The Patios Will Return to City Hall Plaza with More Local Food and Drink

Gather your friends this season to play mini golf, grill, pet puppies, shop local produce, and drink craft beer.

By Mary Meisenzahl· 4/3/2019, 4:29 p.m.

The Wachusett Brew Yard returns to the Patios at City Hall Plaza in May. / Photo courtesy of TD Garden

It might not feel like it, but summer really is just around the corner. When the warm weather finally hits, find us playing mini golf and sampling local food and beer at City Hall Plaza: The Patios are coming back for the season beginning Thursday, May 2, continuing popular offerings from its first year like weekly visits from adoptable puppies, and the Wachusett Brew Yard beer garden; while adding exciting upgrades like an outpost of Boston Public Market.

From May 21 through November 29, the BPM will fulfill all your “farm to patio” needs with an all-local farmers’ market on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 11:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Stay tuned for more information on which BPM vendors might be featured.

Another new offering this season is a Sunday grilling station, with four electric grills available to use for free on a first-come, first-served basis. Guests can bring their own coolers full of food, or buy grillables on-site from Bittersweet Homestead, which will offer all the makings of a perfect picnic—hot dogs, Italian sausage, lemonade, and sweet desserts. Based in Westminster (the same hometown as the Patios’ resident beertenders, Wachusett Brewing Co.), Bittersweet will be open at City Hall Plaza seven days a week, with a setup larger than it had last year.

Also bigger this year: The Patios’ food truck offerings. Instead of catering only to the Government Center-area lunch crowd with daily options from 11 a.m.-3 p.m., a rotating lineup of food trucks will also be on-site from 5-8 p.m. Monday through Saturday. New this year are regular appearances from Roxy’s Grilled Cheese, Maria’s Taqueria, Clyde’s Cupcakes, and Tacos Don Beto.

Wachusett will continue to serve pints at the Patios from its vintage Airstream trailer seven days a week, with some new additions perfect for warm summer nights and early-fall evenings: a margarita-inspired sour beer, and a brand-new hard cider brand, Fifty Trees, made with local apples. Nauti Seltzer (a Wachusett brand) is also on the drink list. The 25-year-old brewery’s watermelon- and strawberry-flavored beers can accompany any Patios picnic all summer, along with the popular Blueberry wheat ale, or the latest from Wachusett’s Wally New England IPA Series. All told, Wachusett will have eight drafts on every day.

Shultz’s Guest House, a dog rescue based out of Dedham, is visiting every “Wag Wednesday” from noon-2 p.m.—but the Patios are dog-friendly every day. For those weekdays when you just must spend your lunch break playing with adoptable puppies, or petting other people’s dogs, tell your boss you’re working from City Hall Plaza. The Patios will have multiple power outlets this year, plus Wifi connectivity.

The Patios are part of the ongoing endeavor from the City of Boston and TD Garden operator Delaware North to revitalize the drab, underused plaza with seasonal programming. Berkshire Bank is the presenting sponsor.

The Patios will open for the season on May 2 at 5 p.m., and will then be open Monday-Thursday from 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m.-10 p.m., and Sundays from 11 a.m.-9 p.m.

cityhallplazaboston.com.