Best Friends are Forever...

...so obviously when my best friend from home came to visit a few weeks ago, I had to show her a good time.

My friend Tara and I have been best friends since practically the first day of freshman year of high school. She goes to school closer to home in Connecticut, so I don't get to see her too often. She usually comes to Boston at least once and year, and this was the first time she had come to visit since we both turned 21.

Naturally, going out in Boston is more expensive than going out in other places. I knew she had to pay a lot for a train ticket to come to see me, so I didn't want her to break the bank on one night out on the town. So, I decided to round up some of my friends and take her out on one of my favorite not-so-expensive bar crawls.

If budget had allowed, I would have wanted to take her down to the Faneuil Hall area, but once it hits about 10 p.m., $10 covers for each bar visited is not the most economical thing. So, we started off on Boylston St. at the Pour House. This is, by far, one of my favorite Boston spots. The food is CHEAP and it's only 21+ after 8 p.m., so it's a fun place to grab a bite for all ages. All their beers on tap come in 22 oz. glasses and are quite reasonably priced. After grabbing dinner and a few beers, we backtracked down Boylston towards Copley.

Our next stop was Vox. It's a little more upscale and the atmosphere is more late 20-somethings after work than college kids. But, every single martini I have had there is fantastic. I knew Tara would love it because she has a sweet spot for Lemon Drops. My personal recommendation is the White Crantini.

We then ventured back in the other direction on Boylston, bypassed the Pour House and made a stop at the Cactus Club. Best Margaritas in Town. I kid you not. In every flavor imaginable. And I'm not even a huge fan of tequila. And how could you not love a restaurant with one of these perched on top of the bar:

After our margarita, we made our way to our last stop of the evening, Tiger Lily's. There is nothing really phenomenal about this restaurant, but almost every single one of my really fun bar-hopping nights has ended at Tiger Lily's, so I wanted to keep the tradition going. And their scorpion bowls are pretty great.

Oh, and did I mention that none of the places we went charged a cover? So, the moral of the story is, if you are at a loss for ideas on what to do for a night out, definitely give my full-proof Boylston Street bar crawl a try. I can guarantee its success because Tara is already counting down until the next time she can come visit and go out.