Shay’s magnifique

For urban dwellers like myself with no backyard, there are other harbingers of summer that signal its approach: the premature donning of flip-flops, the exposure of pasty limbs after winter hibernation, and most importantly, the crowded patio at Shay’s Pub & Wine Bar. This weekend, the finicky New England sun smiled down on our fair city and I could think of no better place to soak up some Vitamin D. On this boozy Saturday, my bestie and I chose to split a bottle of wine, and people-watch from the porch. If you need proof these seats are prime real estate, look no further than the nearby stone wall where the tableless masses hover like vultures, ready to swoop at the first opportunity.

Taking advantage of the small space, tables are crowded together. This makes for a tight squeeze and a tough moral dilemma — do you present your neighbor with your crotch or butt when you get up? Nevertheless, the close quarters provide ample opportunities for chummy chatter with strangers. I was once the recipient of a hastily written proposition in haiku form from an inebriated alleged Harvard professor…only in Cambridge.

Shay’s likes to keep things simple; the modest menu offers beer or wine only and an assortment of what is best termed pub grub (but sadly no French fries). Fortunately, when drinking alfresco at Shay’s, you don’t have to order food – a bona fide rarity around town. I love it here, but Shay’s can be static. Beers on tap could rotate once in a while. The hole-in-the-wall atmosphere is fine, but mind the gaps on the patio, I nearly went a-- over teakettle when my chair began to sink into ground. Despite that, Shay’s is the place to catch a buzz and some rays.

Shay’s Pub & Wine Bar
58 JFK St., Cambridge
MBTA: Red Line to Harvard
617-864-9161

Kate Coughlin is a freelance writer living in Boston.