Photo: Chaiel Schaffel/WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — A Hannukah themed pop-up bar in Boston is shining a light on the holiday that is very often overshadowed by Christmas.
Maccabee Bar’s award-winning bartender Naomi Levy created this pop-up back in 2018 after seeing numerous Christmas pop-up bars and feeling left out.
“Maybe none of us really get over the trauma of not getting to sit on Santa's lap, you know?” Levy said. “I thought to myself, what if we just made Hannukah the whole thing and really made it be seen and feel like something special?”
The pop-up is located at the bar Noir in Harvard Square, with another location in New York.
The entire place was decorated blue and gold, with menorahs and dreidels placed all over.
Maccabee’s cocktail menu leaned into the Jewish holiday theme, with drinks such as Hey Judith, Hebrew Hammer, and Latke Sour.
Speaking of latkes, the bar serves those too, but not the typical potato kind – these have cheese in them.
“The original latke was cheese,” Naomi said. “In ancient, ancient times that's what they had, they had a lot of dairy.”
Read More: Boston's Puppet Library To Walk In First Night Parade
Levy said she was surprised with Maccabee’s success when it first opened up.
“Nobody cared that they were waiting 30 minutes for a drink, they were just so psyched that this thing existed!” she said.
All in all, Levy was happy to give fellow Jews people a space to celebrate Hannukah in a sea of Christmas festivities.
“Why not get to feel seen this time of the year, when you know you've heard Mariah Carey belted out the 17th time today?” Naomi said.
WBZ NewsRadio’s Chaiel Schaffel (@CSchaffelWBZ) reports.
Follow WBZ NewsRadio: Facebook | Twitter | Bluesky | Instagram | iHeartmedia App | TikTok