OAK Long Bar + Kitchen
Here’s a restaurant and bar that really has it all: a gorgeous atmosphere, outstanding food and drinks, and a really interesting history. So let’s get a taste of Oak Long Bar and Kitchen in Boston. Located on the ground floor of the Fairmont Copley Hotel, Oak Long Bar is one of the crown jewels of Boston’s Back Bay. Over its one hundred ten year history, it’s been through some name changes, but this has always been one of the most stunning spaces in the city. From 1934 to 1978, it was actually known as the Merry Go Round Bar, and there was a real working carousel right in the dining room that rotated once an hour. These days, it’s the farm to table food that will have your head spinning.
“When someone walks in here, I want them to feel just like the grandeur and like the history that's in this room…. The space is absolutely gorgeous. We have a beautiful bar. We have features from when we first opened up in 1912, we have the original chandeliers here. So wherever you decide to sit, you'll be able to just really take in how beautiful this space is, and you'll be able to enjoy an amazing meal.”
Of course, you gotta start your meal with some bread. And even though it’s not complimentary here, you should definitely order. This is fresh, fluffy, hearth-baked bread with some herbs and sea salt on top, and the housemade honey butter really puts it over the top. I’d recommend the Blue Hill Mussels, served with some plum tomato sauce, sausage, sweet chilies, and potato straws. Plus, plenty of grilled bread on the side. The Lobster Roll is an absolute beauty here. We’re talking fresh-shucked Maine lobster meat, stuffed in a sweet, buttery bun. It’s simply dressed with a roasted lemon aioli. And you get a side of crispy Old Bay fries. But if you ask me, the number one gotta get handheld is the Oak Long Bar Burger.
“The burger is our number one selling dish here. Everybody loves our burger. It just has amazing components that work really well together, like our Onion Jam, which adds the sweetness to the burger. We have a garlic aioli, roasted garlic aioli… the bacon that's added as well. So you get a little bit of everything. You get savory, sweet. You get the crunch from the bacon… It can get pretty messy, but it's a, it's a fun messy and a delicious messy, for sure.”
If that’s not enough beef for you, check out the fourteen ounce New York Strip. This is high quality beef, highly seasoned, so frankly it doesn’t need anything else. But it does come with a nice bistro salad, and chimichurri sauce, and those herbs and garlic really compliments the steak. And on the side, I’d recommend the Mac and Cheese. It’s served right in the skillet, with wide elbow noodles, smoked gouda, a beautiful golden brown crust on top.
On the weekends, Oak Long Bar is known for their creative brunch menu. Popular choices include the Avocado and Crab Toast - stacked up with tomatoes, a soft poached egg, and a drizzle of Hollandaise sauce over the top. And then there’s the Salted Butterscotch Pancakes with grilled peaches, candied bacon, walnut brittle, and chantilly cream.
“When you take a bite out of the pancakes, you're going to get just a mouthful of flavors. There's a sweetness from our butterscotch, which we make here in house, our candied bacon. You got the tartness and the crunch from the peaches and some of the crunch from the walnut brittle. All the flavors work really well together.”
A couple more items I’d like to recommend: one dessert, and one cocktail. For dessert, there’s an incredible Chocolate Chip Cookie Skillet that’s cooked in the hearth oven, served hot and gooey in the skillet with some vanilla ice cream on top And here’s a drink for all you dog lovers out there: Cori’s Cooler, named after Cori, the hotel’s adorable canine ambassador. And I don’t know if she’s really a fan of vodka, cucumber, mint, basil, lemon, and soda water, but I definitely am And there are just so many dog gone reasons why you should try Oak Long Bar.
“If you're visiting Boston, you should definitely come to Oak Long Bar and Kitchen for the experience. We have one of the longest bars here in Boston. We just want to make the best food possible to really tie into this great room that we have as our dining room. So if you're stopping by Boston, if you're coming through here, this is one of the stops that you should definitely make."
