Unsurprisingly with a name like Paddy’s Lunch and a Cambridge location, there’s a shamrock here and a splash of green there, and while that’s definitely the overarching theme, the vibe inside isn’t faux Irish bar but rather authentic neighborhood haunt, the kind of place that attracts generation after generation of locals and regulars. The bar’s social accounts and reviews echo that point, a long string of images devoted to customers that have been making Paddy’s Lunch a part of their neighborhood routine for 5, 10, 20 years.
Outside, the exterior of the building melts into the neighborhood around it, the same siding outside seen on countless nearby homes. Paddy’s Lunch is a short, square building set close to the sidewalk with a quintessential dive bar sign out front and a pair of front doors to make a first time visit just the right amount of confusing. “Paddy’s” and a green shamrock adorn the sign, the number 34 in the heart of the shamrock to mark the opening year of the bar. A pair of windows let in a bit of light, the smaller of the two illuminating the Boston dive bar’s main room.
There are dive bars that feel deceptively large once you walk inside. Paddy’s Lunch is not one of them, a footprint very much in keeping with the modest exterior look of the building. The front room could easily be a vintage living room retrofitted circa 1934 to host a short bar along one wall instead of a recliner and couch. The bar is only a handful of stools long, a classic construction with the arched top behind the bar over a mirrored assortment of liquor bottles. Local police patches dot the wood above the mirror, sitting just below a pair of framed family photos.