Cambridge Common: a bit more than common

Cambridge Common may have a simple name and d?©cor, but in this case, simplicity equals charm.

The bar is a respite from the dance club booty bars of downtown Boston and the image-conscious yuppie venues of Harvard Square. Dim lighting, wood paneling, and a spacious layout give Cambridge Common a more laid-back, honest feel. Going there requires an extra effort, because the bar lies in the no-man's land between Harvard and Porter Square. This creates a crowd of people who are not looking for a night of wild club hopping, but more for a place to hang out and chill.

You won't see many people sitting around drinking cosmopolitans here _ sorry Sex and the City fans, take your business elsewhere. With 24 brews on tap, there is little reason to order anything other than beer here.

Most of the offerings were American, with a heavy concentration on local brews, like Harpoon, Old Shipyard, Magic Hat, and Otter Creek. Cambridge Common goes beyond serving the typical signature beer from each place and features more obscure recipes _ for example, Magic Hat's Humble Patience. One lush was made happy by the offering of Cambridge Brewing Company pumpkin ale. The other lush is still wondering what Lush 1's obsession with pumpkin beer is all about.

One thing that makes Cambridge Common distinctive is that it combines great beer and a chill atmosphere with above-par pub food. The menu has your typical nachos, wings, burgers, and pub food, but there are more elegant offerings like fish dishes, fancy pasta, and intriguing sandwiches. (We were going to insert a nacho cheese dispenser joke here, but we thought you might be sick of them by now.)

The sweet potato fries are purported to be among the best in New England, according to the reviews we read online while trying to find inspiration for this article. Overall, prices were reasonable for the Harvard Square area and reflected the high quality of the food.

The main floor of Cambridge Common is not loud, and the television screens are more prominent than the music. It's a great place to bring a date because you'll actually be able to hear each other speak, but you would also have fun meeting up with a large group at the bar.

If you're looking for live music, head downstairs to the Lizard Lounge, which is actually for humans, not lizards. It's a bit more rowdy, but still forgoes the disco bar and strobe lights. Local bands are featured almost nightly, and the occasional comedy shows still do not feature lizards.

"The stage is at floor-level, so you feel like you're part of the show," says Citysearch.com. "Harrowing, exhilarating, and intriguing," say the lushes. "Why are we spending $36,000 a year so they can write these things?" say our parents.

If you want a meal and beer, Cambridge Common is a better alternative than the Joshua Tree in Davis Square or John Harvard's Brew House in Harvard Square, where you might have to line up outside to be seated on a weekend night. The atmosphere is a little more quiet than at these other bars, but fun nonetheless. We give it two beer glasses up _ fun for the whole family, even the pet lizard.

All in all, a better commons than the one in the campus center.

If you have a nacho cheese joke that you would like to see printed in next week's Traveling Lush, e-mail it to editor@tuftsdaily.com.