Fenway/Kenmore Nightlife

BOSTON'S KENMORE SQUARE

Kenmore Square is the dancing destination. Its clubs, bars, and entertainment complexes are grouped beneath the shadow of Fenway Park. You can dance until 2 am, bowl to disco music, play billiards, and take virtual reality rides.

Lansdowne Street, the main strip, is home to Avalon, Karma Club, and Axis. Axis has two floors--if you don't feel like listening to house, head upstairs for some Duran Duran. On Saturday night, folks ooh, ahh, and sing along to the hits of their teenage years; downstairs the scene is more intense, as people prowl for dance partners.

If you don't feel up to the dance scene, Jillian's is a cool option. With 55 pool tables on one floor and another level equipped with video games, air hockey, skee ball, and a virtual reality ride, you can burn through rolls of quarters (turned into tokens). Then there's Ryan Family Amusements: Bowl to a sound, light, and fog show on Friday and Saturday nights.

Or skip the bowling shoes and dress to impress at Sophia's, a tapas bar. For a smaller, more casual atmosphere, check out the British pub-styled Cornwall's (no hats allowed). And for a raucous good time, visit the Cask 'n Flagon, a popular drinking spot with a jock crowd.

No matter what you've done in Kenmore Square for the evening, there's no better way to top it off than with greasy food. Try Baldini's, which serves up a huge slice of pizza for $2 until 1 a.m. during the week, 2 a.m. Thursday through Saturday nights.

Also check out Boston Billiards, Boston Beer Works (not for quiet conversation), B.B. Wolf (barbecue that aims to blow your house down) and Bill's Bar. Look for bargain parking areas, which charge $5 for the evening. Try to get a spot in the enclosed garage on Lansdowne Street; it's safer, especially if you're alone.