Wonder Bar

I simply adore this place and recent developments have made it even better. The bar food menu is essentially pan-​Asian with heavy Vietnamese influences. I recommend the smoked salmon bao ($ 7), the quality of which rivals any top Vietnamese establishment in Boston. They also offer a wide array of appetizers and rice bowls, including vegetarian/​vegan options. Occasionally the bartenders seem overwhelmed, but that’s to be expected. They do their best to consistently provide speedy, consistent service.
Besides the dance parties, Wonderbar also has hilarious comedy shows. Every Thursday around 7, there is an open mic called Thunderbar (no cover), where anyone can get stage time to work on material. It is a popular destination for comics and «real» (non-​comic) audience members alike. There is a monthly showcase called The Bad Bad Show ($ 5 cover), which is one of the most exciting, raucous independent shows I’ve ever seen. It specializes in blue (dirty), bizarre, and dark acts, so it’s not for the faint of heart. The audiences are incredibly welcoming and the room is packed. There is also an occasional Thunderbar showcase, which highlights some of the talented acts that frequent the weekly mic. Wonderbar is doing its part to support and reinvigorate the local comedy scene. I, for one, am thrilled, and you will be too if you stop by.

BAR FOOD MENU
This is not a joke. I hate Wonder Bar because it brings me horrible college memories, but they are redeeming themselves in my eyes because of their bar menu. Their food is really good and cheap with large portions!
From 6:00 PM on weekdays, the doors of the bar open. Approach the bar and place an order for take out or sit down from their small menu offerings. They have a new chef who works in the basement of the bar and provides a limited menu of BAOS, BOWLS, APPETIZERS, and NOODLES. I hope this chef will stay for awhile because the food is really good and I will continue to return for it!
food
+ CHICKEN & RICE BOWL: The chicken is so freaking tender, soft and perfectly cooked. The bowl has moist, soft rice that is seasoned and paired with white sauce similar to The Halal Guys. I really do think this chicken & rice bowl suffices my Halal Guys cravings.
+ BRAISED PORK BAO: Priced at $ 7 for two baos, it may seem steep, but the baos are packed! The pork is tender and perfectly seasoned and cooked so that it just melts into your mouth along with the bao bun.
~ KOREAN BBQ BAO: The Korean beef in this bao was very well seasoned and tender as well, but I didn’t like the kimchi as much with the beef.
~ GARLIC UDON: I got this with fried chicken, which again was perfectly cooked, but the udon got extremely dry after awhile. This is definitely a hefty portion for $ 7.50!

STOP. DONT.GO.HERE!!!
Unless you want to be shouted at like a dog for no reason and $ 10 cover for this craphole? Seriously? This place is not worth it and I barely ever write any negative reviews so this is when you know this place SUCKS!!!
The recap of last night (Friday Nov 27^th):
— my friend got way too drunk and I had to carry her outside to take her home (btw I weigh no more than 95 pounds) and not one bouncer offered to help me, which is fine but seriously? Why are you in the customer service industry?
–I’m along the wall waiting for my other friends to come out to help me and I ask this bouncer (tall, white, bald guy) if I could get some water because she’s going to pass out.
–He gave me attitude and was rude and I was not having it. Because he didn’t like my attitude, this mammoth of a person goes on a tangent about who even knows?! He was yelling in my face, for no reason and threatening to call the cops. I told him I didn’t care because I wasn’t doing anything wrong, I wasn’t drunk, I wasn’t yelling or in his face so why is he going to call the cops?
— This is all because this guy wanted to go on a power trip for no reason… and make himself look superior in front of a line of people. Go to therapy and figure it out. Dont lash out on people for no reason just because you hate your job. I would completely understand if I was being obnoxious and drunk but I was sober and in the begining polite. I just wanted to help my friend and make sure she didn’t get sick– she couldn’t even stand up by herself.
–ALSO SIDE NOTE: the bartender allowed my friend to buy SIX shots when there were only three of us there, after she had ordered already many drinks prior… isn’t this a liability issue? If someone appears drunk why would they keep serving her? No wonder she got so drunk.

made the other day’s mistake of coming here for a drink… my night was already, going poorly and i could not find alcohol (store’s closed) so i saw the wonderbar and had a good sign, looked like there was some girl’s around, i wouldnt mind getting a girlfriend from the city, so i waited in an line to get inside… when i did get ninside of there, the dub step music they were playing was even louder than i thoughtr it would be outside, people kept bumping into me as i am a small man, and i tried to talk to some people that just laughed at me HUGE mistake i should have known i this was going to happen, but i was arngry from earlier in the day so i took a RISK… and shut down completely
there i was trying to get a drink and this guy name of chris comes up to me and seem’s to just be havign a conversation but i realized he was messing with me about talking to one of those girls… i froze up and must have muttered something like «im sorry» but they were not very polite and took my drink. i thouhgt maybe it was just an initiation of some kind and maybe theyd let me hang with them after but no just laughing in a cool group of guy’s and girl’s. i left bar wonderbar to continue my night… might gain the courage to go back. was deifinitely a cool place but i need to improve my charizma.

This place was literally empty (is it still empty if we were there?) the entire time we were there.
The DJ wouldn’t let us request our own songs and was baldddd and in his mid-​forties.
There were two creepy/​lonely guys dancing on the dance-​floor in front of the DJ. They kept looking sadly at the door to see if any girls would come in. :((((But if you’re single and ready to mingle… there are two waiting for you… baby

The most entertainment visiting this place would be with the D Bag bouncers on the outside. $ 10 an hour and they can’t bench press their weight. This place is a joke.

Fun and chill place to go to any day of the week! There’s different events almost every night with the exception of the infamous thirsty thursdays! There’s recently renovated floors and brand new furniture so it’ll probably look totally different from the last time you went in. But the best part is that there is food nowwwww! YESSSSS

All the things that were wrong with this place:
1. There was a 10 $ cover
2. The place smells like a frat house
3. The people there dress like they just woke up
4. The music is ok for about 45 mins, and then you want to sleep
5. The drinks are expensive for such an establishment
The good part:
If you’re really drunk (or something else) this place can probably be really fun! It’s a good last resort for a Friday night tho: p

Great time listening to my friends old guys rocking out to the crowd at the Wonder Bar! Checked in here about 9:00 pm to hear Eldridge Rodriguez and a few other bands during an all day music festival. Bouncer used a hologram hand stamp after we paid $ 12 cover so we could come & go as we wanted. Cool, long bar with excellent drink service and large stage! Good acoustics & college crowd… Check it out!

The bouncer is awful! We waited for an hour in line and 50 people left and not one person entered. Like wtf.

This place just plain out sucks. The drinks are sub-​par and there is favoritism in the clientele they let in. I got kicked out for confronting a guy that groped and straight disrespected my girlfriend while I stepped away to the restroom for a whole two minutes. The «manager» was supposed to speak to me after I was «escorted» out, and after waiting for 20 minutes in the cold, no one came out. This is the kind of place you go to if you lose all faith in humanity and want to lose any self-​respect for yourself and any others. GO ANYWHERE ELSE FOR A GOOD TIME

Awesome place to let loose and meet some great people. My favorite night is Thursday but get in early as you may not get in. Recent changes have made this a great place for both live music and DJ/​Dancing.

I’ve only ever been here on Thursday nights, which are unofficially (or maybe officially???) known as Asian nights. Its a bar with a sizeable dance floor. There’s no cover on Thursdays so that’s my main reason for not going on Friday/​Saturday.
Drinks here are reasonably priced. All of their specialty drinks are under $ 10 (pre-​tip), so definitely not bad by Boston standard. I ordered a whiskey sour and a white russian for $ 7 each. Both tasted good, didn’t seem watered down, and had an appropriate amount of alcohol. Despite the bar being pretty crowded, it wasn’t difficult to get a bartender’s attention and we got our drinks in a timely manner.
The music is mostly EDM and top 40/​hip-​hop remixes. Typical clubbing music. Thursday dress-​code is super relaxed. Girls tend to dress up, in short skirts and dresses and maybe heels. Guys tend to wear button-​up shirts or ever just a white or black t-​shirt. Once I went in running shorts and flip-​flops (didn’t expect to be going out) and the bouncers didn’t give me any trouble (it was crowded so I don’t think they just needed more bodies in the room). Probably a different story for Friday and Saturday, though.
Guy:Girl ratio is roughly even. The crowd the few times I’ve gone has given me the Import Tuner vibe; girls who want to look like the cover girls and guys who read the magazine. Not necessarily a good or bad thing; it’s just the aesthetic of the general crowd that’s there on thursdays. At least the people are young (college or recent grad) and there aren’t any creepy older men just staring at you.
Bottom line: Always a good crowd of people there so it doesnt feel empty, standard club music, good drinks. Would go more often if I wasn’t so lazy, hahaha.

Honestly, I wasn’t a fan of this place. Although the music was great/​pretty decent and fun (clublike music) I didn’t like the overall atmosphere.
I came on «Thirsty Thursday» and it wasn’t packed, maybe only ¾ths full. What I disliked the most was how everyone was so young. I can almost guarantee ¼th of the people there were underage/​NOT 21. The general vibe of the place was a little trashy as well. Most of the people who were here looked like wannabe gangsters or really young underage college students. And there were a bunch of people smoking on their e-​ciggs blowing smoke out into the crowds. Now I don’t completely hate –eciggs but I didn’t appreciate smelling the scented air everywhere. Not everyone likes the smell. This place in general is just not my scene. I’d much rather hit up a nice lounge for quiet drinks or an actual club for music and dancing. I wouldn’t come back here unless my friends refused to go elsewhere. Don’t come here if you’re looking for a good time surrounded by good looking, quality people.
2 stars are for the actual music and convenience of the location only.

BAR
–Usually there is a cover AKA not worth it
–Weird set up. Huge TV screen but the band plays right next to the bar. Makes for a weird setting
ATMOSPHERE
–its almost like Wonder Bar is a dive bar, but doesn’t want to be one. Its small, never very crowded, always has a weird mix of people but they still try to play up the «club» feel.
DRINKS
— when most bars have a cover the drinks are usually a little bit cheaper. This is not the case. Also, the service is very slow. It took the bartender 20 minutes to come over and ask for my order even though I was one of 4 people waiting for a drink.
OVERALL
— If you’re looking for a fun night in Allston, avoid this place. The majority of bars in Allston don’t have a cover and have better deals. Wonder Bar is where you end up on those nights that you don’t remember getting home.

Update from my last review: the management here handles customer service in a very professional manner, and is very respectable. I understand that during my last visit there was some unexpected issues, and I was notified promptly that my review was heard and they apaologized. Like I said before, I really like this place for what it is, and with the kind of service I received from leaving a review I would definitely recommend it here.
Thank you again!

This is one of my favorite pregame bar /​club. Usually, I go a little bit early with a couple friends and relax at have a couple drink .
Last year for my birthday I had a great time. Usually, always try to go all out when celebrating, so, I decided to just sit at the bar. The Bartender just made my night. She was the coolest person ever. At first, I was kinda afraid of even starting a conversation with her, I could see that she wasn’t really feeling well. Then, I decided to let it go, First thing I Said as an ice breaker was: rough night?. She told me she had some personal problem that are not work related. I Told her that I am not sure I could fix that problem but hope I could make her smile tonight.
She asked me what make me think that?
I Told her today was my birthday and that I will have a really bad night if she didn’t smile for me
To my surprise she gave the biggest smile ever. We end up talking most of my time there until I left.

Excellent service! Five stars, the crowd and people dancing are always having a good time. The staff is friendly and attentive. Good prices and beautiful people.
Ps three dollar tequila shots! Cant beat that

$ 15 cover charge? Who the fuck do they think they are? I wouldn’t pay $ 5 for a 2 star bar, let alone $ 15. And the bouncers are racist assholes. I would give it zero stars if I could.

This feels like a college bar/​club with a large dance floor, one long bar, and VIP sections. There is the most retarded lip between the dance floor and the regular floor; you can easily trip and fall and wouldn’t be surprised if people have already. We left early at like 11:30 on a Thursday night; thank god we didn’t have to pay cover. The DJ played decent music but not good with the mixing. It probably does get better later but we weren’t willing to wait that long. Definitely would NEVER go back here if in the area again.