John Harvard's Brew House   

Underground drinking doesn't have to entail a step down in standards -- just ask the satisfied regulars at John Harvard's Brew House, a subterranean pub in Harvard Square. Why settle for rubbing the shoe of the school founder's statue when you can quaff locally brewed ales in his honor, basking in the glow of stained glass windows featuring Jerry Garcia and Richard Nixon? Thanks to a constant influx of undergrads, this aging establishment reinvents itself each year, recently garnering the imprimatur of Playboy, which named it its 'College Bar of the Month.'But you don't need an Ivy League degree to appreciate Harvard's embarrassment of in-house and international beers -- an assortment anchored by a revolving roster of six beers on tap. Whether you're hankering for a homegrown Summer Blonde or a cask-conditioned ale from the Old Sod, you could spend a semester here without exhausting all the options. Those looking for something a little more solid will find the basics addressed on the comprehensive bar menu, which caters to comfort food cravings with stick-to-your-ribs fare such as fried calamari, New England clam chowder, chicken pot pie and grilled meatloaf.