Drinks are amazing, inside super fun. So happy inside retro tiki dark and lights. Top notch sushi super fresh nice sized rolls. Dungeon burger was SO incredibly salty. I could tell it would have been so good except for the salt!! My salt threshold is pretty high too, due to my carnivore diet. read more

Drinks: 4/5 Food: 3/5 This place is a somewhat hidden venue in South End. Vibrant scene, live music on Thursdays....decor feels like a tropical island. Drink menu was inventive, bar tender was nice, craft cocktail take a long time to make! Dinner menu was challenging. Limited options w majority fried items. Dishes we served...piled upon another with several dishes arriving at once. I was stressed! Scallion pancakes w King Crab Dip - probably two items that do better apart rather than together. Crab Rangoons w Pineapple Duck sauce - resembled empanadas. Small amount of filling. The pineapple duck sauce missed the mark. Baos: Pork - nice flavor combination, a bit salty, but well composed Fried clam - good concept but the flavors did not mix well with the bao Come here for drinks and live music! As we were leaving they started playing the Game of Thrones Soundtrack. Instantly regretted leaving. read more

I love tiki bars. A good one has the happy sunny atmosphere as well as the spectrum of tropical tiki drinks. Shore Leave did a decent job turning their basement dwelling into a moderately comfy place but missed the mark on the true Tiki bar feel. Think of this place as tiki bar lite. The drinks were pretty good and the food pretty good but the atmosphere was lacking. I've had better, but for Boston it's the closest you will get to the islands. This place is worth a visit but if you want the true tiki bar feel it's just not going to satisfy. read more

See all

I stopped in just for a beverage and to check the place out. Staff is very welcoming and friendly and very knowledgeable. My cocktail was delicious and I can't wait to go back and try the food. read more

Shore Leave - It's called " take me with you" it takes a smoothie to the highest level of delicious. - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

Limited menu of drinks and food, but it's all good. I would have tipped more if I didn't have to flag down waiters and flash for the bartenders attention. Its cozy, music volume wasnt too loud. Great for date nights. read more

The service was rude. Sushi was warm, drinks were over priced and overall the restaurant was as dull as the lighting. They're a basement bar trying to be a rooftop 5 star, just not even worth the time. If you want sushi there are plenty of better places. read more

This place is the absolute best. Good food, amazing drinks, but even most importantly the best bartenders around.

I went to Shore Leave last night and had some sushi and a couple of drinks. The sushi was very good but twice as expensive as Douzo, one of the finest sushi places in Boston proper. When the check was presented the bartender showed me a tablet with my total and he had already hit the 20% gratuity "box" on the tablet screen. The total seemed high so I asked him to print it out for me. I thought it was strange that I had to ask for the print out. When he printed out the total, I noticed that a fee had been included for service already so, had I not asked for the print out, I would have been charged 20% twice for service. When I complained to the manager, he said most customers don't want to be bothered with the itemized check and that they were including the tip as a convenience to the customer. When I asked why they were trying to charge me for service twice, he said I was making too much out of it, and he walked away. It was shocking, I live in that neighborhood and I'll simply never go back. read more

Went to shore leave with some friends and sat at one of the bars - one of the only options we were told for 3 people but that was fine with us. The drink menu was a little tough to grasp what I may like, but I did end up pretty happy with my drinks! This next one I knew what it was but the miami vice for two bowl was a special for the night but it was fresh and delicious. My only complaint is the food is pretty expensive for what it is, $7 boa's added up quickly. We got fried claim and pork belly boa's, tuna poke salad, crispy rice salad, wings, scallion pancakes and the wontons. I think the only thing I would skip is the wontons. Everything else was great! Can't say everything was worth the price, but you definitely pay a little more for the trendy atmosphere. Definitely try the wings (must like lime) they have this shansho pepper on them that makes your mouth tingle - so strange! Also, pretty delicious. Would go back especially cute for a date night. read more

This is a pretty cool place in south end. Their ambience is cute. It gives the feeling of a disco bar with good music and lights. Their menu options are very limited and overly priced. We ordered Scallion pancakes with a crab king dip, Samosa gyoza and Cumin Lamb skewer. Out of these I would say only pancakes were good because of the crab dip otherwise we can have better scallion pancakes at other Asian fusion places. Drinks were fancy and expensive. Only good for the pictures. Would only go again when it's a happy hour. read more

Went there on a Friday night for dinner and drinks and the atmosphere is great. You have to walk down a flight of stairs to get there, but it's an underground tiki bar vibe. Drinks were amazing. Food was good, not great. Ordered a bunch of small plates, and only one that stood out was the Katsu sandwich. I would come back again for drinks and the atmosphere and maybe a late night snack, but not as a dinner choice. read more

Shore Leave - Tiki themed drinks - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

See all

Last night I had reservations to have dinner with 4 of my friends for a belated birthday dinner. I saw on line I could reserve a large/raised table for 6-8 people with a deposit. I called and told them it would only 5 of us and they seemed ok with that. I also mentioned that we would drink enough to make up for the missing bodies ;-) . The sign is small so a bit easy to miss... they should also maybe have an arrow pointing down? Because you go down 2-3 flights. It is dark and has a cool Tiki Bar vibe. We love trying new and interesting drinks and foods we may not have had before and this restaurant did not disappoint. We had a bunch of small plates, fried clam baos (which were great), the crispy rice salad was delicious with shrimp and pineapple, the tartare was my favorite, also the tuna poke bowl was delicious, scallion pancakes which you can get in lots of other places but I never order them so we did last night.. really nice taste and the dipping sauce was great. Our drinks I can't even begin to describe... all were really Fantastic. They were imaginative, complex and most importantly delicious. We also order some large sharing plates that we all enjoyed... The Duck, and a fish collar (the name is escaping me) . and some side salads and vegetables. Although The highest compliment I can pay is to our waitress, Maggie who was beyond nice, informed, attentive, smart and pleasant. She made the experience wonderfully memorable without hovering over our table. We could only get an early reservation..6:30 pm but surprisingly this seemed to work out for a Friday night as some of party had just left work and could walk over to meet us. We didn't leave the restaurant until 9:30 pm.. we were gently reminded that another party had reserved the table for that time , I completely appreciated their candor and we immediately paid our pretty sizable bill and called an Uber. Well maybe not immediately because we did finish up our velvety, slightly sweet after dinner beverages. Without a doubt I would go back.... Maggie was the best waitress imaginable and their other staff was all very nice too. So go there with a group of friends and have fun! read more

Shore Leave - Fab drink in a cool skull mug. - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

Came here earlier this month after a Bruins game and it was so much fun!! They had the whole place decorated for Christmas, but even the year round decorations are great. And of course everything is served in fun tiki glasses. We ordered the bowl that's for sharing, which was made to look like Santa and his reindeer in a hot tub. Drink was both delicious and strong! We also ordered the pupu platter which made for a nice light snack for 4 people, would be good for 2 if you are hungrier. Best things on the platter are definitely the Rangoons and shrimp, I'd recommend these if you are ordering the food separately. I was not a huge fan of the chicken satay which was a little dry, but peanut sauce makes everything taste a whole lot better. Pricing is about what you'd expect- a bit too much but you are in a city! I appreciate that this place has character too. And that Mariah Carey was playing in all the bathrooms read more

The only redeeming quality about this place is the atmosphere. Cool, fun vibe - great music. We only went in for a drink so I can't comment on the food. The drink I ordered was NOT good. It also took the bartender 15 minutes to make it. We were sitting at the bar so we watched the bartender make our drinks. During the process, she took 2 shots and threw ice at one of the other bartenders. She seemed drunk and/or high. She also made a snarky comment to my two friends, thinking she was being funny but it just came across as rude. I don't recommend this place based on the drinks and service. We won't be going back. read more

Hi! Food & drinks were amazing along with the atmosphere and music playlist! My friends and I had a great time. The reason I am giving 3 stars is because our waitress, Sydney M, was horrible. She was blatantly rude and very b*tchy to my entire friend group. Even after trying to be friendly and compliment her she was still rude and super condescending. I have never experienced a server so rude & to be honest, mean. typically I do not complain but this was so evidently bad our whole table noticed. read more

One star for the ambience and another for the fun drinks during the holidays. Other than that the experience was not good! We got the nigiri sampler, it was fishy and not good tasting, even for me a sushi lover. The tuna tartare was OK, prob the best thing we got. Wagyu skewers we're delivered to our table that we did not order- we were charged for that ( servers mistake not ours). Tater tots were mushy and overwhelming with sauce. Rice was also mushy and not good tasting. They were out of crab Rangoon's (our res was at 6 pm) and they were out of fried ice cream too? We ordered bread pudding to try to redeem the place and it was cold...who wants cold bread pudding?! There was a 4% service charge added to our bill that we were not made aware of as well, which we would have been okay with if the food was good. Our server was okay but not outstanding by any means. Save your money and go to Fuji across the street. read more

Drinks are great and well priced ($11-14). The food only looks okay. The bar is the main stage here, and the reason to come. Also the bartenders know their stuff, and put a lot of care into their craft. Will be back! read more

A decidedly "un-tiki" tiki bar! A great twist on tropicals with amazing attention to detail, a very chill vibe, but friendly and approachable. The drinks were very creative but delicious--from the totally perfect tiki drink, 'The Shore Leave Cocktail', to the completely offbeat but still satisfying 'Takes two to Mango'--everything was expertly prepared and just right. The food was no slouch either--spicy, a little exotic, and very tasty. The true standout, though, was our bartender, Rachel. Her attention, recommendations, and top notch service (with just the right conversation to boot--) made a really good visit into a great one. I highly recommend Shore Leave. read more

This is one of my friend 's favorite tiki bar in the city. We come here all the time, but we mostly sit at the bar. I booked the table for his going away party on a Sunday night. First of all, i had to reserve a table for a party of 11 with $550 deposit guaranteed. It is on a normal Sunday night, dont you think it a little bit much? I was ok with it, bc the deposit will apply towards the bill anyway. Just saying we didnt really reserve a private dining room anything for that much money. Second, the service was AWEFUL. Again, this was special occasion for my friend. It completely ruined our night. We were the largest and the only party in the entire restaurant. We were 15 people the least. Every time we needed to put an order in, one of us either went to look for a server or sat there waiting for them to pass by. The point is the place was empty, was absolutely not busy at all. No one paid any attention to us. The servers acted like they did not even care at all. At the end, 20 percent gratitude of course was added to the bill which i am happy to pay for the service. But seriously, this was not the service that I should have been offered. With the money that you asked for to hold the table, with the 20 percentage gratitude you charged on a large party, you COULD have pay a little bit better attention to us and do a better job. If anyone is paying over $1000 bill, all we do expect a decent care? read more

Given the other reviews and previous experiences with "speakeasies" being intentionally hard to find because they think this makes them cool, I was worried about being able to find this place in the dark of night. Turns out it's fine. There's a bright green sign outside the door and a strip of lights leading you downstairs to the entrance. The service was pretty friendly and quite fast, the decor a sort of modern take on tiki with a definite hipster industrial chic vibe, and the best part were mugs worth talking about. The best feature was that there were interesting drinks for folks who don't like alcohol, which is a bit rare. I'm told the alcoholic drinks were a creative departure from the typical versions of tiki drinks, but not an improvement. The food was also creatively interesting, like an open-face bao and a eastern-western sandwich mashup. But it was somewhat greasy and sometimes spit-it-out fatty. The one dessert, which is a Hoodsie, is a mashup of cheap low-brow ice cream (pretty meh factory output, as you'd expect) simply topped with high-brow raspberry sauce (actually quite good) and matcha. Though we had fun, most of the way through the meal we decided there wasn't particularly any reason to come back to this place, mostly based on the quality of the food and drink. It's definitely overpriced for what it's producing, about $100 for a table of two. read more

This is place is what it is, a contrived place in a contrived made up neighborhood (Ink Block). My particular issue is that they market themselves as a Tiki bar and it's far from it. I assume it's a marketing decision because they wanted to distinguish themselves from the other hundreds of speakeasy type vibe places popping up all over the city recently. Additionally the drinks although creative, are not particularly boozy and a really tiki bar would never make you feel like they are doing you the favor by making you a drink. It's pretentious douchebaggary at its finest... so if you want to look cool with weak drinks and fake people, well this is the place for you!!! Hate to sound like an angry Yelper, but I was disappointed. read more

3% surcharge added to our bill. The restaurant doesn't bother to pay sufficient wages to its staff so they tack on a 3% surcharge to the bill. When I complained, they stated it was written on the menu (in the fine print of course) and refused to remove it from the bill. I won't go back solely because of this unethical practice. Pay your staff fairly and don't add hidden fees to the bill. read more

I would recommend going elsewhere if you have a party of two or more as they were incredibly rude when the large party I was with stopped by for drinks for a friends birthday. I really wanted to like this place but they made it very difficult. You would think a bar would want a large group of paying customers but having an employee continuing to walk through our conversations telling us we need to be out of the way of servers is no way to get repeat business. The concept and space is novel, but they need to work on the customer service aspect of running a business. read more

Love this place because who doesn't love a cocktail in a skull head. The food is also great. And I love the bathrooms, I know, who rates the bathroom, me! read more

Food here wasn't amazing, menu was a little tough to navigate, small portions, not many gluten free options (friend left hungry :/). Cool vibe and definitely has potential, but would try and expand the menu! Great ambiance to grab a drink with some friends. read more

Pre Covid this place was awesome. Post-Covid: Don't bother. I understand that certain things may not be possible due to COVID, but even the vibe of this place was off. Limited food options and drinks are literally a cup of ice. read more

Manager needs a serious ego check. I'm here giving you money, treat your customers with respect

Strong drinks, great atmosphere. The salt and pepper pork rinds are so freakin good with that cream cheese dip, make sure everyone gets their own because you won't want to share! read more

Terrible customer service. Staff is rude and abrasive. Drinks are above average and atmosphere is fun. Get some staff who actually like people and it would be a decent spot read more

INCREDIBLY rude staff. Received very harsh and condescending tone upon calling to simply make reservations.

This place is a no no . The drinks are okay but the food is completely trash. I order the grilled Tom yum shrimp and all the shrimp was raw. The waitress tried to convince me and my friend that the reason the shrimp was raw was because it was grilled and that's nonsense. The chicken wings were also not completely cooked . I will not be coming here again. read more

If nothing else, come here to enjoy the dark/sexy/cool speakeasy-ish atmosphere over a tasty cocktail and you'll probably enjoy yourself. I love a good tiki drink and was excited to see what they had on offer. Their version of a strawberry daiquiri hit the spot and their signature Shore Leave was nicely balanced and brought in some local flair, but the 2-person Takes Two to Mango, while impressive looking (fire! volcano! long straws!), tasted burnt and was weirdly viscous, and didn't match the quality and balance of the others I thought. Food-wise, I wanted literally every single thing on the menu, because it all looked delicious and unique and right up my alley. We settled on 5 plates to split, which mostly delivered- we all thought the Filipino BBQ ribs were the real winner (could have eaten a dozen orders of these), but also enjoyed the tikka pork rinds (especially with that tasty tomato jam?), the dan dan wonton (which were were more black vinegar-y than spicy, but I personally enjoyed them that way), and the Hokkaido street corn (nice and savory). The cumin lamb skewer was the only disappointment- while the flavors were good (especially those berry things on the plate), the lamb pieces themselves had a ton of connective tissue which made it hard to break down while chewing, and the $28 plate supposedly served 2-3 people but in reality only came with 5 2x2 inch cubes and some garnish (just enough for a solo diner, definitely not enough to share for the price). 3 of us split these 5 dishes (which varied in size, as with most small plate places), which was good enough for an (albiet expensive) light to medium meal for each of us. Service was solid, vibe was fun, most of the food and drinks were good- I'd call this an overall win. read more

Amazing sushi, I got the spicy tuna roll. It was probably the best sushi I've ever had. The drinks were great as well. Loved it.

Not sure what happened here. My wife and I came once when they opened. We had terrible service then, but the food and drinks were so good it almost made up for it. I was going to write a bad review but I just attributed it to early opening issues. I figure everyone gets a second chance. I just went again recently and the food was horrible. The Filipino BBQ Ribs were the best thing on the menu before. Now they were completely rubbery with an odd aftertaste. Really gross. Also got the PuPu platter. I don't know what was going on in the kitchen but everything fried on this plate was horribly overcooked. The scallion pancakes were mostly black from the extensive burning. The other dishes had a black char on all the edges. Most of it was inedible. I've got no clue how the cook allowed something like this to go out. Wanted to get a few more dishes because we were still hungry because we couldn't finish these items. Of course the bartender never came back to check on us. We sat there at the bar for over 20 minutes with no drinks and only the food that we couldn't stomach. By the time the bartender came back, the kitchen was closed. Make note that the place was mostly empty; they weren't exactly busy. I thought I was generous to give this place a second chance but they proved me wrong. Very disappointing. read more

Super cute "subterranean" tiki bar (aka there are no windows because it's basement level). Part of a residential apartment complex, so a little bit tricky to find. We visited over the summer, but I feel like this is a great place to keep in mind for those New England winter blues, when you can't afford to jet-set to Tahiti. Dark teal and tropical decor, fun back-lighting and standing bar space that I imagine could fill in a bit later at night. Walked in without a reservation, and were seated immediately at the bar. Great cocktails and respectable Asian fusion bites. Would be down to check out the secret high-end sushi sister restaurant some time, if I can figure out how to get in! read more

Delicious! A bit on the pricey side, but the two times I've been it has been a good experience with service and food. Atmosphere is very intimate and comfortable. Portion sizes are small and pricey but well worth because the flavors that the foods emit seem to be very carefully calculated. Scallion pancake, mushroom gyoza, yellowfin tuna poke, basic bitch tartare, and the grilled shiitake bao were seasoned and cooked perfectly. One of the best asian fusion restaurants in Boston. read more

Absolutely amazing experience. Cocktails & food were great- nothing particularly out of the ordinary, but the staff was so fantastic that I'd choose this spot over the other tiki-style restaurants around town. From the person who answered the phone when I called before coming in, to the hosts that greeted and sat us, to the 4 attentive bartenders that I spoke with, to the food runners, every person working in there was incredible. Plus- the hip, dark atmosphere doesn't hurt! Very cool spot. read more

Two days later and my stomach has still not returned to normal. On top of that the food was mediocre and the drinks were decent at best. The staff was incredibly rude and ignored our table for most of the night. Likely due to being younger. Will never return. read more

If you want to have the epitome of amazing food and drink experience be taken away like you feel like you're in the Fuji islands come here Molly the bartender is beyond experienced in craft cocktails extremely well versed in the menu made my night so awesome started with the crispy rice salad with shrimp ridiculous off the charts followed up with mushroom gyoza and Dan Dan wonton. Mollie loves a challenge give her some drinks read more

the atmosphere is wicked cute but the food i would give it mediocre. i saw this place on a tiktok and was sold by the looks of this restaurant but once my group of 6 arrived we were given a piece of paper that hardly had any selections for the food. the drinks were great, i ordered a painkiller along with others for our table that were decorated nicely. now the food, my burger was cooked until it was dried and it just looked sad overall. one of us commented it looked like a burger you'd grab from a cafeteria at school. the loaded tatertots stood out the most but the rest was very average and would probably be a place i'd step in if it's very late on a saturday night while hitting the town but not any other time. the decorations of the restaurant was beautiful, the waitresses were kind, but it wasn't enough to pull up the rating the food gave:( read more