The Wave Sports Pub, Waltham

Eight ball in the corner pocket. A pool player announcing this at The Wave Sports Pub could be talking about any of the 124 corner pockets on the bar's 31 Brunswick Gold Crown tables. These share space in the pub with ping-pong tables, dartboards, and large, flat-screen HD televisions that broadcast sports ranging from football and college basketball to races between dads to find the TV clickers buried in their couches.

Games can be scored to the dulcet tones of local bands performing, music from a digital satellite jukebox. During karaoke every Thursday–Saturday, guests belt tunes from more than 10,000 songs that are updated every month. In the middle of all that entertainment, bartenders supply beer by the bottle and tap while the culinary team crafts classic pub food such as fried-shrimp baskets, Angus beef sliders, and mozzarella sticks.