Porter Square

I love Porter Square, especially the little mall with the Japanese shops and restaurants; very authentic, inexpensive and yummy?

Good area of restaurants and shops – the worst part is how far underground the T is! I like Davis Square more, but maybe I just need to explore more here. The key difference to me between here and Davis is that you have to walk further once you leave the t. I feel like when I leave the t at Davis I’m bombarded with places to go, in porter I have to look harder.

Small shopping center with all your needs (grocery, pharmacies, gyms, bookstore, dunkins, BRUEGGERS, and emack & bolio’s). Quirky area.

I love to go here.
There are so many fun attractions. many different and delicious foods.
restaurants, coffee shops and gym… It is really good place that we can release stress and have a good time with friends and family!!!

Bostons version of Little Tokyo, No longer as accommodating thanks to Lesley University destroying the long time great local shop of Kotobukia. They literally replaced it with some stupid ass book store that is ALWAYS empty when the old japanese grocery store that has been there for more than 10 years was always PACKED. Butttt don’t let that deter your visit, there are still many authentic and delicious restaurants residing here and all that are quite affordable. Some are cash only but they have an ATM right there too so no worries. Parking is convenient and easy and I’ve actually used it as a lot then took the train to Harvard.

Porter sq you have your own unique style like no other. With your mix of bigger chains like stop n shop, and cvs, down to the quaint boutiques scattered along mass ave, and a T stop where you can catch the commuter rail or get a serious workout just by taking the stairs. Porter Sq you’re probably one of my favorites along the redline without a doubt!

What’s to like?
Good collection of stores. You can buy furniture (used or new), get your nails did or hair cut.
Eat: ice cream, donuts, soupinabreadbowl, burritos, thai, afghani, kebabs, pub foods, coffee, pizza, organic pizza, bar pizza, buy gifts, learn tai kwon do, drink, go to culinary school, buy gas, gardening stuffs, mail stuff, buy tackle and ammunition, or just go to the gym. It’s all right here.
Easy to walk to/​from. Grab the T or commuter rail. Buses, and cabs, you got it.
What’s not to like?
That stupid friggin parking lot of death. The spots are TIGHT, that’s putting it lightly… My car has been hit twice in this parking lot, with me witnessing it each time. Both times because the person swung too wide and hit my car, why? Cause the spots aren’t big enough for a compact car, let alone anything else that’s on the market!

Great shops and restaurants, great location, and best of all, this parking lot will help you talk your teenager out of ever getting a driver’s license.

Porter square is a convenient little shopping plaza. It has a 24 hour grocery store, 24 hour CVS, hardware/​home goods store and a few decent places to eat.

Porter Square is a little shopping haven on Mass Ave on the outskirts of Cambridge. Most visitors and tourists don’t travel past Harvard Square, and those who do don’t usually stop at Porter Square. Consisting of mainly Lesley University property, Porter Square has just about everything to offer for those not afraid to walk a few blocks and find everything there’s to offer and accessible by the redline or buses.
The main shopping complex at Porter Square itself has a 24 hour Shaws supermarket, 24 hour CVS, a fantastic independent bookstore, fantastic independent hardware store, a toy store, a vitamin/​health food store, and the usual fast food, Radio Shack, and liquor store. Its a shame the Burlington Coat Factory outlet store closed, it used to be in the basement of Shaws/​the hardware store.
Taking the pleasant walk back towards Harvard Square almost all the places to visit will be on your right. There’s plenty of restaurants, coffee shops, and vintage clothing stores. Its a shame that Barefoot Books went out of business. Definitely worth stopping in Greenward to check out eco friendly accompaniments for your home, Hollywood Express for renting movies from probably the last independent place left on Earth, as well as Stereo Jack’s for used records and Raspberry Beret for all of your vintage closet needs.
Going in the opposite direction towards Davis Square and beyond most of the shops are again on your right (but opposite side of the street as the previous.) Immediately is Zing’s Pizza, most likely the best pizza around, Stellabella Toys, Bob Slate Stationary, and McIntyre Used Books. Christopher’s has the best food and drinks in Porter Square and Toad next door is a free venue to check out local music.
Porter Square is pretty awesome, the downside is everything is on Mass Ave, instead of spread out throughout the neighborhood. Also there’s no shade, always super sunny in the summer or leaving you exposed to the harsh winter. The shopping center at Lesley University used to be much nicer, but since the Japanese grocery store closed, I don’t bother going there anymore. I definitely do most of my shopping in Porter Square.

Well, well, well. Since my previous review, Planet Fitness has opened their doors. For a cheaper rate I now have a gym with cool people, far more respectable business practices, and diet «supplements» (yeah, that’s code for drugs — no thanks!) aren’t displayed prominently whenever I drop in for a run or to lift weights. That alone makes Porter perfect.
Among the things I forgot last time: We also have a post office *and* UPS store (convenient for all my Zappos returns), two fabulous hardware/​locksmith stores, and now even a toystore. I grew up near a former location of Henry Bear’s Park, so there’s some nostalgia for me in one opening up here.
Ah, Porter Square, I love calling you home.

Home sweet home :)
Cleaner, safer, and more convenient in my opinion than the other squares. Who cares if the bar scene isn’t as rockin’? I can walk to The Burren in under 7 minutes. 5 stars, yes please!

Pretty convenient area, useful for finding goods at the hardware store and at the Shaw’s a walk across the parking lot from the T stop. Also McIntire Books moved here, and there is decent Indian on the side of the street opposite the complex.
The Pier 1 is rather useless though, and I’m not sure who goes to the Uno’s anymore. Beware though, the CVS right across the street from the T stop is rather confusing.
Only a 17 min. or so commute into Park Street Downtown Boston.

Let’s start with the name– Porter Square. Porter isn’t a square. It’s not a tiny contained area like Harvard Square or Davis Square, two streets that come together with stores on all sides.
Porter Square is a long strip of Mass Ave. that starts right by Cambridge Common and extends all the way up to Elephant Walk. And on that long strip, you can find everything: a place to buy cool clogs (Vintage), a formerly cool bookstore (McIntyre&Moore), stationary (Bob Slate), a 24 hour pharmacy (CVS), Cambridge’s best gym (Healthworks), cafes (Rosies, Simons), amazing clothes (Nomad), and some puzzling things (that Irish imports store that sells soda bread… how do they stay in business?!).

I wish I lived here! So much Japanese fare! LOVE IT

Seriously? Best neighborhood I have lived in during my 3 years in Boston. I won’t rehash all the reasons other people who have outlined why Porter rocks, but I’m in total agreement. It’s ridiculously convenient for food, liquor, books!, dry cleaning, pharmacy needs, hardware/​home crap, video rental (just a short walk down to Hollywood Video if you don’t feel like feeding the Blockbuster Corporate Machine), gyms (provided I actually JOIN one first), post office, and so on and so forth. Granted, there aren’t as many funky restaurants/​bars, and it can feel very commercialized when you think about all the stores nearby, but I like convenience. In fact, it’s made me very, very lazy.
The Red Line is probably one of the fastest T lines in Boston (tied with the Orange Line in terms of reliability and speed, in my opinion) and, as everyone else has said, it’s smack-​dab in the middle of the square. Not so much a fan of the vertigo-​inducing escalators, but then I went to Atlanta and rode the escalator at the Peachtree Center MARTA stop and promptly stopped complaining.
The best reason for living here? I now have a gaggle (that’s right, a gaggle) of friends who live within 10 minutes of each other and it’s now super-​convenient to have low-​key hangouts at someone’s house. Very important in this crappy economy of ours. MTV True Life or Soul Calibur 2 marathons? Don’t mind if I do!

This is by far the most visited Cambridge Square by me for the following reasons:
1. T accessible right dab in the middle. The red line is the «most» reliable out of the T. DO NOT climb the stairs unless you want to have abs and thighs of steel (DVD not included)
2. Porter Exchange! The only authentic Japanese grocery and food court in the Boston area. Worthy notables are Café Mami, Sapporo Ramen, Tampopo, and Kotobukiya.
3. Simon’s Coffee Shop, serving some of the best coffee and tea in Cambridge.
4. Don’t feel like you’re going to be attacked by ketchup bottles like Alewife
5. Don’t feel commercialized like Harvard Sq
6. Don’t feel dirty and be begged at like Central Sq
7. Don’t feel nerdy and boring like Kendall Sq
8. I love Inman Sq (esp Jessika’s and Christina’s Ice Cream) but not T accessible :(

I grew up in porter square and while it’s irrefutable to say it’s a lot nicer than it was in 1992, it’s lost what it used to have. When I walk down my old street there are condos that used to be an auto body, condos where there used to be mike’s gym, condos across the tracks where there used to be a factory.
The end of rent control killed it. Now, much like in practically every other part of metro Boston, the «working-​class» vibe that it’s supposed to have is a bunch of BS… the people that work @ qodoba or newtowne pizza could NEVER afford to live around there– it’s all a stage for neo-​yuppies and closet-​hipsters.
I miss it, but I’d never move back because it’s not the same place I grew up. Not even close.

Yi-Hwa’s review was very thorough, so I won’t rehash too many details.
I live near Porter and I looove it. All of you Porter haters can stick to Davis and Harvard and live among hipsters and pretentious people respectively. I’ll stick with Porter. Why? Because a) It has all of the things I need and love — my gym, 24 hours grocery store and dunkies for my middle of the night doughnut needs, fabulous thai food, an asian food court, and awesome bars and live music; b) Normal people live there! You walk around Porter and you see a totally normal crross-​section of city life. It’s not all 2 cool 4 school hipsters like Davis or Inman. It’s not smelly drunk people like Central. It’s not weird hippies and Haaaavahd students like Harvard. And it’s not techies and big buildings like MIT. I like a little normalcy in my life. But just a little.
And don’t forget Avon Hill, the neighborhood between Porter and Harvard. For some reason, people only seem to associate it with Harvard, but that’s BS. It’s my favorite ‘hood — great martinis at Temple Bar, cool little boutiques like Topaz and History, trivia and ‘ritas at the Forest.
Walk a little ways down Someville Ave and you get some institutions like Tacos Lupita (technically on Elm but whatever), La Ronga Bakery, and Razzy’s.
So to all the people that are like «waaaah, Porter Sq is dirty» or «waaah, there are pidgeon droppings», I don’t need you in my hood anyway:)

A great place for college students to live– it’s inexpensive, compared to the rest of Cambridge (i.e. Harvard), and arguably safer than Central Square.
Everything you need is within walking distance in the shopping center– the T station, CVS, Star Market, Blockbuster, Ace Hardware, a book store, a few restaurants, a liquor store, a dry cleaner’s. There’s a GAP and City Sports, along with many Japanese restaurants, just a block away, and for the ladies there is a Healthworks Gym (for everyone else there’s Bally’s).
Most apartments are in the form of a unit within a two-​family house. Expect to pay $ 600-​$ 800/​person for a 2+ bedroom flat here.