Neighborhoods

Jason McLin, a performer with Blue Man Group Boston, takes us through his perfect day in Downtown Boston.

In Boston.com’s Perfect Day series, we’re talking to a local expert in each of Boston’s 23 neighborhoods about how they’d spend their perfect day. See what makes this city so special to your neighbors, and share your perfect day with us at [email protected].

Downtown Boston is the beating heart of this city’s past and present. 

From historic sites like the Old State House and Faneuil Hall Marketplace, to contemporary landmarks such as the Financial District and brutalist City Hall, to the sprawling Boston Common and Public Garden, Downtown Boston is the nerve center of the city.

To Jason McLin, a performer with Blue Man Group Boston, the neighborhood was his “first touch point for getting to know Boston.” 

McLin officially joined the Boston cast of Blue Man Group in 2011, after starting with the performance art company in 2002. When he moved to the Boston area, McLin lived in New Hampshire and commuted to the Charles Playhouse (74 Warrenton St.) in Downtown Boston’s Theater District for work.

“Funnily enough, the downtown neighborhood was sort of the only thing I knew for many years, because I would just come into work and then go back home,” he said.

In the 13 years since, he’s developed a fondness for and routine in the neighborhood. We asked McLin for a day in his life as a Blue Man in Downtown Boston, and he shared his recommendations for tried-and-true activities, restaurants, landmarks, and more.

Here’s how he’d spend a perfect day in Downtown Boston.

Morning | Afternoon | Evening | Map | Share your perfect day in Boston

Morning: Breakfast and people-watching 

McLin’s perfect day starts bright and early, which he said isn’t exactly typical among local performers, whose evening work often means a later start to the day.

“I’ve kind of been in the wrong line of work my whole life, because I’m actually a morning person,” he said, laughing. 

He’ll spend practically all day outside exploring, punctuated by quick food or drink breaks, and visiting his “touch point,” the Public Garden.

“The day is just leisurely, kind of built around good food, and either reading or people-watching,” he said.

First things first is a coffee run. He’ll head to one of three Tatte Bakery & Cafe locations in Downtown Boston — “they’re on every single corner,” he said jokingly — for a decaf Americano and a treat. His favorite breakfast pastry is the Jerusalem bagel, but he also recommends the classic chocolate croissant.

If his family joins him for breakfast, he’ll head to one the area’s Flour Bakery + Cafe locations for gluten free breakfast treats — and maybe even a “second breakfast,” he said.

At Flour, he’ll order either the breakfast egg sandwich or their seasonal roasted sweet potato sandwich with creamy blue cheese, walnut pesto, tart apple, and mustard greens on multigrain toast.

Satisfied from his breakfast(s), he’ll head to the Public Garden for a bit of people-watching.

The Public Garden, created by amateur horticulturists in 1839, is the first public botanical garden in the United States. Its pathways are dotted with statues, fountains, luscious trees and plants, and a six-acre pond with swan boats for visitors to ride. The public green space offers visitors respite from the surrounding urban neighborhoods, such as Back Bay and Downtown Boston.

The Public Garden has been one of McLin’s favorite spots to visit in the neighborhood since he first moved to Boston in 2011. While Boston Common is closer to Downtown, McLin prefers the Public Garden because he said it feels more local and tends to be quieter. 

“I don’t really vibe with the Common very much. But the Garden? I love to sit there and read and people-watch,” he said.

Afternoon: Brattle Book Shop and musical theater

From the Public Garden, McLin will head to Brattle Book Shop, one of the country’s oldest and largest antiquarian bookstores.

The bookstore was founded in 1825 and has been in the hands of the Gloss Family since 1949. It features two floors of general used books, a third floor of rare and antiquarian books, and an outside sale lot. The bookstore has stood the test of time, and offers self-described “used book nerds” like McLin plenty of browsing material wrapped up in old-world charm. 

“It’s this remnant of a different time,” he said.

McLin will head inside the shop for the philosophy and theology sections, specifically. He completed graduate school at Boston University’s School of Theology in 2021, and is always popping in to the store to check for new reads.

McLin will then head back to the Public Garden with his tote bag (which is probably full of purchases at Brattle, he adds) to meet his family before they all head out together for musical theater at the Lyric Stage Company (140 Clarendon St.).

The Lyric Stage Company of Boston is the oldest professional theater company in Boston. Founded in 1974, the non-profit theater produces six plays and musicals each season.

As a performer and actor, McLin calls himself a “musical theater nerd” and shares this love with his family. 

“I’ve properly inculcated my children into loving musical theater,” he added with a chuckle.

Lucky for McLin and his family, Downtown Boston is home to the Theater District, which currently hosts more than a dozen theaters. In the early 1900s, the city had over 50 theaters, but toward the end of the century, developers began renovating many of the old theaters.

The Washington Street Theatre District (511-559 Washington St.) was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. At the time, the District included seven buildings on the west side of the street, including the Paramount Theater (559 Washington St.) and the Savoy Theatre, which was later restored and reopened as the Citizens Bank Opera House (539 Washington St.).

The Charles Playhouse (74 Warrenton St.) is home to the Blue Man Group, as well as Shear Madness, the country’s longest running non-musical play. Other theaters in the district include the Emerson Colonial Theatre (106 Boylston St.), the Boch Center’s Shubert (265 Tremont St.) and Wang Theatres (270 Tremont St.), the Orpheum Theatre (1 Hamilton Pl.), and Emerson’s Cutler Majestic Theatre (219 Tremont St.).

Many of these theaters were built in the flashy and grand architectural style of early 1900s performance halls. 

Evening: Dinner and a leisurely stroll

For restaurants in Downtown Boston, McLin recommends Banh Mi Huong Que (696 Washington St.), a Vietnamese restaurant open until 10 p.m. that offers “bomb” bahn mi sandwiches, and Liuyishou Hotpot Boston (702 Washington St.) just across the street.

One of McLin’s favorite restaurants to visit in years past was New Dong Khanh, located at 85 Harrison Ave. The family-owned restaurant closed in 2019 after operating for 32 years, but McLin still fondly remembers the herbaceous bún, which is the Vietnamese word for rice noodles.

“They came with a prodigious amount of mint and basil, which is what I really love,” he said.

After dinner, McLin and his family will one last leisurely stroll around Downtown Boston before heading home. 

If you’re looking to keep the evening going, he recommends heading to French Quarter (545 Washington St.), a Louisiana-inspired restaurant featuring classic Creole dishes, desserts, and cocktails.

Find all of Jason McLin’s recommended spots below.

What does a perfect day in Boston look like to you?