I had not ventured to Kendall Square’s State Park since graduating college, and remembered it in fits and starts as a place with cheap beer and a cute photo booth. While both are true, State Park has a lot more charm than I initially gave it credit for in its constant hum of chatter and tunes from the jukebox, ceilings strung with colorful lights and walls of lit-up beer signs and old license plates.
I felt inclined to start my night with the State Park Cocktail, served in a Miller High Life bottle and made up of the beer, Rittenhouse rye whiskey and amaro Braulio. This isn’t something I would normally order, but I appreciated the bitterness and strength of it, as well as the creative presentation. It also might be the first beer-based cocktail I’ve had for this column!
I was told the most popular State Park drink was the Prickly Pear Margarita, a frozen cocktail with a gorgeous magenta hue, garnished with a lemon. It’s made of Elvelo blanco tequila, prickly pear, triple sec, lime and salt. I loved the perfect salty and sour flavor. It wasn’t too sweet, but the fruitiness and tanginess of the prickly pear came out really nicely.
For my third drink, because the ambiance of State Park was just so nice and I was eager to avoid the rain for a few moments longer, I tried the Candy Apple Jack Rose from the fall drink menu (branded cleverly as the “spirits of Halloween”). Served up with a lemon peel, it was recommended by the bartender – its creator – and featured some of his favorite ingredients: Laird’s apple brandy, amaretto, cranberry and lemon. The well-balanced flavors and nice fall spice made this my favorite drink of the night.
I had never given State Park enough credit when I was in college, or maybe I never experienced it as it is best experienced – not as a late-night college hangout, but an upscale dive bar for gloomy Cambridge evenings. My desire to return to State Park is in part because of the year-round frozen drinks and to try more of the seasonal cocktails, but also for the incredible atmosphere.
State Park, One Kendall Square in Alexandria Plaza, Kendall Square, Cambridge
A stronger
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