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Matt Murphy’s is the rarest of stateside Irish pubs. Unlike most of its Boston brethren, which rely on bar mirrors and Guinness signage to create Irish atmosphere, Murphy’s allows its hearty stews, sharp-witted publicans, rustic furnishings, and perfectly-drawn pints to do the talking.

Exuding class from every polished wooden fiber, the Copley Plaza hotel bar exists in a sumptuous Edwardian fantasy world. Refreshingly, its patrons would just as well be seen in jeans as in Galliano. Most glasses at the bar are filled with the house’s signature martini.

MIT students’ favorite watering hole boasts one of the city’s most original decorative concepts. How many bars display the day’s menu items and on-tap beers on a periodic table, serve salad dressing in a test tube, or claim Einstein as a patron saint?

The kind of place that is so unique, you want to keep it a secret. The South End’s intimate Delux Café attracts a one-of-a-kind mix of professionals, bike messengers, and gay boys and girls, all suckers for the bar’s kitschy Elvis motif, extensive on-tap beers, and perpetual broadcast of the Cartoon Network.

A favorite after-work spot for the Financial District’s young executives, the Good Life feels like the kind of place the Rat Pack would have spent many an hour in. Dim lighting, red vinyl booths, be-bop on the hi-fi, and a long cocktail menu round out the swingin’ scene.

The dinner crowd at Les Zygomates (the French term for the facial muscles that make you smile) is lured by reasonably priced French bistro fare. Come 9pm, the sleek, whimsically designed bar area comes alive with young professionals intent on flexing their smile muscles and appreciating the nightly live jazz performances.

Anchoring the Park Plaza Hotel, Whiskey Park more closely approximates the trendy Manhattan cocktail-lounge concept than any bar in Boston. The gorgeous, black-clad wait staff serves all the classics – sidecars, mai tais, cosmopolitans, et al. The bar is owned by “Mr Cindy Crawford”, nightlife mogul Rande Gerber.

The giants of jazz frequently stop at this nautical-theme lounge in Cambridge’s Charles Hotel. Drinks may not be extraordinary but the talent is; recent visitors have included McCoy Tyner, Ron Carter, and local favorite the Charlie Kolhase Quintet. Shows sell out quickly.

Serving cheap, plentiful beer to recent college grads is the BHP’s raison d’être . The delightfully incongruous location at the foot of blue-blooded Beacon Hill only adds to the bar’s gritty appeal. Should you find drinking games and vacuous conversation stultifying, there are classic video games and a shoot-out basketball machine toward the back.

Licensed to hold no more than 38 patrons, the Littlest amply deserves its distinction as Boston’s most intimate Irish pub. Located just across from the State House, it is popular with politicians and local professionals.