Small but AWESOME place. Really cheap beers on tap. I was asking the bartender to explain what the Sam Adams Red Brick tasted like. He explained throughly and then asked I wanted to try some! He gave a generous amount to try and it was amazing. A pint of that was $5! Amazing. A+ to the staff
Atmosphere was great and the food is good. Definitely would go out of the way to come back here and grab some drinks with friends!
Ya know what, I never really got all the people who go to a dive bar expecting it to be anything but a dive.
Biddy Early's is as close to a literal hole in the wall as you can get. They serve food - it's okay, nothing special, but if you want a grilled cheese with tuna in it, it won't give you any weird diseases, and the nachos have chili on them. If you want a liquid lunch or somewhere to hide from coworkers, bet you none of them are at Biddy's.
Apparently this place turns into a college-kid-glutted fiasco at night, but go in around lunchtime and you'll find a pretty good mixture of people. All the stickers up around the bar are for local labour unions. My boyfriend and I had a good chat with a guy in a union because we wanted to know the difference between a rat and a scab. The bartenders are also really friendly (and actually, bartenders ARE typically friendly in all the dives I've gone to - just don't waste their time, especially when they're busy).
So if you're looking for something that'll blow your mind, Biddy's will leave you underwhelmed, but go in expecting nothing more than it is and it's actually a nice little place for a cheap drink, fries, and chatter.
Biddy Early's is gross. Not like charmingly gross, or "sorry we can't help it" dive bar gross. It's the kind of gross that I'm pretty sure will give you Hep C. I don't recommend passing out on the floor or allowing anything in there to penetrate you. I mean, I don't recommend this at most places, but here it seems especially crucial to reiterate. It kind of came across as a nest of hipsters who have tried to artificially manufacture a dive bar. I gave it two stars because the beer was cold and happened to be Boston Brick Red. If at some point they get rid of this, please let me know so I can downgrade them to one star. Thanks babes.
Review Source:Biddy Early's is a really crappy, gross bar in the heart of the Financial District. Â It looks like this dumpy bar ran away from the other dumpy bars in Southie during a game of hide-and-seek in 1978, and was never found.
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It's a gross old small place. Â I do really like PBR on tap, and $2 "pints" of it are pretty nice.
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There is a jukebox here, one of those internet-controlled things. Â It's dark and gross. Â The bar area looks like it hasn't been cleaned in ages. Â There's an old cigarette machine - about $10 a pack - by the front door. Â I am pretty sure those have been illegal for some time, but for whatever reason, this place has an active one.
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But don't believe the hype from people below saying they're "regulars" or that this is their "playground". Â The type of people who frequent this place are not the type to write lengthy reviews online. Â They are the type of people who sit in front of the keno screen with scratch cards in one hand, three - THREE drinks in front of them, while giving you the stink-eye.
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I doubt this place is on the up-and-up. Â A gross old bar charging cheap prices for beer with an illegal cigarette machine stands by? Â Someone in city hall is looking the other way....
Found this place by accident one day and was amazed by it. What an amazing cheap dive in a place you would only expect expensive "Irish pubs" which all have the same owner and $8 beers.
Cheap beers and the place is like stepping back in time. You walk in and just say "what the hell?" followed by "let's get drunk".
They do food apparently but I don't know if I would order food here. After work drinks would be the best bet.
This is a great dive bar. Super cheap pitchers of PBR, decent music, good mix of people and a decent amount of sitting/standing room. The also have really good food and as far as I can tell, their kitchen stays open past midnight (though I've never actually gotten food that late). I have no complaints.
Review Source:I usually have a great time at Biddy's, because it's typically full of really cool people. They have cheap beers, big mixed drinks, multiple tvs, a dartboard, and occasional karaoke. Their food is ok, especially for the price, though destination dining this is not. Biddy's also has the stinkiest bathroom anywhere. On the plus side, that means using it is your squat workout.
Review Source:----------------
| OUTLINE: |
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[A] Beer
[B] Bartenders
[C] Karaoke
[D] Food
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| DETAIL: |
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[A] $2 PBR pints. This is all you need to know.
[B] Possibly the friendliest and most down to Earth I've encountered in Boston.
[C] Luck would have it that I was a participant during Biddy's first ever karaoke night. I screamed Rihanna songs while wearing a bow tie. Reference Detail [A]. This is all you need to know.
[D] They have it.
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| CONCLUSION: |
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Refer to Outline.
There's something I've really liked about Biddy Early's ever since I first went there, which I'd never been able to put into words until today. If you'd asked me to describe a bar before the first time I'd ever actually been to one, I would have described Biddy Early's to a T.
Biddy Early's is literally everything I expected from a bar when I was too young to actually go to one. When I finally turned 21 and started frequenting bars, I found they were all so much louder, so much more crowded, so much more expensive, and filled with so many more annoying dudebros than I'd expected. I'd push past dudes in starched shirts to wave money at a bartender for an hour so I could buy two drinks. Then one day I walked into Biddy Early's and it all just kind of made sense.
Here you get the dart boards and arcade games and cigarette machines that dotted the television bars of my childhood. You get tables just big enough for your friends to fit all of their drinks and coats while the group swirls through a night of increasingly drunken conversation. You get the occasionally sticky floors and dirty bathrooms without ever feeling like you're in that one scene in Trainspotting (you know the scene). You get a pitcher of PBR for what you'd pay for one beer at another bar. You get a jukebox (or whatever you call those digital things that have replaced jukeboxes in every bar these days) which will play great and terrible music in equal proportions and will always give you something to sing with or laugh at or complain about but will never bore you. It has all the bar food you expect with exactly the same quality.
This isn't the dive...est... (most divey? diviest?) place I've ever been, or the nicest, or the night clubbing-est. It's just the most bar-like bar I've ever been to, and when you're looking for a nice simple night out with friends, where all you want is to drink at a bar and laugh into the night, this is the perfect place for it.
Finally time to throw in my support for this Boston treasure.
I love how loved this place by Yelpers. I love how people typically doubt it when you're bringing them here, and love it when they leave.
Cheap drinks, friendly bartenders, fast and cheap food and FREE DARTS.
Last time I came was after the food truck showdown this Fall. Managed to convince a group of fairly classy friends that the best thing we could do is go to a dive bar. I got the guys on board with darts and I think Keno may have gotten one of the girls on board. We ended up staying for a couple hours over several rounds of drinks, darts (obviously), a very odd mix of music on the jukebox and an unforseen flurry of scratch tickets. Everyone agreed the place was pretty much perfect.
My friends and I have been to Biddy's quite a few times, and I think it deserves a review.
Pros
Extremely inexpensive (e.g. $8 pitchers of PBR)
Serves food late (not great food, but it does the trick)
Attracts really entertaining people that I've enjoyed meeting
It's seriously inexpensive. Â Yes, that was worth repeating.
Cons
It's a tad drafty.
Bathrooms could be nicer.
It's far away from where I work/live.
If you're looking for a fun place to hang out with friends, meet new people, and drink cheap beer, I highly recommend Bitty's.
They serve food here? Â Wow...
Caveat: This review pertains only to Sunday afternoon. Â I can't comment on what it's like on weekend nights where you will undoubtedly be forced to witness the mating rituals of Boston University undergrads.
I wasn't expecting Biddy's to be good. Â In fact as the only bar within walkable distance from South Station in Boston's financial district, I was preparing at best for a typical Boston experience whereupon detection of my accent results in meandering accounts of 'that one time I was in Dublin, bro', the pulling up of sleeves for an impromptu exhibition of misinformed, sectarian tattoos and/or a symposium on which bottles of Irish whiskey are 'protestant'.
Anyway, Biddy's isn't bad at all as it turns out. Â It's a shithole (I mean that in the best possible way). Â $2 pints is a price structure I approve of, and if a few of the dive bars I frequent in my adopted home of Brooklyn were to install these lottery ticket / scratch card dispensers affixed to the bar, they'd probably be in slightly less danger of being displaced. Â Also, after pouring me a generous measure of (protestant) whiskey*, the bartender proceeded to stick her nose in the glass and proclaim 'woo! that shit smells STRONG! haha!' - I am also fine with this service model. Â I am marking the photos of the poorly poured $2 PBR and shite smeared bathroom walls as 'very helpful'.
*All Irish whiskey was originally 'protestant'. What 18th century Irish Catholic could afford a distillery?! Â Seen as it's 2012 now and all distilleries are owned by multinationals like Diageo, how about shutting the fuck up and enjoying whichever whiskey you prefer?
Went back Saturday night for the first time in a minute, and Biddy's is still the real deal. Â Still 5 stars for sure.
Sure, the secret is well out by now, as this used to be a liquid lunch / happy hour only spot, but hey, the more the merrier. Â Â
The wife and I met up with some co-workers of hers that had been day drinking all day, to join in on the festivities. Â The beer list is decidedly unsnobby. Â No original Bud, so I went with some Stella Artois drafts. Â Tasty, and ice cold. Â Seriously, real deal cold brew. Â nice.
The apps were good, not amazing. Â I remember the burgers and steak tips being good here, but with a decent-sized group, it's just easier to order a bunch of appies instead eh? Â So the onion rings and fries were probably the best of the group. Â Mozz sticks were not great...kinda the same ones they have everywhere, tubular shaped. Â The nachos were not that great either. Â So go with the fries and rings if you get a snack attack!
So yeah the apps aren't amazing but dammnit they're all $7 and under so what the F? Â You're here for the beer anyway. Â
PS Kind of upset that they changed the sign hanging outside...it used to be kind of old and homemade-looking, like some carpenter fashioned it out of driftwood.
Best dive ever. $2 PBRs, passable fries, a crazy weekend crowd and a nice relaxed place to go on a weeknight. The staff is pleasant and seem to really care about the place....can you really ask for more from a bar? I think not.
No remotely vegan food served besides the fries, though. Drink your dinner instead?
Biddy's was introduced to me by a fellow yelper, Johnna M. and I'm eternally grateful to her for the intro. I love biddy's. Yes it's a complete dive. Yes, the toilets are are less than stellar. Actually, they are wrank. But, there is something to be said about a solid pint of Guinness and  a generous pour of Jameson. Especially when it's Friday evening after work and you really want a stiff drink to begin your weekend on the right note, but to soundly round off the previous five days.
Biddy's is an institution to me and many others who love it. Get to knwo this place in the right way, and it may jsut become one of your favorite bars in Boston.
Sometimes it smells like pee and the bathrooms are gross, but Biddy's still gets four stars for the following reasons:
A. Â People I like go here a lot. Â As a result, I always have a good time
B. Â I literally work across the street. Â Biddys can now double as a place to hide from the rain and coworkers
C. Friendly staff
D. Â I really like the people that go here a lot
E. $2 PBRs
F. They serve me vodka in a pint glass
G. They serve me vodka in a pint glass
H. They serve me vodka in a pint glass
I. They serve me vodka in a pint glass
J. They serve me vodka in a pint glass
K. They serve me vodka in a pint glass
L. They serve me vodka in a pint glass
M. They serve me vodka in a pint glass
N. They serve me vodka in a pint glass
The best way I can describe this bar is it's a great place to either start or end the night. Great after work place to meet up with a group for some cheap (and in my experience, strong). It epitomizes the words "Dive Bar", and it is glorious.
A dive bar should have at least 3 Â of the following to be considered acceptable: Erotic Photo Hunt (which just so happens to be my strongest pub game), cheap and strong mixed drinks, darts, a jukebox, late last call, and close proximity to public transportation. Biddy's has them all, and a friendly staff (which is not typical of the dive bar).
In an area where $12 cosmos and clackety stilletto heels can be heard from every corner, Biddy Early's is a breath of fresh (read: stale beer and peanuts) air. I will be back over and over again.
I had to write a review to this place because I've been here many times but did not know how strong people love this place.
To give you my perspective, I work across the street from this bar so it's the go to "I've been working 11 hours straight and I need a goddamn beer" place.
I was directed here because I was looking for a place that is "good place for groups". I just wanted to correct that point. Yes this place is awesome for a college student who wants cheap beer. Yes this is a perfect place for a weekday drink for any professional that is looking for cheap beer. But NO it's not "good for groups". I personally like to have elbow room. The last time I was here I came with my audit team which was about 10+ people. I couldn't turn around without hitting the partner in the arm (who was passing around the bucket of beers - Loved it!).
But honestly, that's my only complaint. It's a perfect college bar and has a great atmosphere. I like coming here with a few co-workers but if I'm with a bigger group I'm going to a bigger bar.
And really, college kids make it alllll the way down to the financial district. Now that's saying something!
I had to update this review since going again. Â
Yup, still sucks. Â Still not a dive. Â And still this little safe little hang out for kids playing rough and tumble. Â You can get beers this cheap lots of places, and much stronger drinks for the same price. Â Don't believe the hype. Â Diversity here means a middle-upper class 30 year old and a college kid will be in the same room. Â
...Really-if you are looking for a true Boston dive, try the Drinking Fountain, JJ Foley's in Jamaica Plain, or Whiteys. Â These places are Tom Waits. Â Biddy's is Billy Joel.
Was looking for a classic, historic old school Boston dive bar. Just a tad off the beaten path, Biddy's satisfied! Beers were cheap, drinks were strong, food looked good (didn't eat), and the atmosphere was just totally perfect - dark, dingy, stone and brick, worn wood - it felt like a bar where a million people have made a million mistakes over the course of a couple hundred years. I only wish I could have taken it home with me.
The only bummer was we tried to go back at about 11:15 p.m. on Saturday night of St. Patrick's Day and they told us they were closing down. A gem like this should be open as much as possible. So, might be a better happy hour/evening spot than a late-night joint.
Ridiculously cheap drinks, easy on street parking on the weekends and ridiculously cheap drinks. Oh there were also darts, friendly strangers tearing it up on the dance floor and those buckets of $2 beers.
I was jealous of my friend who works across the street and can spend less on 5 drinks at Happy Hour than I spend on 2 drinks in the suburbs.
I have never reviewed Biddy Early's, which may or may not be blasphemous. Â Now that I have returned to check it out again, Â I now feel that I can make an assessment: Â it's awesome. Â
Beer prices are good ($5 for a Sam Adams Brick Red), a feel that can only be described as dive bar, and a scratch card machine in the back that I won $2 from all make for a perfect place. Â It can get crowded when there are lots of people, but it also has a generally friendly feel even when crowded. Â
Overall, I like Biddy's. Â It's not pretentious. Â Instead, it's a relaxed place to get a beer or multiple beers in Downtown.
BEST BAR IN THE US.
Colin Fiske hangs out there. I understand that many of you might not know who Colin Fiske is out there, average yelpers; but he is like the King Skateboard-Dude of America. The guy like invented every trick. He's skateboarding's DB Cooper. Reclusive in the extreme, I only heard about him when he delivered a package to my office and someone's like "do you know who that guy is???" So I asked why he was a courier and they told me his story and where he hung out. Obviously I was piqued, so I decided to show up at Biddy Early's-where, in the average week, is the only socializing he does-I come to find out.
And that's why they're getting 5 stars. If they can make THIS guy feel comfortable and safe drinking in a wildly diverse crowd such as theirs than surely anyone can feel comfortable there. I mean look at me, business guy, just doin my thing, thinkin my business-y thoughts, not thinkin about skateboard guy hotdoggin thru the streets with his huge white tshirt with the graffiti logo. That's what IM SAYIN. The drinks are generous, the food is simple and perfect bar food (and tons of it), the people that work there are so nice and I don't know-it just rules.
We drank cheap pitchers of Pabst Blue Ribbon.
Are we hipsters?
We played Dropkick Murphys on the juke.
Are we cliche?
I learned about jails.
I learned about the nursing profession at jails.
It was disturbing.
I drank more pitchers of PBR.
It became less disturbing.
We played darts.
We did shots of Jameson.
Someone played Celine Dion on the juke.
Someone may have puked.
I think it was me.
I think I drank more pitchers of PBR.
How did we get home?
My clothes were still on when I woke up.
My wallet still had money in it.
Should I be really hungover?
Should we have gone back to Biddy Early's for more PBR?
Probably not.
I need to update this review, to show that my love for Biddys has remained strong. I love the bartenders...Sean, Darragh and Jeff are all amazing.
I love that I can scam money for the jukebox and blast Celine Dion.
I love shots.
I love the chicken finger basket. I love the grilled chicken sandwich. I love the chili. I love the nachos that have a different set of toppings every time I order them.
I love the crowd.
I love that I haven't had a dart thrown in my foot in almost a year.
I love that after the clock hits 6:30, this place is my goddamned playground.
Do you sometimes wonder why the City of Boston is only somewhat decent? Well, if you really want to know why, this place is one of the many possible reasons. I went to this small Irish-influenced bar located in the heart of Downtown Boston, and encountered a somewhat interesting group of characters that somehow know me. The bar has this gritty look with a lot of noise, and it can get really crowded in the evening. However, I actually liked it for a little bit.
As for food, I got a Biddy Early's Burger, cooked medium rare, with Swiss cheese. It had lettuce tomato, and onion, and the bartenders were nice enough to provide a good amount of ketchup for the French fries and the burger. They were offering this special that they provide a draft beer with your burger for about $8.95. Unfortunately, the beer they provide is a Pabst Blue Ribbon, which is not a great beer. The hamburger meat had a nice and juicy flavor, the vegetables were fairly fresh, the cheese was enjoyable, and the bread was nice and chewy. This made it a really tasty and great hamburger, and they got the job done well. The french fries were just okay, they had a nice crispiness on the outside, and could use a tiny bit more salt.
The appetizers here are somewhat decent. I ate some of the Nachos here, and I liked that they put a decent amount of ground beef, but needed some more cheese. They were definitely not the tastiest nachos I have eaten, but not a bad choice for a generous snack. I also had the Chips and Salsa, and it's not a bad choice for a small snack with your beer. The they also provide French fries as an appetizer which are the exact same French fries you can get with your hamburger, but at a larger amount. The appetizers are not a bad choice, but not high on my recommendations.
As for the beers, they have a somewhat decent selection that is really typical of any typical American bar. The main attraction is supposedly the Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, but they do serve Blue Moon, Sam Adams and Heineken at a somewhat higher price. The beers are somewhat refreshing, but they need to keep serving the beer really cold at a consistent rate to make them really refreshing. Bartenders are decently good and are effective in getting you something to drink as soon as possible.
The good thing about this place is that the prices are actually reasonable. The dishes and appetizers are less than $10, and you can actually get a glass of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer for possibly about $2. Pabst Blue Ribbon beer is not a great beer, especially when it is not served chilled.
The interior and atmosphere is fairly gritty and it is probably an example of the typical gritty American bar. They have a jukebox that plays loud music to dance to, and a dart board if you want to do some throwing.
Overall, this is bar is not high on my recommendations if you are looking for an amazing beer selection or a great menu. I actually liked eating and drinking at this bar because of the prices and the location is great. Although this bar is not high on my recommendations, if you are willing to "get down and dirty" here in the somewhat decent City of Boston, this is actually a really good choice for some good old fashioned and ridiculously insane fun with your friends or if you are willing to hang out with somewhat interesting characters.
Cheap PBRs, and a decent selection of other beers & non-fancy drinks at reasonable prices.
Decent burgers and fries if all those cheap drinks lead to the need for some other sustenance in your belly.
Dart board with actually decent weighted bar darts, so no worries if you left yours at home.
Friendly bartenders, the kind of place you can hang out and just feel comfortable.
I keep swearing that Biddy's will be a regular bar for me, and I always forget to come here. The trouble with knowing too many people on the Green Line is that they're tough to persuade to branch out of their comfort zones. (Forgive us. We're mostly transplants.)
That said, I've been to Biddy's on a few occasions for various events or reasons, and it's never let me down. They take credit cards. At least once they had Bulleit Bourbon. (They didn't last time. GET IT BACK! NOW!) The beer's cheap. The food's decent enough for bar food. (though they fry with soybean oil)They forgot to bill me for a second Jack n' Coke last week. I tried to rectify it, but they're all, "eh, don't worry about." The jukebox is decent; at least one other patron at Biddy's loves Oakland hip hop because Kreayshawn was playing the last time I was there. The bartenders weren't dicks when I wanted to watch the Sharks during the playoffs. I even accidentally ended up with a free beer during that game. And some guy who just peed hit on me right as he exited the bathroom....oh wait, that's actually not cool.
Maybe I will someday convince my fellow Green Line friends to hussle out here. Maybe I'll just go alone next time.
Fridays are better than Saturdays. They're closed on Sundays.
Have you ever had one of those ventures where everything flows together seamlessly? The succession of events, the fluidity of momentum, the timing - it's all just perfect. You forgot eggs at the store, so you hop in the car; weather's temperate, clothes are comfortable. You catch every green light, change lanes without touching the paint or a reflector, find parking up front, stride with eggs to an open cashier, pay with exact change and back to the car type thing.
Biddy's is the only tavern that offers this experience for three-hour dive bar stretch. It's almost creepy. The rumors are true: cheap beer is ridiculously cheap (150 pennies for a draft PBR), the shot board offers a round of 5 collegiate throat coats for 20 clams and the staff are always smiling. Which makes sense, as they get to work in an environment of flawless synchronicity.
Three things:
- You will see celebrities. Danny Trejo rules the dart board and Mac's mom from It's Always Sunny cruises the bar. Also, the skull of Dwight Schrute hangs from the wall (Until Halloween? Year round? Time will tell.)
- The pub standard chicken tender plate is anything but standard. One of my tenders was shaped like a squirrel. Delicious nonetheless, with fries and a salad for $7.
- The jukebox inevitably plays Rich Girl by Hall and Oates. Love.
A dive bar I had never even heard of, let alone been to. What kind of an alternate universe have I stumbled into?
Biddy Early's boasts the youngest and friendliest bartenders in an establishment dive, yet maintaining the yesteryear prices - $6 pitchers, $4 shots, and a menu with (I think) not a single item over $10. Â
That being said, you're probably scoffing at a laminated menu with approximately 5 offerings on it. Go on with that pretension, you'll just miss out on my favorite nachos in the city. Granted, nachos are about the last thing I would ever order because the toppings generally reach only the upper third of the chips and then the rest are bland and dry. Not so at Biddy Early's. They understand proper cheese distribution throughout the pile, with chili on top to boot. You don't need to twist my arm, Â I'll be back again and again, bringing the other tragically uninformed to the glory that is Biddy Early's.
P.S. Today's fifth star brought to you by Erotic Photo Hunt, located at the left end of the bar.
Crying, CRYING right now, that I worked for years a few blocks from this place and I hadn't been there until last night. I think the last time you could spend 10 bucks and get nicely ripped was back in Mad Men days. Well, fuck a Don Draper, this place is in the here and now.
I wasn't there right after work hours, but I imagine that's when they get the bulk of their business. Later on, when the Financial gets all ghostly and all reputable humans have left on their commuter trains, Biddy Early seems to settle into its stride.
I don't know how much other drinks were, because I rocked the one-fiddy PBRs all night. The bartenders were quite literally some of the nicest I've ever come across in Boston. Super quick and all smiles. I didn't order food but I heard it was actually pretty good and cheap as well, but of course.
The atmosphere was what sealed the deal for me. Dirrrty, dark, and kinda weird. Great tunes to pick from on the juke, photohunt, and darts. But who needs that kind of wholesome entertainment when you can just hang and watch the regulars? Pretty sure Danny Trejo was up in this piece last night, he "Como estas?"ed me at one point.
Glorious.