Whitney’s: Get Your Drink On
by Adam Thibault on December 10, 2001 in Culture
A dark dive, tucked in between CVS and the corner travel agency, Whitney’s is the best watering hole in Harvard Square. I enjoy a Sierra in the sun at Shay’s like the next man, but where is the liquor? I relish a “Dark and Stormy” and a $2.50 entree at Grendel’s but where are the T.V.’s? I’m always up for a burger and a pitcher at John Harvard’s, but the place feels like a camp dining hall. Daedalus, you say? Good charm, but overpriced and I always feel like I’m going to break something. At Hong Kong, the crowd clamors. Let’s bury that place before it buries us.
Don’t get the wrong impression. Whitney’s is not a date bar, nor a place to find a good meal, and certainly not a place to take your parents. It is simply a “roll up your sleeves and get your drink on” type of bar. It opened in the early fifties, long before our school’s namesake launched his presidential campaign. It features $2.50 bud drafts, a friendly staff (ask for bartender extraordinaire Scott Baron), and a lively local flavor. If the cheap drinks and cool folks don’t excite you, then slide over to the Golden Tee for 18 holes of plush fairways and soothing Pat Sumerall. “I’ll drink at any bar with a Golden Tee, but I particularly like to drink at Whitney’s,” gushed Joshua Rubin, MPP2. Other amusing delights include a dartboard, a jukebox that plays everything from AC/DC to Miles Davis, and a video trivia game that stumped the venerable Bob Kolasky, MPP2, for hours (Kolasky did finally correctly answer the prerequisite 25 in a row and his score lives in infamy under the code name Duke-for his hero-Michael Dukakis). Kolasky denies that his marriage is on the rocks because of his fetish for the trivia game.
The owner of the bar is John C. Henaghan, a local Irishman with a quick wit and a great golf game. He bought the bar ten years ago to provide “the only source of sanity in Harvard Square,” according to his friend and patron, John Shea. Shea describes the patrons as an eclectic mix and claims that for many it is a second home.
MPP2 Timothy Ash echoes that sentiment, “Great atmosphere; I can really get in touch with the local population.” Tim was saddled next to a regular named Vinnie, who proudly pointed to his two remaining teeth.
Erica Swift, another MPP2, gladly accepted a drink from Vinnie and mused, “The house red is Beringer-which I love-and the bartender keeps topping my glass.”
Besides the good wine, and the cheap beer, Whitney’s also serves their signature drink called “A Hawaiian Suicide.” This tasty delight is composed of Southern Comfort, Slow Gin, Coconut Rum, Amoretto, Kalua, Pineapple Juice, and Sour Mix. Only two per customer is recommended. After watching her friends knock back a round, MPP2 Michelle Los Banos exclaimed, “This place has it all-nice darts and tasty slim jims.” Slim Jims and peanuts are served behind the recently refurbished bar and quietly add to the charm of this dark hideaway.
So next time your on the way to the T and the weather is wicked nasty, slip into this delicious dive, say “hi” to Scott the bartender, and take in some local flavor. Politics and baseball are not the only passions in this town.
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Awesome bar, awesome jukebox, awesome darts, but flat beer. And you can bring in your own food.
Bonus: Big Buck Hunter.