Boston Restaurant Blog -- September, 2011

Every now and then, I love going to a good dive bar (and sometimes even a not-so-good dive bar), and as many of you know, I also tend to eat a lot of bar pizza. These are two reasons why I find myself in Quincy quite often, as the city is full of local townie joints, a number of which serve bar pies. We hit one such place recently, and while it is right in the heart of Quincy Center, S6 on Hancock Street is one of those classic blink-and-you-miss-it spots that results in being known by very few people. (The name S6 is dedicated to fallen Quincy Police Officer James M Cochrane, by the way--thanks to a reader for letting us know about this).

S6 is one of many eating and drinking establishments along the stretch of Hancock Street that runs through the downtown section of Quincy and like most of them, it isn't a very big place. In fact, from the outside, it doesn't look like much of anything at all, with its narrow storefront consisting of a plain blue sign and a bit of neon in the windows. The interior of S6 isn't as gloomy as you might think, however, as it is modern-looking and clean, with a good amount of light coming from the skylight in the ceiling during the day. An old wooden floor and high ceiling make for slightly echoey acoustics, while ceiling fans keep the air from getting too stale. The narrow space consists of high-top bar tables along the left wall and a long bar (with a number of TVs above it) along the right side of the place. A brightly-lit Jagermeister tap behind the bar hints to what this place might be like a bit later at night.

We went to S6 around lunchtime on a weekend day, and the place was nearly empty except for a group at the bar. Grabbing a couple of seats at the bar, we asked the bartender for a round of beers (this is mostly a Bud and Miller place, naturally) and ordered pizzas to go. The TVs had both baseball and football on, so the 15-minute wait seemed to go quickly (the games were good ones) and we soon had our bar pies and were on our way out the door. So how were the pizzas? Well, neither the pepperoni pizza nor the hamburg pizza was up to the level of The Alumni Cafe or Cronin's, two Quincy watering holes that serve up some excellent bar pies. But the pizzas weren't bad, either, with a rich and spicy sauce and a nicely charred (if slightly bland) crust. The cheese probably was the one part that brought these pies down, as there wasn't much in the way of flavor, mostly because of a lack of salt and herbs. The individual-sized pizzas were filling--perhaps due to the slightly thick and puffy crust--which led to a couple of slices being left over for another day.

My mixed feelings toward the pizza aside, I kind of liked S6, as the atmosphere was relatively appealing, the bartender was pleasant, and the prices for both the pizza and drinks were plenty reasonable. Indeed, it seems like a decent place to watch a football game on a Sunday afternoon while chomping on a basic bar pie and drinking a beer or two. My pick still goes to Cronin's for a good overall bar experience in Quincy (though the Alumni pizzas are better), but S6 isn't such a bad place to go if you're into neighborhood watering holes.

If you want the address for S6, here it is: S6, 1544 Hancock Street, Quincy, MA, 02169.

Related Blog Entries: bar pizza, Quincy restaurants

Posted by MH, Boston's Hidden Restaurants, on September 14, 2011.
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