Charlie's Kitchen Named an Esquire Best Bar

Esquire has named Charlie's Kitchen, a favorite Bostonist hangout, one of the Best Bars in America, describing Charlie's as "your father's bar," and not "so Cambridge that it's fixated on legacy." Bostonist likes any excuse to hang out at Charlie's, so we went over there last night to make sure the bar's ambiance hadn't changed since the last time we were there... about three days ago. Charlie's is still the same neon-lit, cheeseburger-filled haven it is every time we visit; several draft beers, a cheeseburger, a lobster roll, a bowl of clam chowder, oodles of fries, and some buffalo cheese stick things (ultimately judged not quite right) later, we concluded: Charlie's is our mecca.

Other Esquire Best Bars in the area include No. 9 Park and Eastern Standard in Boston, plus Doyle's in JP and the "improbable" B-Side Lounge in Kendall Square. What do you think of these choices, Bostonist readers? Do all these bars belong here? What local bars did Esquire leave off the list?