Shays Pub & Wine Bar

Cambridge, United States

4

Closed now

21 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards

Contacts

QR code, vCard

Telephone:
+1 617-864-9161
Website:
www.ShaysPubWineBar.com
Address:
58 JFK St, Cambridge, MA, 02138
Harvard Square
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
150 ft16 Eliot St
210 ftJFK St @ Eliot St
380 ftEliot St @ Bennett St
Categories:
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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
No
Delivery
No
Take-out
No
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Good For
Late Night
Parking
Street
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
No
Good for Kids
No
Good for Groups
Yes
Attire
Casual
Ambience
Casual
Noise Level
Average
Music
Background
Good For Dancing
No
Alcohol
Beer & Wine Only
Happy Hour
No
Best Nights
Wed, Thu, Fri
Coat Check
No
Smoking
Outdoor Area/ Patio Only
Outdoor Seating
Yes
Wi-Fi
No
Has TV
Yes
Waiter Service
Yes
Caters
No

Today

Today 11:00 am – 1:00 am
Closed now
Local time (Cambridge) 04:41 Monday, 23 June 2025

Business hours

Monday 11:00 am – 1:00 am
Tuesday 11:00 am – 1:00 am
Wednesday 11:00 am – 1:00 am
Thursday 11:00 am – 1:00 am
Friday 11:00 am – 1:00 am
Saturday 11:00 am – 1:00 am
Sunday 12:00 pm – 1:00 am

Description

Specialties

Looking for a quirky bar for drinks with friends and delicious food? Shays Pub and Wine Bar in Cambridge caters to all your needs and more, all under one roof!

When the weather is right, our outdoor patio is a great spot to enjoy the view, have a drink and meet Cambridge locals. We offer a simple menu of pub fare where almost everything is made from scratch. Our locally sourced grass fed beef and hand cut fries combine to make one of the best burger plates you’ll find anywhere. Our food is high quality, but ours prices are reasonable. Specials are listed on the blackboard everyday!

Come in and enjoy the eclectic surroundings and settle in for a cold beverage and some great food!

History

Established in 1984.

Shays Pub and Wine Bar has been a local staple in Cambridge since 1984. Here’s to many more years to come of delicious food, drinks and friendship!

Meet the Business Owner

Rosaline K.

Business Owner

Rosaline knows that her customers are the lifeblood of her business, and seeks to give each and every customer the best experience she can bring. She looks forward to seeing and greeting you with a smile!

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21 reviews of Shays Pub & Wine Bar

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Place rating: 5
Brookline, MA
It’s about time to update this review. 5 years have passed, and Shays is still my favorite bar in the Greater Boston area.
Somehow they still allow smoking and just drinks (aka no food-​ordering pressure) on their patio, and everyone that works there is just so unpretentious. Would be here every night if I lived closer.
Place rating: 5
Neenah, WI
Great hometown bar for the small and down to earth bar lover. Nothing fancy, just good beer and wine.
Place rating: 5
Cambridge, MA
This is one of my favorite places to meet for drinks. It’s very unassuming from the outside but it’s one of the only places that has a true patio as opposed to just tables on the sidewalk. And in the summer they are super relaxed so you can just enjoy a drink outside. The staff is really nice and the service is great. The food is also awesome — for example they have a Brie plate which is excellent. They have one TV which is nice because you can watch the game if you want but there aren’t a million TVs distracting everyone. All in all great place and I’m always looking for a reason to come here.
Place rating: 4
Cambridge, MA
Hole in the wall to the max.
Pretty intimate and relaxed setting.
Summer Friday night saw about 15 – 20 patrons total.
Old school and old fashioned.
Patrons were generally in their 30s and older, so nice change of pace.
Use this place to catch up or one-​on-​one with a friend.
Decent selection of beers on tap, wines, etc.
Place rating: 5
Manassas, VA
This place is an awesome local bar. Really relaxing and casual. Bar tenders are cool and helpful. Food is great for the price, you won’t leave hungry. The burgers are the best on the east coast.
Parking garage across the street and easy to get to.
Specials are always happening… music is cool.
Huge beer and wine selection.
Great atmosphere.
Come on in and enjoy…
Place rating: 1
Camden, ME
I came here with some friends after work. We ordered the nachos and some wine. Everything was pretty good but then a gigantic cockroach crawled out of the wall and put a damper on things. I alerted the bartender and he acted like I was making a big deal out of nothing. He eventually came by and destroyed the cockroach. The bill came without any reduction. A poor response to the situation. I won’t be back.
Place rating: 2
Somerville, MA
Sat outside on a hot day, it has a nice little patio but the tables are bolted to the ground, making it awkward to sit since you can’t shift tables around to make sense for the groups that are there.
Just went for some wine, which was good, but the service was so bad I can only give it two stars. Server didn’t know anything about the wines on the menu (it wasn’t a big one) and had to go inside to ask someone who knew. Then she forgot about us asking for water when it came out, and we had to remind her 15 – 20 minutes later. Don’t think I’d go back.
Place rating: 3
Tampa, FL
Good food. Good music. Good server/​bar tender.
Kitchen a little slow.
Walls and fixtures very dirty — makes one worry about the kitchen. Needs a good spring cleaning for sure.
Place rating: 5
Boca Raton, FL
This is a wonderful little place with a decent selection. It’s cozy, the staff is friendly, and it was a great place to have a drink. Prices were good and the place was unassuming — hence the comfortable atmosphere. Overall a great place for a draft beer of a glass of wine.
Place rating: 5
Dublin, Republic of Ireland
Absolutely love Shays! Great cozy pub atmosphere and yummy food. Always a good time here. And great service too!
Place rating: 4
Boston, MA
Over the years, Shays has become my go-​to dive-​ish bar in Harvard Square. I love the cozy and casual atmosphere (including the patio in the nicer weather), friendly staff and mixed crowd of local barflies, excellent selection of beer (and wine), yummy hot mulled cider with port (perfect in winter), and delicious house-​cut skin-​on fries. This place never disappoints, and keeps me coming back for more.
Place rating: 5
Mas-Cabardès, France
I loved this place. For a dive bar, it’s amazingly central, and is the closest spot to the Kennedy School. I loved how laid back, unpretentious, and hence completely charming this place was. Went back several times in the course of my time at the Kennedy School, and can completely imagine going back again in the near future.
Place rating: 5
Cambridge, MA
Definitely one of my favorite local bars! Staff is friendly and the selections of wine and beer are wonderful. Outdoor patio is perfect for a summer evening hangout with your romantic date or some good friends! Food menu is simple but tasty finger food.
Place rating: 4
Boston, MA
Very relaxing atmosphere. I came here on a rainy Friday night, so it was pretty packed. Our server did an absolutely awesome job keeping an eye on us. The drink selection was better than I thought, especially since they actually had Dogfish Heads! I’ll come back here everytime I need to grab a drink in Harvard Square!
Place rating: 2
Dracut, MA
Servers were very rude.
Place rating: 4
Cambridge, MA
Updated because of the food. And because I have changed my mind about the ambience.
I actually really like hanging out here, it turns out. It’s like a hobbit hole or something. And the patio is nice when the weather is also nice.
And the food is really good for what it is. The tuna melt is a perfect tuna melt. They put salt on the bread I think? And there are onions in the tuna. It’s toasty and salty and delicious. The burger is also well-​salted and very juicy and, like the tuna melt, delicious. I like the potatoes that come with the burger. Not super into the chips and salsa that come with the tuna melt (the salsa is too something. oniony? garlicky? i don’t know. but it lingers) but I think you can sub in potatoes for $ 2 or so.
Anyway. For a pint and casual meal you can’t do much better.
Place rating: 4
Somerville, MA
Shays is awsome for low key drinks and stellar for value wines. Very cool venue.
Place rating: 4
Boston, MA
Very Nice place to come and enjoy a beer while eating outside! Nice cheap appetizers too.
Place rating: 5
TRINITY, NY
This place has history — I’ve been coming in for a while so I felt I should drop in with a review this time. Sometimes you and your brethren only have time for a guys’ lunch out (as opposed to the night out) so this is the perfect atmosphere. Dark wood walls, a little tucked away… but the best part? the friendly (but not overly-​friendly) service, brew selection, and great pub fare.
Who doesn’t love a dark brew in the evening? but in the middle of the day I sit on the fence. Great bartenders are also skilled mind-​readers when it comes to the art of imbibing. The moment I hesitated he said ‘dont’ worry I’ll take care of you,’ and came back with a beautifully blended black and tan… Finally the burger: crisp bacon, perfectly done. With the great tunes and atmosphere, you can’t ask for a better backdrop for conversation and catching up.
Place rating: 4
Cambridge, MA
If you have a Harvard affiliation, hipster facial hair, or a drinking habit that flares around lunchtime, you’ll feel at home at Shay’s. Think of it as a high-​brow, low-​key dive. It’s hands down the best place in Harvard Square to nurse a drink and people watch. This is a well-​known fact because the little patio out front crowds up whenever the temperature exceeds 32 °F. Be aware they only serve beer and wine but the selection for both is pretty decent. There’s better and cheaper food in the Square so come for the drinks and company.
Place rating: 3
London, United Kingdom
I had brunch here when the weather was actually still nice in Boston. Great outdoor seating for the fresh air, and the occasional burst of exhaust from a car that’s missing a catalytic converter. It took a little longer than we would had liked to get our food and the food itself was a little less yummy than we would had liked.
The outdoor patio is nice, but it can get loud once you combine the noises from other diners, cars passing by, college kids hopping around…