Harvard Square

Matthew Curtis and Chris Lutes - the duo behind Miracle of Science, Audubon Circle, Cambridge 1, and Middlesex Lounge - have mastered the art of the upscale-casual restaurant-hangout. Their new place, Tory Row, proves that every good formula eventually becomes formulaic. Though it shares the pleasingly pared-back aesthetic of the others - chem-lab counters, shiny wood walls - it doesn't have their sense of purpose. With Cambridge 1, you get the sense Curtis and Lutes said, "Wouldn't it be cool to open a place serving great thin-crust pizza?"

HOW WE ARRIVED AT THESE CHOICES In April we surveyed members of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors and other real estate agents. We asked them to identify the top streets in Greater Boston based on a number of criteria, such as curb appeal and proximity to amenities (from parks and playgrounds to schools and restaurants). METRO → BEECH ROAD, Brookline At less than two-10ths of a mile long, Beech Road is one of the shortest streets on our list.

HOW WE ARRIVED AT THESE CHOICES In April we surveyed members of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors and other real estate agents. We asked them to identify the top streets in Greater Boston based on a number of criteria, such as curb appeal and proximity to amenities (from parks and playgrounds to schools and restaurants). METRO → BEECH ROAD, Brookline At less than two-10ths of a mile long, Beech Road is one of the shortest streets on our list.

Patch NYC is taking 20 percent off jewelry and scarves from its own line today through Sunday. Finds include intricately crafted earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and rings and stylish, mixed-pattern scarves. Shop the sale in-store at the Courtyard at 46 Waltham St. (corner of Washington St.), Boston, 917-292-2640, or online at www.patchnyc.com. SAVINGS ALONG MASS. AVE. Stores along Massachusetts Avenue between Porter Square and Harvard Square will host sidewalk sales on Saturday with clothes, shoes, home accessories, gift items, and more.

‘Here Lived Stephen Daye First Printer in British America," says a plaque on the wall. The restaurant's logo is a line drawing of a printing press. For decoration, there are vintage type trays and framed newspaper pages. Harvard Square restaurant First Printer, in the former Herrell's Ice Cream space, has a theme. Yet the menu itself pays little attention to typeface, dishes described in a meat-and-potatoes font under headings such as "advance copy," "first edition," "second run," "chef's edition," and "footnotes.

Retired Celtic Shaquille O'Neal (above, in ridiculous T-shirt) brought his significant other, Nikki "Hoopz" Alexander , to his signing at the Harvard Book Store Saturday afternoon. He has written a memoir, "Shaq Uncut: My Story. " … While Shaq was in Harvard Square, his former teammate, Paul Pierce (left), was getting fit with kids, including Janiya Crayton , 6, of Cambridge, atThe Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center in Dorchester. The Saturday exercise event kicked off the Million Hour Challenge, which aims to get local children to...

Another bookstore down, and very few to go — it looks like Curious George & Friends is going to join the Borders in Downtown Crossing and other area landmarks in shuttering its doors. The owners of Curious George, founded in 1995 in the heart of Harvard Square, seem to have failed in their last-ditch efforts to get $200,000 in donations, the only way it could remain in business. Done in by rising real-estate and health care costs — not to mention the difficulties of selling books in the Amazon era — Curious George is only one in...

Santa Claus will visit the Charles Hotel this evening for the lighting of the Harvard Square holiday trees. The event will begin at 4 p.m. when families are invited to help decorate the holiday trees at the Charles Hotel at 1 Bennett St. The Boston Boys Choir will perform beginning shortly after 4 p.m. and the Santa Claus' Jazz Band will play from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Santa will visit in time to light the holiday trees at 5:30 p.m. ...

After closing its doors at three stores earlier this year, Bob Slate Stationer has re-opened in Harvard Square under a new owner. Photo by Brock Parker. By Brock Parker, Town Correspondent New Bob Slate Stationer owner Laura Donohue said she tried to hold a "soft opening" for her store on Brattle Street in Harvard Square this month. But before Donohue even had her shelves stocked, her credit card machines working and the final ok from city inspectors to open for business, customers were already lined up outside her door on...

(Photo by Rob Brown) A one-man band entertains onlookers in Harvard Square.

‘Here Lived Stephen Daye First Printer in British America," says a plaque on the wall. The restaurant's logo is a line drawing of a printing press. For decoration, there are vintage type trays and framed newspaper pages. Harvard Square restaurant First Printer, in the former Herrell's Ice Cream space, has a theme. Yet the menu itself pays little attention to typeface, dishes described in a meat-and-potatoes font under headings such as "advance copy," "first edition," "second run," "chef's edition," and "footnotes.

CAMBRIDGE - In the famously liberal city of Cambridge, there has been but one place for the past several years to legally buy a gun or a rifle, while also picking through wading boots or canoes, all under the gaze of a giant moose head peering down from the wall. But now change has come to Porter Square, and Roach's Sporting Goods is about to close its doors after 108 years in business. The family-owned shop at 1957 Massachusetts Ave. is the last store to sell firearms in Cambridge.

A new Panera Bread will open in Harvard Square Friday, April 13. Photo courtesy of Panera Bread. By Brock Parker, Town Correspondent Panera Bread will open a two-story restaurant in Harvard Square Friday at the former location of Bob Slate Stationer. The Missouri-based chain is hoping the new restaurant in Cambridge at 1288 Massachusetts Ave. will be one of its top two or three locations in the Boston area, said Gregg Godfrey, the joint venture area director for Panera.

PICK OF THE DAY Go organic Sarah Meyer Brent, Jodi Colella, and Bo Petran celebrate the beauty and ugliness of organic processes, or the growth and decay of the natural world. The local artists use plaster, paint, cement, fiber, and iron dust to make their point at "Gooey, Gobby, Gummy. " 1-6 p.m. (through April 15). Free. Gallery 263, 263 Pearl St., Cambridge. www.gallery263.com FRIDAY Into the chamber Step right up and see the world's longest-playing cylinder-driven music box, one of the instruments in the capable hands of Cordis.

By Brock Parker, Town Correspondent The Harlem Globetrotters will try to school students from Harvard University in a half-hour game of basketball on the streets of Harvard Square Monday. The Globetrotters , who are in town for a doubleheader of games Saturday at TD Garden, have accepted a challenge to play the Harvard Lampoon on a specially constructed court on Bow Street next to the Lampoon Castle at 5 p.m. Monday, according to a press release from the Globetrotters today.

Martin Sexton still remembers the exact evolution of venues he has played around here. It goes like this: subway stations, Christopher's in Porter Square, Club Passim in Harvard Square, Johnny D's in Davis Square. In Boston, he went on to the Paradise Rock Club, Orpheum Theatre, and finally Avalon (now the House of Blues). "That area is where I was born as a singer and songwriter," Sexton says. "I remember being very inspired walking through Harvard Square on a July night and thinking, ‘Hey, I could do this.' " And he did for...

A two-story Panera Bread restaurant will soon move into the former space of Bob Slate Stationer in Harvard Square. Photo by Brock Parker By Brock Parker, Town Correspondent Panera Bread is planning to open a two-story restaurant in Harvard Square by the end of the year at the former location of Bob Slate Stationer. The 125-seat restaurant is expected to open in December at the former Bob Slate Stationer store at 1288 Massachusetts Ave., and additional seating will be located on the second floor in what is now vacant office space.

By Brock Parker, Town Correspondent What started earlier this week as a plan by a few Harvard students to hold a demonstration about the fatal shooting of Florida teen Trayvon Martin turned into a large protest drawing more than 200 people to Harvard Square Thursday night. The crowd that assembled in the area known as "The Pit" in the square chanted "We are Trayvon Martin, I am Trayvon Martin," in an effort to raise local awareness about the death of the unarmed teen last month.

 THE GREAT AMERICAN PARTY Laura Ladd and Erin Maloney of Charlestown and Mark Adams of Boston attended this 10th annual Daytona-themed benefit. Faneuil Hall Marketplace / February 26   FEAST OF MUSIC Albert and Susan Comeau of Boston at a benefit for the New England Conservatory of Music. Fairmont Copley Plaza / February 25 MEN WILL BE MEN Derrick DeLuties of Lynnfield and Caleb Hutchings of Boston at a "Boys Night Out. " Back Bay Social Club / February 28 TAKING IT OFF Community Servings' Tim Leahy and...