Chinatown of eating and entertainment options. to Drink ¨¨Gallows (p101) ¨¨Beehive (p101) Local Life ¨¨Delux Café (p101) ¨ First Fridays On the first Friday of the month, get For reviews, see p101 A thee to the open studios at SoWa Artists Guild (p96) to chat with the resident creatives. ¨ Hang-outs Southenders hang out at Delux Café 1 Best Places (p101) and Franklin Café (p97). to Dance ¨ Chinese Chess Local residents congregate in the ¨¨Whisky Saigon (p102)

 (shadow of the Chinatown Gate (p96) for fierce chess ¨¨Tunnel (p102 competitions and friendly Cantonese chatter. ¨¨Candibar (p102) ¨¨Emerald Lounge (p102) For reviews, see p102 A Getting There & Away ¨ Metro For the South End, take the orange line to Back Bay station or New England Medical Center station. Chinatown is served by its eponymous station, also on the orange line. The green-line Boylston station is handy for the Theater District, while the Leather District is easiest to access from the red-line South Station. ¨ Bus Good for the South End, the silver-line bus runs down Washington St from South Station (SL4) or Downtown Crossing (SL5).