On a Saturday afternoon earlier this month, Minot Street was closed to cars between Adams Street and the parking lot entrance. Vendors set up in the roadway. Cornhole boards went down outside Blasi's, kids lined up for mechanical bull rides and pumpkin painting, and Cassidy Deadwater and Friends played on the back patio at Landmark.
The >Dorchester Reporter called the merchants' 2nd annual Fall Fest "a bigger and better version of last year's inaugural effort." It also described the event as a smaller version of the Adams Village Irish Festival from years ago, which closed Adams Street and drew a thousand people or more.
That comparison matters. Adams Village is rebuilding the kind of evening and weekend draw it used to have, and it is doing it in steps, each tied to a specific approval. The step most people on Adams Street are waiting for is Irish music at 782 Adams St. Half of it has been approved. The other half has not.
What the block offers after dark right now
Start with the stretch of Adams Street around Minot Street, where five places sit within a short walk of one another. The hours below are the ones each business posts. They change often enough that a quick check before heading out is a good habit.
| Spot | Address | Evening hours as posted | What stands out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blasi's Kitchen & Bar | 762 Adams St | Daily until midnight, kitchen closes at 9 p.m. | Fat Belly Deli, honey hots, Cajun chicken broccoli penne |
| Landmark Public House | 772 Adams St | Late-night food 10 p.m. to midnight | South Shore bar pizza, burgers, craft cocktails, rear patio |
| Session House | 782 Adams St | Not yet open; approved for a 1 a.m. close | Irish pub fare and traditional sessions, once licensed |
| Molinari's | 789 Adams St | Tuesday through Sunday until 9 p.m. | Reservations taken, cocktails listed |
| Eire Pub | 795 Adams St | Until midnight daily | 11 drafts, including rotating seasonal beers |
Down the road at 301 Adams St, Pizza 24 & Aunty Shem's Kitchen pairs pizza and calzones with Caribbean plates, patties and jerk wings. It stays open until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays and until 10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday.
The table shows how the night actually runs on this block. Food is easy to find until about 9 p.m., when the Blasi's kitchen and Molinari's both close. After that, Landmark's late-night menu is the main kitchen still cooking until midnight, and the bars keep going until about the same hour. There is no live music on a regular weeknight, and no place is approved to stay open past midnight except the one that has not opened yet.
How the licenses drew this map
Some of the block's current lineup traces back to a 2024 state law. >Chapter 202 of the Acts of 2024 authorized new non-transferable liquor licenses for Boston, restricted to 13 specific zip codes, including several that cover Dorchester. Each year for three years, each of those zip codes can receive up to three all-alcohol licenses and two beer-and-wine licenses. The >City of Boston calls the larger 225-license package "the single largest addition to Boston's liquor license quota since the end of Prohibition."
Adams Street got its share early. The >Dorchester Reporter reported that on June 26, 2025, the Licensing Board awarded all-alcohol licenses to Blasi's, replacing its existing beer-and-wine license with a midnight closing time, and to Molinari's, with an 11 p.m. closing time. Pizza 24 received a beer-and-wine license in the same round.
That explains a good part of what the table shows. Full bars at two Adams Village restaurants came from a single afternoon of licensing votes. Because these licenses cannot be sold, they stay tied to the neighborhood and the business that won them.
Session House is taking a different route. It did not need a new license. It is taking over an existing one.
Session House's two approvals
The building at 782 Adams St has had a short run of tenants. Scobie's Cafe & Bar opened there in September 2024. In January 2026 the family-run pub announced it would close temporarily for renovations beginning Feb. 2, with plans to reopen in the spring. According to the >Dorchester Reporter, the space then sat closed with little activity until Esteemed Hospitality put up hiring signs for a new concept.
That concept is Session House, built around what managing partner Teresa Murphy calls "SOUL CEÓL." The calendar mixes traditional Irish sessions with contemporary performers, alongside a pub menu drawing on Irish and New England traditions, plus whiskey, cocktails, wine and beer.
On Sept. 24, 2026, the Boston Licensing Board approved transferring the 782 Adams St all-alcohol license from Scobie's LLC to Esteemed Hospitality LLC, doing business as Session House, with a 1 a.m. closing time. In the hearing, as >Universal Hub reported, co-owner Frank Delaney compared the plan to a well-known Somerville session pub:
"It's basically what the Burren does in Somerville. Where there could be one to five, ten musicians, but one general microphone in the middle to pick up. ... But it's very civilized. We're not talking about DJs and big bands."
Murphy told the board the goal is "a family-friendly restaurant that you can bring kids to see, you know, live music," according to the same >Universal Hub report.
The liquor license does not cover the music. Session House also needs a separate approval from the city's entertainment licensing division, which board chair Kathleen Joyce also leads. The city's posted agenda for its Oct. 15 entertainment hearing listed Bar 23, Le Boulevard and 125, but not Session House.
Here is where the timeline stands for a reader checking in this week:
- August 13: Murphy said the pub was expected to open in "early fall 2026."
- August 28: A >WhatNow Boston preview reported renovations underway and an opening window of "early to mid-fall 2026."
- September 24: The Licensing Board approved the license transfer and the 1 a.m. close.
- Next: An entertainment license hearing, which had not appeared on a posted city agenda as of mid-October, and then an opening date.
The order matters for the block. When Session House opens, it will be the latest-closing address on this stretch of Adams Street. The session music that sets it apart from its neighbors depends on the second approval, not the first.
The street already knows how to fill up
Fall Fest offered a preview of what Adams Village looks like when the block works together. Businesses ran promotions all afternoon. Some visitors came from outside the neighborhood: the >Dorchester Reporter noted one family who traveled to Adams Village specifically for the event.
The music at Fall Fest came from Landmark's back patio, a one-day setup. If Session House gets its entertainment license, live music becomes something the block offers every week. That matters most for an Irish music venue on a street that once hosted an Irish festival big enough to close Adams Street.
What comes after Fall Fest
The merchants' next event is already on their radar. A Facebook post shared on the Blasi's site says Fall Fest is over and points to a Holiday Stroll next, without giving a date.
Last year's version sets a reasonable expectation. >Caught in Dot reported that the 2nd annual Adams Village Holiday Stroll ran Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, from noon to 5 p.m., with local vendors, restaurant food and seasonal cocktails, Santa, music, children's crafts and raffles. A 2026 date has not been announced. Watch the merchants' pages as December gets closer.
Two things on Adams Street are worth tracking between now and then: an entertainment hearing notice with 782 Adams St on it, and a stroll date from the merchants.
If you own a home near Adams Village and wonder how a busier Adams Street affects what your place is worth, Chenell Blake at Arcay Realty can walk you through it directly, using the same block-by-block detail you just read. Get a Free Home Valuation and start the conversation with her.
