Ah, the City Bar. Such an interesting place on the Boston social scene was stumbled upon by accident one evening when my friend was courting a venture capitalist. He made the suggestion that we head over there after things were beginning to wind down at another Back Bay singles hot spot—to his surprise, we did not know where he was talking about. After that evening though, the City Bar quickly became one of our favorite places.

The City Bar is tucked inside of the Lenox Hotel near Copley Square. It does have a few signs advertising its presence on the outside of the building, but I must admit I had never noticed them before. You have to go through the hotel's well-appointed lobby to gain entry to this bar. Once inside, you will wonder how you almost missed this place.

Unbeknownst to most tourists (and even most locals), the City Bar is one of the few places around Boston that seems to have a later closing time. This city still shows its Puritan influence via 1am closing times and even earlier last calls, but somehow the City Bar never seems to close before 3am. I have never been there at closing time so I honestly do not know how much longer they are open. But it is nice to go to a place, stay out late, and not feel like they are kicking you out nonetheless.

The City Bar is a chic urban lounge with plenty of comfy couches, dark accents, and other comforting touches. The large mahogany bar frames the entire width of the space, and behind it lies an enviable collection of top shelf liquors. There is also a nice John Singer Sargent rendering that glows with mood lighting behind the bar. It is all quite upscale, but very tasteful at the same time.

City Bar’s small space leads to regulars running into each other all of the time; even if they haven’t been known to each other before, most soon bond with each other or the pleasant bar staff. The staff here is very knowledgeable and they have several signature cocktails called the Infusions Diabolique that are touted by beverage critics.

Alas, the word about City Bar has finally started to spread. The last time I went, there was actually a line to get in which was never the case before. It is still worth investigating whether you are a tourist or a local though. Let’s hope its new-found popularity doesn’t ruin it.