Saunter into Magoun Square’s Daddy Jones for a speakeasy-styled cocktail bar with a hipster vibe, one with the inviting feel of Semolina Kitchen and Avenue Kitchen & Bar but with bites you won’t find anywhere nearby. It’s essential Greek food with some nouvelle spins, but founded in 2012 (and named after a character in a children’s book), Daddy Jones has been serving Mediterranean fare embellished with olives and feta well before Saloniki opened two locales this side of the river or Eat Greek arrived in Davis Square.
The long, dark bar is adorned with tchotchkes and the TVs in the lounge are more likely to be playing Adult Swim or an offbeat movie such as “Mickey 17” instead of sports. There are a few booths and tables in the cozy dining area; take a jaunt up the stairs and out the back, and voila, there’s an inviting back deck with a bit of a cruise ship quality to it. Julie McCoy won’t be serving you cocktails, but the staff at Daddy Jones is wildly friendly and accommodating. Artisanal cocktails are the thing here, and while elsewhere the talk might be of mixology, those behind the bar at Daddy’s aren’t that pretentious. Drinks have Greek or “Daddy” wordplay in the names, like the Daddy Wallbanger or the the Dirty Eleni – a take on a Dirty Shirley in which your spirits get a refreshing elevation of lime and ginger ale perfect for summer. I had Daddy’s spin on an Old Fashioned that infused rye with black tea, and it was good sipping served up with care.
For food, Daddy’s has the essential Greek salad (no lettuce, just cukes, tomatoes, feta and olives), spanakopita, gyros, souvlaki and a meze plate with house tzatziki, smoked eggplant and red pepper feta. On the appetizer slate are wings, falafel fritters, Greek soups and octopus – tender tentacle rounds served warmed and marinating in a crock of olive oil and vinegar with a side of thick, yeasty Greek bread. You could think of it as more akin to tinned fish than your more traditional braised or grilled octopi. On Wednesday nights, Daddy Jones offers big and plump $1 oysters.
Daddy has a honey Buffalo fried chicken sandwich and slings burgers – double patties on English muffins. I went in for the Athena, an herb and feta lamb burger with cheese and fig jam. It’s a plump two-hander to be sure, lean and juicy but not filling for such a big bun filler, and the herb and feta accents don’t overwhelm the other ingredients. If I had one minor rue, it was that I got it cooked medium and should have gone medium rare.
The burger comes with fries, but do yourself a favor: Pay the slight upcharge and get the sweet potato fries, which are practically tempuralike in texture and come dusted with honey and feta, candidates for best sweet potato fries in town and a reason in their own right to make a trip.
Daddy Jones also serves brunch on the weekend, weaving in eggy additions (including a falafel Benedict) with the burger, pita and sando offerings. If you take a trek to the loo the art on the wall is of Batman, Catwoman and Spiderman on the can, spandex bottoms around their ankles, reading material in hand. It’s a cheeky tweak emblematic of the spirit at Daddy Jones.
Daddy Jones Bar & Restaurant, 525 Medford St., Magoun Square, Somerville
Cambridge writer Tom Meek’s reviews, essays, short stories and articles have appeared in WBUR’s The ARTery, The Boston Phoenix, The Boston Globe, The Rumpus, The Charleston City Paper and SLAB literary journal. Tom is also a member of the Boston Society of Film Critics and rides his bike everywhere.
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