Best of Boston

2000 Best Bartender, Drinks

Joe McGuirk, B-Side Lounge

The B-Side Lounge has the feel of a real neighborhood establishment, but ever since Joe was written up in Details magazine as a great bartender, tourists have been showing up looking for him. What makes him so great? He’s flirtatious with the ladies and chummy with the regular guys. He’ll hand over a cocktail menu and with an impressive snap of the shaker, he’ll pour an elegant drink. Proud of the fact that B-Side “isn’t anything like Sonsie,” Joe is as genuine and real as his bar. He got started in the business eight years ago after saying to a friend, “If I don’t get a raise, I’m bartending for the summer.” It’s been a long summer.

92 Hampshire Street, Cambridge, 617-354-0766,