Nightlife in Abington

From karaoke nights and dart team bouts to DJs spinning every Wednesday–Saturday, The Cellar Tavern keeps diners constantly amused with nightly entertainment. As sports scores flicker across the pub's five flat-screen TVs and the television on its outdoor patio, chefs in the kitchen keep revelry in session with a wealth of pub classics. They crown burgers with ingredients such as chipotle mayo and homemade chili, or sprinkle build-your-own pizzas with toppings such as feta cheese and scallops. Diners can tuck into pub favorites, such as a pastrami and swiss sandwich, fish ‘n’ chips with deep-fried haddock, and craft homemade onion rings.

South Shore Conservatory is the largest community school for the arts in Massachusetts, offering classes in music, dance and drama, as well as an arts-based preschool and kindergarten. Concerts are open to the public, and its Evenings Under the Stars summer concert series attracts concertgoers throughout Greater Boston.

One of South Shore Living's "10 Influential People You Should Know" in 2010, Jimmy Liang evenly divides his time among his five Boston-area restaurants. At Fuji 1546 Restaurant & Bar, his culinary crew whips up contemporary Japanese dishes with a focus on maki, sushi, and sashimi. The sushi selection ranges from eel-filled caterpillar rolls to sweet-potato maki to the BLT roll, which guests must order without using any vowels. The menu also includes traditional eats such as gyoza, sweet-and-sour crab-meat balls, and filet mignon cooked in a housemade lime-soy marinade. Diners also entertain one another during karaoke sessions that go until 12:30 a.m. on Tuesday and Saturday night.

Thanks to a $50 loan from his grandfather, Chef James Messinger was able to promote his small catering business in the local classifieds, kicking off the career he dreamt about as a student at the Culinary Institute of America. The unlikely success from this small ad helped The Crazy Chefs Caterers to flourish and allowed Messinger to finance a long-desired wine-tasting odyssey through Spain, where the local cuisine quickly captivated both his tongue and imagination. Upon arrival back home, he established Loco Tapas & Wine Bar with his wife, brandishing fresh, quality ingredients from local farms to construct traditional tapas influenced by Spain's Catalonia, Basque, and La Rioja regions. The highly praised seasonal menus flaunt a rotating arsenal of small plates and elegant entrees, including a saffron-rice paella with chicken, chorizo, and mussels that the Boston Globe declared as one of "40 fantastic dishes" in the Boston area.

Hovering above Loco Tapas & Wine Bar's fully stocked bar, a chalkboard announces a handwritten roster of Spanish wines by the glass. Elsewhere in the dining area, dangling chandeliers and flickering candles set the stage for shadow-puppet tours de force upon rich crimson walls. Striking black accents, tablecloths, and furniture punctuate the sleek color scheme.

Fowler House Cafe serves casual pub food amidst rustic tavern elegance, surrounding diners in high-backed hardwood booths, exposed brick walls, and high wood paneling. Staffers work to maintain its neighborhood sports-bar atmosphere, whether pouring pints at a central wood-topped bar or balancing plates of pub grub crafted in house from scratch. In the kitchen, chefs dress platters of buffalo tenders and wings in varying degrees of hot sauce, marinate black-Angus steak tips, and fry native scrod. Creative types can unleash their free will onto pizzas, which readily receive customization with more than 20 toppings such as pineapple, eggplant, and sausage. Diners can bite into a cheesy slice and view the vigorous clapping of proud coaches on high-definition TVs perched throughout the space.