Drinking Fountain

This is a true dive bar, reminiscent of those depicted in any «early 80’s burnt out mill town, local boy makes good» movie (see All the Right Moves). Trust me, I’m from Worcester, I know dive bars. This is the real deal. No tongue in cheek hipster trendy chic wanna be. It’s as real as the bullet hole in the men’s room door. No nonsense, no cards, cash only.
Why go here? The people a genuine, the drinks are generous and cheap, and the burgers and onion rings are better than anything I’ve had on Centre st, and you don’t need to ride a bike and have a beard to get respect.

Read my other review for the whole story on how much this place kicks ass. But here’s an update: this place serves food now Friday-​sunday and it will slam dunk your tastebuds into another dimension: The Tasty Dimension. They have full wings, wing dings, burgers, chicken sangies, hot dogs, and sides. This is the best burger in JP without a doubt. It is not at grass fed, it’s competitive with the new centre street café. The full wings are big and perfectly fried, and again, the best in JP. They may even be the best full wings in the city. It’s like they have a golden fryer of ancient legend because anything that comes out of it is fantastic. A Vorpal Fryer +5. They even got fancy sauces like sriracha ginger. I think they have Ken Oringer chained up in the back and is being forced to make perfect pub food. Eat it! Eat it! Eat it!

This bar is great, felt like everyone was there to do exactly what they wanted that night, drink, eat, socialize, listen to music, play pool and even some flirting.
Beers are relatively cheap and the drinks are strong. What makes this a great place is that it doesn’t try to be anything but a neighborhood bar.

Alright folks, stop what you’re doing right now and listen up. The Drinking Fountain now serves food and it’s waaaaay better than you think it would be. Sure, it’s known across the country as one of the best dive bars in America thanks to Esquire Magazine, however, now it’s going to be known as having the best burger in Boston.
I heard they were serving food from a friend that sent me a chowhound review that raved about it and was curious. They have a very simplified and typical menu of burgers, chicken fingers, wings, fries and onion rings. They have a list of usual sauces to pick from with your burgers but they also had some sort of custom sriracha sauce which is the first clue that this is not going to be your usual greasy dive bar slobber fest.
Lets cut to the chase and get down to business. The onion rings are hands down the best I’ve ever had. Big fat rings, hand battered with a thick crispy crust. The batter they have on those rings is some sort of salty, spicy herb concoction that I couldn’t quite put my finger on but the flavor was unreal. They came with a spicy chipotle dipping sauce that was the perfect combination with the herb crusted rings. Didn’t even bother with the bottle of ketchup that came with the food.
The hefty size cheese burger was very tasty, obviously made with care by hand and cooked perfectly (some simple salt and pepper seasoning I think). I got mine with a sweet BBQ sauce. I couldn’t tell if the smokey flavor was from the sauce or from the burger but it was very tasty. Big soft sesame seed bun with lettuce and tomato.
The combo came in a plastic basket with wax paper (I would expect no less at the Drinking Fountain) and a wet nap. It was pretty quiet on a saturday night so the cook delivered the food himself and made sure we had everything.
We saw him later that night at the Midway and were able to introduce ourselves and give him our praise. This high-​end flair is a welcome addition to the low-​brow Drinking Fountain. It brings a little HI-​LO back to JP.
Be sure to ask for extra napkins!!! Get the ONION RINGS!!!

Can we talk about how Esquire thinks this is one of the best dive bars in America? Because its hardly the best dive bar on Washington Street.

I typically come here when my lady friend and I are doing laundry across the street. Sometimes I’ll come if I just want to leave the apartment and don’t feel like going very far. Either way, this place rocks.
$ 7.50 buys you a pitcher of cheap beer (PBR, Bud Light, High Life) and $ 2 buys you 8 rounds of naked picture hunt on those little machines. If that’s not your thing, they have keno, scratch tickets, and pool. If those aren’t your things, then this is one of the best places to people watch in town. If you don’t like all of that, then just get amazingly drunk with the strong, cheap drinks they make. Any mixed drink you get is guaranteed to be 90% booze. If you don’t like that, the bartenders are talkative and friendly. If you don’t like any of that, then just grab a drink and look at all the memorabilia or the amazing fish tank. If that isn’t for you, then leave!

The greatest dive bar in the world.
If you’re looking for a place to get drunk in the dark and not meet anyone you would ever want to meet again, this is the place for you.
The regulars are true jp locals– not hipster college kids, the drinks are strong (bordering on blindness-​inducing), and the atmosphere is perfect. Perfect.
One word of advice– Do not order a beer you don’t see everyone else drinking. Ask for a blue moon and you’ll get swill that’s probably been sitting in the keg for 10 years. And it will taste like feet.

With the charisma of an aging whore, the Drinking Fountain offers slack-​jawed entertainment on a Wednesday night while maintaining a comfortable distance when the parents are visiting.
The house pour is «I lost count» because the bartenders don’t care, everyone talks to everyone because the patrons don’t care, and the resident pool pro (who, I swear, is a honest-​to-​hoodness pimp) gives tips on the game because he actually cares. Just not that much.
There is a jukebox that never stops playing, festive fudge for sale behind the bar (applicable holidays only) and what’s likely 10% your crowd/​90% the crowd your crowd will be in 30 years.
You may leave wearing a layer of antique dust held fast by a pleasant film of tacky humidity, but like the pain of a foot that’s fallen asleep, you’ll find this dull and weird sensation intoxicating.
Or maybe that’s your drink. Whatever.

It is what it is. There are cheap drinks. A juke box. Naked lady hunt. Keno. Old men. Pool. Surprisingly clean bathrooms. Cheap drinks. And locals of questionable character.
Oh and one of those scratch ticket vending machines that I end up chucking dollars at after a few heavyonthegin gin & tonics.
But here’s what I like about this place the most: it ain’t hip. It’s not even «ironic hip.» So don’t come here looking for some equally hip girl or dude to pick up. You’ll just meet old men. And maybe me… but I’m taken.

Let me ask you this, and be honest now.
Does the shotgun hole in your bathroom door conform to the aesthetic laws of Feng Shui? Would you light your home with Keno paraphernalia??? Do you enjoy trying to talk louder than a TV blaring Lynne Thigpen era Law & Order??? Do you love watching naval tattoos seemingly melt off the leathery forearms of octogenarians???
Go here!
This place fuckin Rules.

The Drinking Fountain is a top-​notch dive bar. We stopped by late on a Wednesday evening to continue our buzz on the cheap. Stella and Shock Top will run you $ 3.25 a pint — what a bargain! And our bar tender was extremely nice and attentive.
The atmosphere is perfect — walking in here is like going back in time to a simpler era. It’s definitely a locals bar, but everyone seemed pretty friendly. Just keep it respectful and you’ll be fine. There are also a couple pool tables, a scratch ticket machine, and snacks available for purchase (all St. Patrick’s Day candy is currently 50% off).
Not sure I’d make a special trip just for the Drinking Fountain, but the next time I’m in the area I wouldn’t be opposed to stopping by for a frosty beverage.

Good drinks, prices, people and bartenders. Never a problem. A step back in time. Simply the best… period!!!

A decent dive bar, just don’t go there expecting a hip upscale joint and you won’t be disappointed. Juke box, pool tables and cheap beer. Bar tenders are friendly. I think they have food as well but I haven’t eaten there yet.

Scary place. I like dive bars as much as the next guy but I actually feel my life in danger in this place. The back of the bar has a pool table with some very sketch people hang out around it. The bathroom has a hole in the door. The bartender looks as if she can kick my ass, and I am a big guy. Plus, the women in their playing Keno really show the pits of society. Stay away.

I dont believe in reviewing a place only after one visit. Ive been to the drinking fountain three times now, so not a regular, but have a decent feel for the place. It’s got a great interior, like stepping back in time. It’s just an old dive bar but there is something really pretty about it. It’s got high ceilings with fans and I think dark wood beams? Neon signs everywhere and framed photos of the bar back in the 70s and 80s when the elevated orange line tracks went right over the bar.
Two pool tables in the back, magic touch games, keno, jukebox. Usually a lively crowd in there, hee hawing it up. I never feel uncomfortable although it seems the clientele are all regulars who know each other. They had desperate housewives on the giant tv there this week which is a serious no-​no but whatever, i was two eyeballs deep into some naughty lady photo hunt.
I ordered a PBR draft for $ 2.25 and got a blue moon back. So my beer was wrong and i watched her pour it from the PBR pull which is weird, but i did get a really cheap blue moon so i got that going for me. I thought they had hot dogs but i guess they don’t, so no food besides bags of chips.
The first time i went to the fountain, a fight broke out between two chicks. It was entertaining but a little dramatic for when you want to just relax and have a beer with friends. Sometimes i feel like i could get shived at the drinking fountain but that’s all part of the allure i guess.
Well I dont come here very often (i’d rather go to the fireside) so i guess that says something about the place, but all in all, it’s a classic dive. If you fancy yourself a dive bar conossiuer, you should check out the drinking fountain at least once.

I’ve been here once. It was a random-​ass Thursday. But I doubt the «scene» changes much with the days of the week, the month, year, or decade. I was served some jack’n’cokes that were officially a 10 on the «strong-​as-​fuck» scale. The Bruins game was on at roughly 15 dB over standard OSHA requirements. A lot mass-​slumping was going on as well. And Keno tickets ABOUND.
One thing to note is that the place is like 15 times bigger on the inside than you’d think it would be from looking at it from the outside. On the inside, pool tables, darts, and townie-​what-​have-​you.
So yeah, I dig it, and I’m sure I’ll be back there for some of «that».

Things That Might Happen at the Drinking Fountain
1. You order a gin and tonic. You receive a big glass of straight gin. You drink it, invoking the spirit of Ace Frehley for protection, and order another. It is mixed exactly the same.
2. While wondering whether or not that’s a shotgun hole in the men’s room door, you notice that someone has taken the time to lovingly frame and hang a picture of Larry Bird holding Julius Erving in a headlock.
3. A man resembling the Boston Celtics logo introduces himself to you as «Lucky the Leprechaun,» bums a smoke, gets into a fight with somebody in a passing car.
4. Someone falls asleep in a pile of losing Keno tickets.
I’m not going to lie to you. Bad things have happened at this bar. You hear stories sometimes of Boston bars where ultra-​violent Whitey Bulgeresque gangsters used to hang out in the 80’s; most of those places are now serving tapas and flirtinis, but the Drinking Fountain remains, a bulwark of the bad old days in the same neighborhood that begat the Alchemist Lounge. There’s a certain perverse charm to going here; you’re never quite sure if you’re going to make it out alive, but every now and then it’s cold gin time again. Whoa yeah. Ow.

Every time I come here I always meet the craziest people when I’m outside breaking for a smoke. Once, this guy told me that no one wears handkerchiefs anymore, but he always does (and had one tucked into his navy blazer). He said he learned his lesson in Turkey when he saw a man stabbed (he said this is how Turks get revenge on you) in the butt (they aim for non-​deadly but troublesome spots) and used it as a tourniquet to stop the blood (handkerchiefs save lives).
Viva la drinking fountain!

A true dive bar, The Drinking Fountain is a great place to play pool. It makes Foley’s look like The Alchemist.

This is one of my favorite «hole in the wall» bars that most people would never walk in to. What I like about this bar is the different characters you will meet there. That’s basically all…