Serving Since

Boston Area

Serving since

1969

57 years in Cambridge

The Plough and Stars

Cambridge · Tavern / Pub

Why go
A small Cambridge Irish bar, open since 1969, with live music most nights and a place in local literary history.
Directions Official website

The official site says "Since 1969". The bar closed for nine months in 2005 and reopened under new owners in 2006.

Why it matters

Brothers Peter and Padraig O'Malley, who came from Dublin in the mid-1960s, opened the Plough and Stars at 912 Massachusetts Avenue. The space had been a bar called the Elite Spa. Within a few years the founders of the literary journal Ploughshares were meeting there.

In 1975 it became the first bar in the area to host afternoon jazz sessions. Mark Sandman, Bonnie Raitt and G. Love & Special Sauce are among the musicians linked to its small back stage.

The bar closed for nine months in 2005. It reopened in 2006 under new owners, Jennifer Lockwood and Brendan Curtis, and added a dinner menu.

The story

  1. 1969The Plough and Stars opens at 912 Massachusetts Ave1
  2. 1975First bar in the area to host afternoon jazz sessions6
  3. 2005Closes for nine months5
  4. 2006Reopens under new owners5
  5. TodayStill serving Cambridge

Notes on the record

  • The opening year is disputed. The official site, the Cambridge Office for Tourism and a 2009 Boston Globe article say 1969. A founder's son, writing for the Music Museum of New England, says his father is sure it opened in 1968.

Details

Address
912 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139
Ownership
Not verified
Status
Open · verified Sep 2026

OldScore

A secondary, editorial measure. The founding year above is the fact that matters most. How it works.

Age16/ 35
Continuity5/ 20
Local significance10/ 20
Local food culture5/ 15
Independence—/ 10
OldScoreNot yet scored

"—" means unknown. We don't publish a total until every part is verified.

More like this

Sources

  1. The Plough and Stars (official site) Founding year, Address, Current status
  2. The Plough and Stars, Contact Us Address, Current status
  3. The Plough and Stars, music calendar Current status
  4. Cambridge Office for Tourism, "Plough & Stars" Founding year, Address
  5. Boston Globe, "Plough & Stars marks 40 years in Cambridge" (Nov 6, 2009) Founding year, Ownership, History
  6. Boston Phoenix, "A brief history of the Plough & Stars (continued)" (Aug 30, 2001) Founding year, History
  7. Music Museum of New England, "The Plough and Stars" Founding year, History, Ownership
  8. Wikipedia, "The Plough and Stars" Founding year, History · cross-check only