Bar development is cyclical: A bar starts out as a dive, becomes popular because of the cheapness of the food/drinks, then gets modified into a douchebag lounge and/or tapas bar that only pretentious people go to.  Once this happens, nobody can go there except for the exclusively rich, and it no longer becomes fun.  Nobody comes to it anymore, you change ownership, and it converts to an Irish pub.  It then slowly becomes squalid and turns into a place only alcoholic locals go to, then becomes a dive again.  From what I’ve been told, The Good Life is a perfect example of bar cycle. A former dive bar, The Good Life appears in ascendency towards the gleaming orb of douchbaggery with a downstairs Vodka Lounge, high ceiling, and pseudo-fancy menu.

I decided to go with Kenny and Rebecca to the Good Life one evening, when Kenny was keen to grab food and drinks nearby and Rebecca and I were the only people still working so late.  Rebecca actually was working very hard, as she ended up coming later, while Kenny and I shared an erstwhile plate of nachos.  We both agree, that while the chips were very tasty, a good quality plate of nachos needs gooey liquid cheese that oozes down to the bottom, soaking the lower layer of chips.  While there was a solid top layer, the lower recesses still required cheese, making it an inferior plate.  Furthermore, the guacamole and beans and jalapenos were very sparsely ordained.  Overall, a mediocre nachos at best.

Once Rebecca arrived, we ordered a garden pizza, which was listed as: seasonal vegetables, parmigiano and artichoke spread, san marzano tomatoes. By seasonal vegetables, they meant broccoli and spinach and red peppers (which had to have come from the southern hemisphere, as they are a summer vegetable).  The pizza was very very cheesy (perhaps compensating for the inferiorily cheesy nachos) and lacked a tomato sauce, which likely would have made it taste a little less salty.

There are quite a few vegetarian options at the Good Life, which emphasizes comfort food.  I have yet to find a vegan dish that is actually comforting (perhaps veggie pho?), so there are limited options here, but they do have a veggie panini without cheese that could placate you.  The food at the Good Life is above average for standard pub fare, but the prices are well above average (corresponding to its ambitions for douchebaggery).  The music here is very good, playing great independent hip-hop, which is really hard to find in Boston.  We left before the Ed Hardy shirt wearing crowd got too big (i.e. more than 2 people).  I’d recommend the Good Life as a good place to come grab lunch, where there will be some good music, few Ed Hardy shirtters, and decent food at more reasonable lunchtime prices.  I give the Good Life three and half cheese sandwiches for food, four cheese sandwiches for music.

The Good Life
28 Kingston Street
Boston, MA 02111-2205 
(617) 451-2622