The room is spacious and the decor handsome. Five huge global fixtures hang from the ceiling along with retro-looking fans. There’s a 46-foot marble bar. The booth partitions are topped with urn-shaped lamps, fitted with bright red shades. Eastern Standard’s night menu is, well, not exactly standard. Sure they make a terrific sirloin burger and frites, but what’s truly impressive is their raw bar. Any given night they’ll have at least four different oysters to choose from, along with shrimp cocktail and cherrystones. Their cod fritters will melt in your mouth. Also recommended are the mussels in white wine, tomato and fennel sauce, roast beet salad with blue cheese, and steak tartare. Great martini. Officially, they serve their substantial late night menu until midnight Sunday-Thursday and 1 Friday and Saturday. But you can likely persuade them to cook you up something a bit later, too. "We can do food at almost any hour," says Harker.

Take in a play at Calderwood Pavilion and right next door is the Beehive. The South End restaurant with two levels and free live late-night music has indeed generated a buzz in its first year. The aim, manager Bertile Jean-Chronberg says, was to recreate "Paris in the ‘20s, bohemian, artistic." The late-night diner – they serve ‘til 1 every night - gets the full (and ever-changing) menu. Suggestions: the broiled scallops with lemon and Parmesan couscous and the paella with sausage, chicken and shellfish. And an amazing grilled cheese sandwich with tomato, farmhouse cheddar and fontina. Patrons tend to be over 30, appreciative of the jazz or world music featured – but not blasted at you. (A lot of Berklee College of Music profs play there.) The atmosphere is richly textured with multiple hanging chandeliers, eclectic art, exposed brick walls and a stage swathed in velvet and ruffled curtain. "People can come here many times and have a different experience," says co-owner Daryl Settles. What they wanted, added co-owner Jack Brody, was "to create a place that’s a haven. It’s worked out and it’s real diverse in terms of age and income level." An outdoor patio – where you can order a "picnic basket" of food – should be up and running as you read this.

If pasta is your craving – and you fancy chic white walls, black-framed images of the cosmos, and a substantial late-night menu – Stella is your spot. The restaurant, named after owner and chef Evan Deluty’s daughter, is a sleek testament to contemporary Italian design. Of course, it’s not all pasta. They offer superb seafood and meat dishes, and serve up a late-night burger not on the regular menu. There’s a main dining room and two smaller others, plus a patio that serves food until midnight. Indoors, you can be fed through 1:30 every night/ I had the Orechiette with chile flakes, sausage and cured tomato. Savored every bite. My wife had honey glazed salmon, and found it delicious. Deluty says "the whole aura is approachability – there’s something for everybody. Bottom line, I embrace the neighborhood and I love and take care of the neighborhood."

Gaslight Brasserie du Coin in the South End opened last August, and it’s a romantic, low-lit, subway-tiled restaurant in the South End that serves six of its main entrees (braised beef ragout, sandwich Cubano, steak frites, etc.) until 1:30 every night. At some point, the music switches from a soft Parisian sound to more upbeat Euro, and the staff draws a curtain to partition the restaurant – making the bar/dining area seem more intimate. Eat at the bar. It’s a $40,000 sculpted piece of pure zinc imported from Paris and it is elegant. Tip: It’s not on the menu, but order a "Parisian street burger" and you’ll get top quality steak with a delicious musturd violette and frites. It’s packaged like the burger you might get in Paris, wrapped in a paper cone. Bonus: Free parking in the large lot adjacent to the restaurant.

Not far from Gaslight is the 13-year-old Franklin Café – a small, narrow spot other restaurateurs credit for pioneering late-night dining. They serve the full menu ‘til 1:30 every night. It is also the darkest restaurant I’ve ever been in. There’s just a small candle on each of the nine tables and dim globe lights hang over the bar. Waiter Alexander Albregts admits he carries a small flashlight in his pocket to help those in need of menu reading. It can also be rather loud – the employees pick the music and it could be the Velvet Underground or it could be Eurodisco. It’s a festive atmosphere, ideal for people who don’t want the party to stop early and want it to include great food. "It’s fine dining in a relaxed, but social, atmosphere," says manager Nick Suk. As it seats just 72 (bar and tables together), you may find yourself in a late night line. It’s worth the wait. The turkey breast and salmon were fabulous.

Pho Republique, at 11-years-old, is still going strong. Like the Franklin Café, it was one of the South End pioneers in late night cuisine. The high ceilings, exotic lamps and stenciled walls give it a comfortable, but funky, vibe. The seaweed salad is out of this world, and high marks go to the Big Bowl of Delicious Pho … whatever – choices of chicken, beef, shrimp or tofu. We ran into Amanda Palmer, singer-pianist of the Dresden Dolls, on our visit. She lives nearby and said she dines there often. "The décor is completely un-Boston," she said, "which is to say it’s actually dark." (Note: not as dark as the Franklin.) "It’s a perfect combination of being authentically hip without trying too hard. When I want to eat or drink late, this is where I come." Said manager Jodi Barraso: "It’s relaxed, it’s chill. People come for the laid back atmosphere." They serve the full menu until 12:30 Wednesday – Saturday, and a limited menu until 12 on the other nights.

Heading into Chinatown – where many restaurants are open past 2 – we stopped at Chau Chow City. It’s one of two Chau Chows in Chinatown, the other being Grand Chau Chow. We picked the larger one, The menu is identical – "same recipes, same ingredients," says owner Danny Luu - except City has dim sum – highly praised dim sum at that - and Grand does not. They’re not selling atmosphere, really. It’s a bright, two-level spot with red-and-green neon lit archways. However, the food rules. The chicken curry was tasty, as was the crispy beef. The veggie lo mein was light and yummy. They’re open ‘til 3 a.m. Sunday-Thursday and 4 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. As you’d expect, very busy after the clubs close on the weekend. Our meal came in $45, one of the cheaper eats. And there’s free parking after 6 p.m. in the next door lot.

Heading across town, we stop at a place very few wanted to stop in the past. That’s because it was the Charles Street Jail. What’s there now? The Liberty Hotel, which includes the Alibi Lounge. Naturally, it sports a jailhouse motif. Alibi has a pizza menu ‘til 1 a.m. (The pizzas are imported from Harvard Gardens – they’re great. Alibi intends to start importing food from Scampo, run by Lydia Shire, this summer.) The décor is redbrick and iron-bars – literally, the jail cells that used to be the drunk tank. (I guess it still could be a "drunk tank," depending….) The lounge area is lined with tan leather banquettes. On the walls are pictures of mug shots of "criminals" like Hugh Grant, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Larry King and Mel Gibson – with annotated fake alibis. There also custom cocktails, like "Dirty Harry" and "Divine Brown. Enjoy the chic irony, and try not to think of the ghosts that must haunt the place.

Finally, into Harvard Square in Cambridge and Charlie’s Kitchen – or, arlie’s Kitchen as it currently reads on the neon sign. At more than 50 years old, it’s a mainstay of Harvard Square. It’s just about the only spot that hasn’t changed in the 30 years we’ve been in the environs. You’ll be surrounded by red, white and black tiles on the walls, 13 tacky tiffany lamps overhead, mirrors everywhere, and an L-shaped bar along with the booths and tables. The closest thing to a diner without being a diner. Also, Charlie’s has an upstairs component with different entertainment each night – punk rock on the Monday we went. The two levels each seat 80+, with upstairs being funkier, down (slightly) quieter. The famous double cheeseburger special has been advertised in the window for years, and it’s that burger I once again bit into. Hasn’t lost a thing. My wife went for the black bean veggie burger and enjoyed it, too. On the way out, say goodbye to the lobsters in the tank near the door. Charlie’s serves lobster? Yes, it does. They’ll serve you ‘til 12:45 Sunday-Wednesday and 1:45 Thursday-Saturday.

Eastern Standard, 528 Commonwealth Ave. Boston, 617-532-9100

Beehive, 541 Tremont St., Boston, 617-423-0069

Stella, 1525 Washington St., Boston, 617-247-7747

Gaslight, 560 Harrison Ave., Boston, 617-422-0224

Franklin Café, 278 Shawmut Ave., Boston, 617-350-0010

Pho Republique, 1415 Washington St., Boston, 617-262-0005

Chau Chow City, 81 Essex St., Boston, 617-338-8158

Alibi, 215 Charles St., Boston, 857-241-1144

Charlie’s Kitchen, 10 Eliot St., Cambridge, 617-492-9646