Best folk club
When does a club achieve the status of institution? When it's used as a landmark in giving directions ("it's two blocks up from CBGB"). When everyone knows about it, no matter what sort of scene they're into ("I dig Mahler, but sure, I've heard of the Fillmore"). When the place has been around long enough to have hosted some of the biggest names before they were big, and after. Tucked underground on an unassuming side street in Harvard Square, Club Passim certainly has arrived at institution status, which is why it trumps this category year after year. Phoenix readers know that for folk, Passim's the place. And this isn't the folk of plink-plunking banjo players with ragwools under their Tevas. Joan Baez played Passim, as did Dylan (back when it was called Club 47), Tom Waits, and Taj Mahal. Today you'll see Sarah Borges, Jake Brennan, Alastair Moock, Antje Duvekot, and Arlo Guthrie, among others. Passim has dedicated itself to the celebration of folk music for the past 40 years, with talent both as fresh and as seasoned as the ingredients at the adjoining Veggie Planet.

Club Passim, 47 Palmer Street, Cambridge, (617) 492-7679, www.clubpassim.org.