Back to the Future
Your First Look Inside Stoddard's

You need an escape.

A way to step back and remember a time when CCing someone meant filing letters in triplicate, and when long days ended with longer nights of strong ale and hearty food (paperwork has long been the impetus for boozing).

So allow us to present your exclusive first look inside such a place: introducing Stoddard's Fine Food & Ale, a saloon that's part cocktail den, part gastropub, part time warp, now taking reservations for private parties.

If a historical society opened a dynamite pub, this would be it: the hardwood floors and walls date back to the 1800s, the mezzanines (c. 1912) have been salvaged from the old Filene's Basement and the bartenders (dressed in era-correct attire) will man an old-timey, 30-foot handmade mahogany bar.

Along with the attentive, possibly handlebar-mustachioed barkeep, you'll have 25 taps and rotating cask ales fulfilling your draft needs (mostly Belgians, IPAs and stouts), plus more than 40 craft cocktails like the absinthe- and rye-heavy Remember "The Maine," best enjoyed amidst the antique Boston street lamps. You'll also want to try some Aged Gouda and Cask Ale Pudding, an English-style cheese pudding made with the cask ale they'll have on site, served with brioche and pretzels.

Come summer, patio seating will be available out front, gently bridging the past and present together in total ale-soaked harmony.

Or it may just tear a hole in the time-space continuum.