Retro Room

Fun cocktails, vinyl records and TV dinners. You get all that and more. At the Retro Room in the Back Bay.

To go retro, head to the Back Bay. Look for the Back Bay Social Club, and as you go down a few stairs, you go back in time a few decades.

The center of the place is really this DJ stand, which I think is intended to look like your grandmother's house. It has the standard leather chair and that carpet that I think was mandated by law to have in every old person's house until about 1990.

The music covers a few decades. I mean, hundreds of records from the Bee Gees to Metallica. Personally, I'm more of a Bee Gees guy.

Luke Beardsley is the head DJ of food and fun here.

“Retro Room is a throwback lounge underground located in the basement of Back Bay by social, all analog, all vinyl, and just kind of an old school feel. We want people to be able to pause and, you know, kind of put their phones down and get the experience of being in the room through all of their senses. So you have a really solid food program down here focused around kind of retro style dishes, steaks and fish and some yummy appetizers and stuff like that.”

This place has low ceilings. There's a big bar, there are high tops, tables. There are couches, there's retro wallpaper covering the walls, neon art, a photo booth, old album covers and concert posters, old toys.

There's a Pac-Man machine and it's free, which would have caused the ten year old Dave Edelman's head to explode, old school movies. You may even see a really old episode of Phantom Gourmet.

And bringing it all together, a disco ball. And if you're really ripping it up with your friends, you may want to put on the disco helmet.

When you're out with friends, at a place with a disco ball, you got to get the party started, right, with some appetizers.

The only thing better than a big plate of onion rings is an onion ring tower. These are big, meaty, sweet onion rings served with two sauces: a smoked ranch or chipotle aioli.

The deviled egg is making a big comeback, here they do it a little bit different. They slice off the top. Then they put in the mayonnaise, the onion straws and the bacon bits, plus a new modern twist adding some sriracha.

This is the best of old school and new school.

I'm fond of this fondue. Notice the flame underneath the bowl to keep it nice and hot. And they give you these pieces of sour dough bread for dipping.

This is the ultimate shareable food with your friends because everybody can dip right in.

The concept of the TV dinner is your entire meal is served on a tray. I mean entrees, sides and dessert so you don't have to miss one minute of your favorite show. From Gilligan's Island to Phantom Gourmet.

“It's set in front of you. The TV dinners like a school lunch counter. They're on a stainless steel metal tray that has 4 or 5 compartments, and each of the items is in its own compartment, you know. So it'll come out of the kitchen looking like something that you would have gotten out of the frozen section of the grocery store in the 70s, but the flavors are fresh.”

On Tuesday, they serve fried chicken, and you get both a breast and a leg, mashed potatoes, and you also get roasted potatoes with some carrots and Brussels sprouts.

That's what we like to call a double starch and a nice piece of sponge cake.

On Friday, the TV dinner special is the fish sticks. I mean, who didn't love fish sticks when they were a little kid?

This crinkle cut fries and coleslaw as the side. Back in the 50s, when we were all observing the food pyramid that counted as a vegetable. And then the dessert is a big brownie.

On Sunday you can get the slow cooked pork ribs, crinkle cut fries, broccoli and apple crisp.

“So they're slow cooked and slathered with barbecue sauce, so chef will do them kind of a Kansas City style rib. They come out like, you know, you don't need a fork or anything. They just fall off the bone.”

If TV dinners aren't your style, there are regular entrees.

One food that absolutely never goes out of style in America is the burger. This one has chuck brisket and short rib cheese, some horseradish and lettuce all on a potato roll, which I think is a wise choice.

You need a strong roll to stand up to all that meat.

You don't need a time machine to enjoy this old school food and fun. You just need to head to the Retro Room in Back Bay.