Wait, There's a Place in Cambridge I Haven't Heard Of?

I fancy myself as a Cambridge expert, and I'd like to think that other people do too.  So when I read an blurb in the Cambridge Scout magazine about a "secret" bar in North Cambridge called UpperWest I was really surprised.  I found them on Instagram and Yelp and was totally intrigued as I started looking through the pictures and five star reviews.  Then I went to their website where I got even more intrigued by their description as a 70s style basement of the Veteran's Club.  The website explained that you could make reservations, even just for drinks, so I immediately got us a resie (as JO and I like to say) for the following Saturday night.

UpperWest is located in the basement of a Veteran's Club.  The website tells you to go to the back of the green building so that's just what we did.  When you go in the back door you have to go down the stairs and open another door that opens into the bar.  When we walked in we were kind of surprised.  We didn't really have an idea of where we were going but the dimly lit, wood paneled room seemed frozen in time.  It kind of reminded me of the time when we went to State Park for the first time.  It was like entering a different world.  We were told our reservation would allow us to sit at one of the communal tables or the bar and obviously we chose the bar.  It took us a few minutes to figure out what was going on.

Basically, they have repurposed the "function" room at the Veteran's Club.  Lava lamps decorate the bar, there's a "lounge" area in the corner with couches and a coffee table, a bookcase of games and old cookbooks, a string of Christmas lights on the back wall, and awesome music playing in the background.  The "open kitchen" is really just a metal table set inside the bar space.  There's another metal table that serves as the cocktail station.  The wine and snack menu is written on a chalkboard.

We got a red wine flight to start and immediately wished we hadn't eaten beforehand.  Some of the snacks looked really good!  The chef was preparing mozzarella with lavender salt, smoked salt, oil, and balsamic.  It looked delicious.  The bratwurst were warming in the crock pot and the cheese selection looked killer.  After the flight, JO ordered one of the cocktails and it was really well crafted.

I definitely enjoyed hanging out in the 70s basement bar.  It had a great vibe and is definitely a great find!