If watching Maycott move makes you hungry, head downstairs into the Harvard Square T stop — no Charlie card necessary — and look for the fruit-stamped signs that read “Smoothie” or “Pina Colada.” You’ll spot the stand from the escalators with its stacks of fresh produce. Try their avocado smoothie. It’s carved fresh from the fruit and blended with milk and honey. Or combine cantaloupes, pineapples, and strawberries for a true “power juice.” If it grows, they will blend it… and for less than a cool five bucks.
New England Nut Roasters: These nuts taste better than they look — and they smell better than they taste. Roasters tell us they don’t use oil, instead cooking their cashews ($3), almonds ($3), and peanuts ($1.75) in a sweet mix of cardamom, sugar, and water —and serve them up in small wax baggies. But since the nuts aren’t roasted on the spot, we recommend getting there early. Our almonds were wrenched, rather than scooped from the plastic bin, and though at least a few hours old, they were still sweet enough to warrant the price. You can find them year-round on the corner of Winter and Washington Streets; other locations include State and Devonshire.
Art Forém Clothing: I can’t write about vendors without stopping at Faneuil Hall, where street performer Rami Salami — with a face painted like a clown — tries to tempt me with a free tangle of colorful balloons, before marching-off towards Government Center. Through the din of the pushcarts, one stands out — the Boston T-shirts glittering with rhinestone city-capes on the Art Forém cart actually aren’t that gaudy. And owner Marsha, who designs everything herself, isn’t your typical disinterested vendor: she asks me to ask about her stuff. Her wares include pale pink children’s dresses ($14) and bright red lobster hats ($6, $10), under clusters of musical horses ($12). If that’s not enough for the kid in you, devil-style hats have whales instead of horns. Marsha also sells (for $3!) up to one hundred eighty types of rubber ducks. And rubber cats. And rubber cows. You’ll find her near the Cheers Bar between Quincy and South Markets, where she’s been selling from April to October for eight years.
Dave & Jerry’s Italian Ices:Yeah, the name is cheesy and you might be wondering why you should hand over $3, $4, or $5 for a cup full of lemon, watermelon, or rainbow slush when you can walk across Copley for a scoop of premium ice cream with hot fudge. Because it’s “real good,” and that’s according to the guys who man the carts ― guys related to or pals with Dave and Jerry. “It’s a real family,” says Josh Stempler, who wears Boston pride on his hat and on his shirt, and is probably the first guy I’ve seen sporting a pony-tailed beard. He’s been selling ices on and off for the past two years, when he isn’t managing apartment buildings, working in haunted houses, organizing the racks at Newbury Comics, or jamming with his band. He’s in it for the sun and the customers and the camaraderie. “[Other vendors] give us a hot dog if we give them ices." Dave and Jerry have three locations throughout the city ― Copley Square, Charles Street, and State Street ― and sell on sunny days from May through September.
