Mike Ball puts his liver on the line, so you don't have to, as he and a friend sample some of Jamaica Plain's bars that aren't named Doyle's. They started with the Drinking Fountain and continued on through Griffin's and J.J. Foley's Fireside, all within an easy stagger of the Forest Hills T stop.

None calls out or even whispers, "Enter, yuppies!" Of course, that's a major point, eh? From external, and as we found, internal, appearance, this are purposeful potable places. Drinkers welcome.