The Plough and Stars

The Plough & Stars Has Been a Constant in Central Square for 50 Years | Eater Boston

"Upon entering, it's immediately apparent that this is a place where people have done some drinking — not a spot for $20 cocktails or lifestyle photoshoots but a working-class, unpretentious corner bar where people come to commiserate, argue, laugh, and, on many nights, listen to live music. Dublin-born brothers Peter and Padraig O’Malley helped open the Plough in 1968 or 1969 and the family has retained an ownership stake since the 1970s; current owner Gabriel O’Malley says the bar’s Holy Trinity is music, literature, and politics, and Peter helped found the literary journal Ploughshares in 1971 while Padraig used the bar as a home base for his international peacemaking work. The room and the original bar haven't changed much in 50 years, and its intimate, diverse clientele — neighborhood regulars alongside Harvard and MIT folks, construction workers, and city employees — plus the staff and musicians are what make it special. Live music has been central from the start, with patrons recalling acts from the Ray Corvair Trio, the Bad Art Ensemble, the Handymen, and G. Love and Special Sauce to legends like Bonnie Raitt and Jeff Buckley; longtime booker Jim Seery also notes performances by Morphine, Kim Deal, Tommy Ramone, and Greg Ginn, and Gabriel even recounts the rumor that Van Morrison wrote parts of Astral Weeks there. It remains a Cambridge landmark offering food, drinks, and nightly live music, and it still feels like a real, unpretentious local bar." - Terrence Doyle