Pour one out tonight for one of Mass Ave's legendary venues. The Cambridge Common and Lizard Lounge made headlines over the weekend, announcing they'll close after a 30-year run. The good news? They won't be sunsetting until next spring, so whether you're dropping in for a drink, their fish and chips (maybe just me) or the live music downstairs on Wednesdays, you still have time.
Speaking of plans, it's a good week to make some with sneaky good weather on the way. If you're still trying to find your person, cornhole mixers, speed dating at the taproom and big mingle mixers are helping light up the week. Need warmer, cozier plans? You can never go wrong with trivia night at the Hollows, plus wine tasting socials are in season, especially with First Crush's grand opening.
Enjoy the nice weather.
P.S. November’s edition lands tomorrow.
Cambridge Common and the Lizard Lounge will close at the end of May after 30 years of live music on Mass Ave, with a public farewell planned for spring · WBUR
The City of Cambridge reminds residents that Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3, with polls open from 7 in the morning to 8 at night at your assigned precinct · City of Cambridge
Posto on Assembly Row made Food & Wine's list of the best pizza shops in the country as the lone Massachusetts pick · Patch
The MBTA pushed back its $39M accessibility overhaul at Central Square station, which adds two new elevators, with station work now slated for this winter and completion still set for late 2028 · MBTA
Three Cambridge elementary schools landed in the state's top 10 in the new U.S. News ranking, led by the King School at No. 1 · Cambridge Day
Naco Taco is closing its Central Square flagship today after 11 years, but its dinner tacos live on down the street at The Smoot Standard · Boston.com
Somerville installed 10 new food waste drop-off bins across the city, free to use after a one-time sign-up for an access code · The Somerville Times
Sugar Skull Showdown @ The Hollows, Somerville - Titletown runs free trivia at The Hollows on the real Día de los Muertos, with questions on ofrendas and Frida Kahlo. Top teams win prizes, plus there's a coloring contest and industry night specials
The Littlest Sister Live x Harvard Square Gift Shop Grand Opening @ Harvard Square Kiosk, Cambridge - The four-piece Latin American indie band plays the free art opening of the new gift shop in the Harvard Square subway kiosk, the first stop on its fall tour | FREE • 6-8PM
Sugar Skull Showdown @ The Hollows, Somerville - Grab a team and head to the Holland Street bar near Teele Square for Día de los Muertos trivia, with rounds on Mexican food and skeletons in pop culture | FREE • 7-9PM
Millennial Speed-Dating @ Aeronaut Brewing, Somerville - Skip the Small Talk lines up quick dates for 30 to 45 year olds looking for something monogamous at the Union Square taproom. Question prompts keep the conversation going. Need an an extra incentive? Enter STOOP20 at checkout and thank me later | $35 • 7-9PM · Sponsored
Purple Lane Paint Night @ Muse Paintbar, Somerville - An instructor guides the room stroke by stroke through a moody purple street scene at the Assembly Row studio, so no art skills needed. The bar opens at 6:30 | $37 • 7-9:15PM
Autumn Spice Blending Class @ Curio Spice, Cambridge - Stop into the spice shop near Porter Square for a short class on fall flavors with spiced drinks and popcorn, then mix a blend to take home in a jar | $45 • 6:15-7:30PM
I Play Rocky @ The Brattle, Cambridge - Peter Farrelly's new drama about a broke young Sylvester Stallone writing Rocky in a few fevered days screens in 35mm, fresh off a TIFF audience award | $14-16 • 7PM
Free Emme Wines Tasting @ Wild Child, Somerville - The Bow Street wine shop got its allocation of new release Emme bottles and is pouring them free after work. Anything Emme you take home is 10% off | FREE • 5-7PM
First Crush Grand Opening @ First Crush, Somerville - The natural wine pop-up is ready to open as it finally puts down roots in the old Juliet Social Club space in Union Square. Swing by opening night for salty whites and light reds | FREE • 5-11PM
Butter Dish Pottery Workshop @ The Shared Palette, Somerville - Spend two hours hand-building a ceramic butter dish at the Shared Palette's pop-up studio inside Bow Market, open to all skill levels. Each piece is fired and glazed before pickup | $85 • 6-8PM
Brewery Book Club @ Lamplighter Broadway, Cambridge - Lamplighter and the Cambridge Public Library meet in the Broadway back taproom to talk Mother Tongue, Sara Nović's memoir about leaving the hearing world for the deaf community | FREE • 7-8:30PM
Mingle Mayhem Big Singles Bash @ Aeronaut Brewing, Somerville - A big singles mixer at Aeronaut's Union Square taproom where the meet cute happens over a pint instead of an app. The last 10 events sold out in advance, and doors open at 6:45. Tickets run about $34
Japan Innovation Night @ Venture Café, Cambridge - CIC's hub in Kendall connects Japanese founders with the Boston startup scene. Catch seven pitches and a HubSpot fireside chat over light Japanese bites and drinks | FREE • 4:30-8PM
Secure the Bag Cornhole Mixer @ Club Volo, Somerville - Volo and Tinder host singles cornhole at Assembly Row where partners rotate every five minutes for an hour, then everyone moves to the on-site Lawnbar for a mixer, or any of the Assembly bars to mingle | $15 • 6-8PM
You're Wrong About: California Wine Tasting @ Wild Child, Somerville - A one-hour class at the Union Square shop that busts Napa stereotypes with Santa Cruz Mountains pours from Madson. Learn what California does beyond big buttery Cabernet over four distinct tastings | $45 • 6-7PM
Yo-Yo Ma and Stephen Colbert @ Sanders Theatre, Cambridge - Harvard's Office for the Arts brings the legendary cellist in for a talk with the Late Show host on why art still matters, with the Harvard Crimson Cellos opening. Standby starts at 6:30 | FREE • 7PM
Mingle Mayhem Big Singles Bash @ Aeronaut Brewing, Somerville - Tired of running out of likes on Hinge? The Mingle Mayhem matchmakers turn the taproom into a social experiment of optional games and guided chats. Swap info through calling cards only when you both click | $34 • 7-9PM
Bow Market Renaissance Faire: The Second @ Bow Market, Somerville - Union Square time travels to the Middle Ages next Saturday as Side Quest Books & Games and Remnant Brewing fill Bow with dozens of vendors and tarot readers. The Society for Creative Anachronism brings combat demos and add-on classes from Renaissance dance to medieval board games, plus a dance party at Remnant closes out it out
Lamplighter Turns 10 @ Lamplighter Broadway, Cambridge - The original Broadway taproom turns 10 next Saturday with a party from 6 until midnight. Expect birthday cupcakes and a toast at 10, and fans voted Major Tom back on tap
Latin Dance Night @ Lou's, Cambridge - If you’re typically going to Harvard Square for Felipe’s here’s now another reason, and it’s not very far: Lou's in Harvard Square turns into a dance floor next Wednesday. Salsa and bachata lessons come first, then it's social dancing to a live band until 11. Tickets are about twenty bucks
Cambridge
78 INCIDENTS 12 ARRESTS Per day · Mon–Thu three weeks ago, the most recent logs CPD has posted
| Mon 10/12 | 20 | 3 | |
| Tue 10/13 | 18 | 5 | |
| Wed 10/14 | 18 | 1 | |
| Thu 10/15 | 22 | 3 |
Monday through Thursday three weeks ago brought 78 incidents and 12 arrests across the four days CPD has posted, about 19.5 a day, a bit above the prior four days' pace of about 18.5, with Thursday the busiest at 22.
NOTABLE: Police responded to a reported gunshot on Leighton St. at 8AM that Thursday. No one was hurt, though one building took property damage. It's separate from the North Cambridge shooting we covered last week.
The biggest loss in the logs was on paper: a Mass. Ave. business wrote a $5,620.40 check to pay a bill that Thursday, and someone stole it and deposited it into another account. Scammers posing as bosses talked residents on White St. and Green St. out of $1,000 and $875 in gift cards. The same Thursday, someone broke into a Mass. Ave. business and made off with about $650 in merchandise, and package thieves grabbed $1,700 from a Canal Park doorstep and two packages worth $770 from a Mass. Ave. lobby. On Winthrop St. that Wednesday, a 66-year-old was arrested for assault by dangerous weapon, and on Binney St. someone riding a bike blocked a pedestrian and slapped the phone out of their hands. Bike thieves stayed steady in the background, with five taken, but the stretch closed with a late-night crash at Market St. and Columbia St. that Thursday that led to a second-offense OUI arrest with serious bodily injury.
Somerville
4 ARRESTS Per day · The week before last, Monday through Sunday · Somerville Police only publish arrests, not incidents
| Mon 10/19 | 0 | |
| Tue 10/20 | 0 | |
| Wed 10/21 | 1 | |
| Thu 10/22 | 1 | |
| Fri 10/23 | 1 | |
| Sat 10/24 | 0 | |
| Sun 10/25 | 1 |
Somerville logged four arrests the week before last, half of the week before that, with no day topping one.
The standout came Thursday the 22nd, when a moped owner's AirTag led police from the McGrath Hwy. McDonald's to a Rogers Ave. backyard, where an 18-year-old was arrested for receiving stolen mopeds. A roommate dispute on Calvin St. ended in an unlawful wiretap arrest Wednesday the 21st, and a road rage clash on Washington St. near McGrath Hwy. brought an assault with a dangerous weapon charge Friday the 23rd. At 2:32AM last Sunday, a driver hit a post in Union Square and was arrested for OUI and resisting arrest.
State law keeps juveniles, domestic violence and sexual assault out of both cities' public logs, so neither set of numbers is a full count.
Sources: Cambridge Police daily logs and the Somerville Police weekly arrest log.
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