The ‘happy hour’ martini has a chokehold over Boston right now. Bar crowds are flocking to spots like Petula’s and Barcelona for $7 and $10 drinks once 5 p.m. hits. But, there’s a catch: Massachusetts is known for its strict happy hour laws, which prevent selling drinks at a discount for any abbreviated period of time. So, how are restaurants getting away with it?
Petula’s, the stylish Italian-leaning restaurant in South Boston, has been running a ‘Martini Monday’ campaign since it opened in 2023. The social media promotion pushes $10 mini martinis in a range of flavors, including classic with gin or vodka, espresso, or other mini martini-adjacent drinks like a lemon drop, cosmo, and Manhattan, from 5 p.m. to close on Mondays.
‘We decided to do it to give people something to celebrate and look forward to on Mondays,’ says owner Rachel Titcomb. ‘It’s also a fun way, if you’re new to martinis, to try out a bunch of different types and see which one you like. It’s much less of a commitment, size-wise and dollar-wise.’ The $10 pours are 4.75 ounces, says Titcomb, while a traditional martini at Petula’s is about seven ounces. Petula’s sees roughly a 100 percent increase in martini sales on Mondays due to the promo.
The smaller pours are only advertised on Mondays, but diners can technically order those mini martinis at that price, any day of the week. Because the law restricts temporary discounts, the drinks must always be available at that price to be legal.
Barcelona Wine Bar, a national chain with locations in the South End, Brookline, and Cambridge, rolled out their happy hour menu simultaneously across the U.S. The newest iteration debuted shortly after COVID-19 shutdowns were lifted. But in their Massachusetts locations, the $7 espresso and classic martinis are technically available all the time, whereas locations in New York and other states serve them only during happy hour.
Emily Nevin-Giannini, the senior director of beverage for the Barcelona group, says they had to make these changes in North Carolina and Georgia as well, where liquor laws restrict alcohol promotions similarly to Massachusetts.
Massachusetts law relating to happy hour restricts restaurants and employees from providing free drinks, delivering more than two drinks to a person at one time, selling drinks at a discount during any abbreviated period of time, and several other restrictions.
This is one of a collection of puzzling laws in the state, such as it being illegal to kiss in public and it being illegal to scare pigeons away. (We’re guessing the gang of pigeons at Boylston Street lobbied for that one.) Some of these laws have century-old roots in Boston’s rigid, Puritan history, but the happy hour laws were actually established in 1984 after a slew of drunk driving-related deaths. In 2024, an amendment to an Economic Development Bill in the Massachusetts Senate was adopted to bring happy hour back, but the plan was shot down.
As a result, Bostonians still can’t enjoy $5 pitchers of beer or other hallmarks of traditional happy hours. But the faux happy hour martinis are a balm for our aching bank accounts.
Perhaps in an unintended tribute to Boston, the Barcelona espresso martini does have a bit of a New England twist, using espresso maple syrup as a soft sweetener, and a dash of nutmeg. ‘It really better balances the bitterness in such a cool way,’ says Nevin-Giannini. ‘We use a cold brew concentrate as the espresso element, which is super concentrated. It allows you to really pack a lot of espresso punch.’
Other headlining martini prices include $7 martinis at Rebel’s Guild in the Revere Hotel and $10 martinis at Bella Vista in the North End. All of these locations offer a small menu that includes an array of martini types, from the traditional spirit-forward option to sweeter, more approachable alternatives like the creamy pistachio martini at Bella Vista.
But for Titcomb, the original is always the best choice. ‘I’d probably go for the dirty vodka martini,’ she says. ‘It’s classic for a reason.’
image source from：https://boston.eater.com/2025/4/17/24410497/happy-hour-drink-deals-boston-massachusetts
