The Grocers of Allston & Brighton

Believe it or not, everybody, we've seen every supermarket in Boston except for one! I hope you've enjoyed our trip around the city, and of course, we're not yet done with the greater Boston area -- we have plenty of time still to spend in the northern suburbs and the north shore of MA -- but our last few days in Allston and Brighton have finished up our look at the city's grocery stores. Here's a look at our visits from these neighborhoods!

Coming Up Next

Cambridge and Somerville are the next two suburbs north of Boston, and they're really cities in their own right. Cambridge has a population near 120,000, and Somerville -- the more suburban one -- has over 80,000 people. And those people are densely packed into just over 10 square miles. Cambridge is home to both Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), while Tufts University's campus is partially in Somerville. You've probably heard the stereotypical Boston "pahk the cah at Hahvahd Yahd," and (1) yes, people do talk like that, but in my experience more people in the suburbs and more insular communities -- most of Boston is very cosmopolitan and also has lots of people who aren't actually from Boston, but in certain neighborhoods like parts of Dorchester or Southie, all bets are off; (2) my boss when I worked in Boston was Dominican and had a wonderful combination of a Dominican/Spanish accent and a Boston accent, and (3) Harvard Yard is a real place in the middle of the campus. Each city has a couple neighborhoods we'll be seeing, and many are roughly organized around named squares (like Boston and other MA cities). We'll be starting at the far western end of Cambridge in Mount Auburn, near the Watertown border, then heading north to the Cambridge Highlands area. From there, we'll move east to Cambridge's Porter Square and Somerville's Davis Square, then back down south to Harvard Square in the central part of Cambridge. Then it's out east via Inman Square and Union Square, south to Kendall Square, then back west to Central Square in downtown Cambridge. We'll wind our way through both cities and end up just across the river from Allston. Confused? Don't worry about the exact layout -- these are pretty small areas, so nothing's that far from each other. Plus, I'll make a map at the end of the group, as usual. For now, come back this weekend to see a map and guide to all the Boston supermarkets we visited, and next week we'll begin in Mount Auburn!