Salem Massachusetts insiders guide to restaurants, bars, nightlife, shopping and living for tourists and residents.

Special Events / Festivals
Clean Energy Day and Living Green & Renewable Energy Fair
Music
Friday June 13th

TBA (jazz 6:30-9:30pm) TBA ( 10pm) @ Bangkok Paradise
Catfish Lucy w/ RSVP @ Dodge Street
Los Sugar Kings (mambo-salsa dance party 9:30pm) @ Edgewater Cafe
DJ Seth (alternative, experimental, electronica 8pm) @ Gulu Gulu
Three Toad Sloth (rock 8pm) @ The Lobster Shanty
Soul Baby (R&B, Funk, Soul) @ The Lyceum
Traditional Irish Music (6-9pm) DJ Lost Daze (dance, pop, hip-hop 10pm) @ O’Neill’s
Brian Maes Band (dance, rock, pop, 80’s) @ Rockafellas
Matt Tentindo (singer / guitar) @ Spirit’s at 300 Derby
Groove Therapy @ (8-11:30pm) Strombergs

Saturday June 14th

TBA [...] Continue Reading…

Clean Energy Day and Living Green & Renewable Energy Fair
Saturday, June 14, 2008
10 am - 3 pm
Old Town Hall / Cinema Salem / The Gathering

This Saturday Salem will be hosting it’s first official “Clean Energy Day” in conjunction with the Living Green & Renewable Energy Fair.

Everyone is talking “Green” these days and while I’m no tree-hugger if I can save a buck here and there while doing something environmentally friendly I’m all for it. The Old Town Hall will have vendors and booths set up to inform you about renewable energy, transportation, building and remodeling, lawn and garden, [...] Continue Reading…

Salem is pretty picturesque.

© Snowriderguy
I was out and about this past weekend and took a few photos (which will be on our flickr page shortly) and it got me thinking.  Everybody who lives in or comes to Salem takes pictures here.  There’s probably a million pictures of the Friendship, Roger Contant statue, Witch Museum and the Old Burying Ground.  And that’s cool, those are the reasons many people come to  visit the Witch City.  But Salem Insiders know that  there is a lot more to Salem than just those things.

So this weekend I will announce a photo contest open [...] Continue Reading…

Salem has a diverse mix of like-minded people and is abundant with societies, social clubs, groups and organizations. Now we can add one more to the mix, the Build Guild a collection of interweb workers.

From their site:
Created by two Salem web geeks, Marc Amos & Angelo Simeoni, the Build Guild is a monthly event (Starting in July 2008, and occurring every 2nd Tuesday of the month) where folks in the web industry—designers, coders, project managers, hobbyists, etc.—can get together to talk web, debate industry topics, share ideas, make professional connections, land gigs, and discuss the real reasons why [...] Continue Reading…

Special Events / Festivals
zippo zilch nada

Music
Friday May 30th

TBA (jazz 6:30-9:30pm) TBA (funk, r&b 10pm) @ Bangkok Paradise
Dodgefest Weekend @ Dodge Street
Los Sugar Kings (mambo-salsa dance party 9:30pm) @ Edgewater Cafe
RSVP (alternative, experimental, electronica 8pm) @ Gulu Gulu
TBA ( 8pm) @ The Lobster Shanty
Blues Band (blues 9pm) @ Lyceum
Traditional Irish Music (6-9pm) DJ Lost Daze (dance, pop, hip-hop 10pm) @ O’Neill’s
Big Time (dance, rock, pop, 80’s) @ Rockafellas
Matt Tentindo (singer / guitar) @ Spirit’s at 300 Derby
Elephant House @ (8-11:30pm) Strombergs

Saturday May 31st

TBA (jazz 6:30-9:30pm) TBA( world 10pm) @ Bangkok Paradise
Dodgefest Weekend @ Dodge Street
DJ Zati (10pm) [...] Continue Reading…

Thai Place
2 E India Square Mall
978.741.8008

It might not have the most visible profile but Salem Insiders know the Thai Place inside the Museum Place Mall serves up a tasty dish.

Luckily you don’t have to go deep into the mall to find this ethnic cuisine delight, just enter on the Church Street side by Cinema Salem.
Touting themselves as the first Thai Restaurant on the North Shore, Thai Place Restaurant has been open since 1990. They have made an effort to try and bring an Asian feel to the atmosphere through the art work displayed and the ever present fresh [...] Continue Reading…

There was an unsubstantiated rumor going around this weekend that Salem Common was going to be the host to of a group of Classic Cadillacs. Being an antique automobile enthusiast myself, I rolled out of bed, grabbed some coffee and made my way to the Common by 9am to investigate the rumor.

Thankfully the weather was spectacular so I sat under a tree watching the joggers circle around the park and took in life so early on a Sunday morning. A total of six classic cars showed up and of them the only Cadillacs were a 1932 La [...] Continue Reading…

Special Events / Festivals
Salem State Alumni weekend

Music
Friday May 30th

Suzanne Perel (jazz 6:30-9:30pm) Nikki Mitchell & The Fuzzy Bunch (funk, r&b 10pm) @ Bangkok Paradise
Sweetfist (rock) @ Dodge Street
Los Sugar Kings (mambo-salsa dance party 9:30pm) @ Edgewater Cafe
Alice Austin (indie,alternative, rock 8pm) @ Gulu Gulu
Dave Retro (classic rock 8pm) @ The Lobster Shanty
TBA ( 9pm) @ Lyceum
Traditional Irish Music (6-9pm) DJ Lost Daze (dance, pop, hip-hop 10pm) @ O’Neill’s
The Hangovers (dance, rock, pop, 80’s) @ Rockafellas
Matt Tentindo (singer / guitar) @ Spirit’s at 300 Derby
Chelsea City Council @ (8-11:30pm) Strombergs (new venue listing)

Saturday May 31st

Wendee Glick (jazz [...] Continue Reading…

We get emails every day about great events, shops, restaurants and shows in Salem. Keep sending them and we’ll keep posting them. The other day Chris O’Brien dropped us a line regarding an upcoming exhibit at Artists Row (where the Shanty is).

The Salem Arts Association Gallery kicks off its 2008 season at Artists Row with Salem Sketches: Studies from the Derby Square Kiosk Public Art Project. The exhibit runs from June 5 through June 29 at 24 New Derby Street, with an Opening Reception on June 14 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The exhibit highlights studies [...] Continue Reading…

Ristorante Gioia
140 Washington Street
978.744.7333

How can a fairly decent sized Italian restaurant be hidden away in down town Salem? By putting their entrance on a desolate side street.

Open for dinner Tuesday through Sunday I occasionally see people in Ristorante Gioia but its always empty when I go in. I felt like I was in a before segment of Chef Ramsays Kitchen Nightmares all alone in a restaurant on a Friday night.

We were greeted and seated in a nice table by the window so we could watch the people walk by as they started their night out. The [...] Continue Reading…