happy hour tour cambridge

The 15 Best Places with a Happy Hour in Cambridge

1.  Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ

2.  Catalyst Restaurant

3.  Russell House Tavern

4.  Kimpton Marlowe Hotel

5.  The Cheesecake Factory

6.  Sumiao Hunan Kitchen

7.  Atwood’s Tavern

8.  The Phoenix Landing

9.  Oberon

10.  Area Four

11.  Beat Brasserie

12.  Viale

13.  Lizard Lounge

14.  Alden & Harlow

15.  Grafton Street Pub

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JaackMaate’s Happy Hour Podcast is back on the road with a yet another stage show nobody asked for. If you thought The Round Sheep Tour was questionable, wait for what critics are calling “the tricky second tour”.

Join Jack, Stevie, Robbie & Alfie as they head out on a magical quest that makes Lord of the Rings look like an uneventful trip to an industrial estate.

Marvel at incredible special effects, unbelievable costumes and an insanely creative plot as the boys embark on Happy Hour’s Big Fat Massive Hunt*.

(*the incredibleness of the special effects, unbelievability of the costumes and insane creativity of the plot are subject to personal perspective and do not constitute a legally binding contract)

2024 UK TOUR

The queen’s hall, tyne theatre & opera house, limited availability, city varieties music hall, new theatre, octagon centre, theatre royal, bury st edmunds, corn exchange, o2 shepherd’s bush empire.

City Guides

Oct 23, 2017

Restaurants and Bars in Cambridge, MA

For decades throughout the United States, the “happy hour” has given people something to look forward to after work. In Massachusetts, however, happy hours have taken on a slightly different meaning since being banned in 1984. Restaurants and bars are not allowed to offer discounted alcoholic beverages, but they can offer food specials. Massachusetts happy hours, therefore, feature regular-priced drinks and cheap, abundant eats—not a bad compromise.

If you find yourself right outside of Boston, take advantage of these 7 great happy hour specials in Cambridge after a hard day’s work.

1. Ginger Exchange

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ginger Exchange (@gingerexchange) on Jan 31, 2018 at 2:56pm PST

1287 Cambridge Street Cambridge, MA 02139

Happy Hour: Monday through Friday, 5pm – 7pm / Daily, 10pm to close

2. Grendel’s Den Restaurant & Bar

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Grendel’s Den Restaurant & Bar (@grendels_den) on Feb 5, 2017 at 9:19am PST

89 Winthrop Street Cambridge, MA 02138

Happy Hour: Daily, 5:00pm – 7:30pm

View this post on Instagram A post shared by ArtBar Cambridge (@artbarcambridge) on Aug 17, 2018 at 9:45am PDT

40 Edwin H. Land Boulevard Cambridge, MA 02142

Happy Hour: Monday through Friday, 5pm – 6pm

4. Restaurant Dante

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Restaurant Dante (@restaurant_dante) on May 17, 2019 at 3:03pm PDT

Happy Hour: Daily, 2:30pm – 6pm

5. The Phoenix Landing

View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Phoenix Landing (@phoenixlanding_) on Feb 25, 2019 at 9:28am PST

512 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02139

Happy Hour: Daily, 5pm – 7pm

6. The Asgard Irish Pub & Restaurant

View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Asgard (@asgardcambridge) on Oct 4, 2018 at 1:20pm PDT

350 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02139

Happy Hour: Mondays, 5pm – close

7. Midwest Grill

Midwest Grill is a rodízio-style Brazilian steakhouse in Cambridge, where diners help themselves to a hot food buffet and cold salad stations. You can go all out and opt for the churrasco a rodízio , with a plethora of tender grilled meats and Brazilian side dishes, or get their version of a happy hour special: 20-cent chicken wings with an order of an alcoholic beverage at the bar. Spacious accommodations, friendly, attentive staff and a unique dining experience make for an unforgettable time.

1124 Cambridge Street Cambridge, MA 02139

Happy Hour: Opening hours with any purchase of an alcoholic beverage

Planning to Explore Beyond Cambridge, MA?

If you’re in Cambridge for work or leisure, be sure to visit Boston. On top of being a city rich in culture and American history, it’s a fantastic food destination. Read our list of the top must-eat foods in Boston so you don’t miss out on what the city has to offer.

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JaackMaate: Happy Hour Live

Buy Tickets

Tickets are not on sale for this event yet.

Happy Hour Live - The Round Sheep Tour  is the first (and possibly last depending on how it goes) tour from the smash hit Spotify podcast  JaackMaate’s Happy Hour . Presented by JaackMaate, Stevie White and Robbie Knox,  Happy Hour  is the most popular British podcast on Spotify and regularly tops the most listened to charts.

There will be a chance for the audience to confess their sins, as well as a Q&A so you can finally get an answer to your burning question from the  Happy Hour  gang.

Get your tickets now so Stevie doesn’t have to beg for his old job back flogging glasses to pensioners.

1st half 19:30 - 20:20

2nd half 20:45 - 21:40

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Oyster Happy Hour! Fantastic - The Red House Restaurant

• United States    
• Massachusetts (MA)    
• Cambridge    
• Cambridge Restaurants    

“Oyster Happy Hour! Fantastic” Review of The Red House Restaurant

We are happy we took an accidental turn into Winthrop Street and saw their sign for oyster happy hour outside! 50 Cent each! We went inside and received a warm welcome from the waiter who immediately assigned us a table for two. We ordered 30 oysters and the grilled octopus. The oysters were very decent size for that price! We’ve been to other Happy Hour places before, where you would only receive very small ones for $.50. The grilled octopus was really high-quality and tasted delicious. Great and friendly service overall. Would always go there again I also recommend.

• Excellent 160
• Very good 153
• Terrible 13
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• English  (352)
• Spanish  (10)
• French  (5)
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• English (352)
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22 - 26 of 381 reviews

The food was delicious and the service prompt and attentive. We had yummy oysters for a start, followed by more seafood. The lobster carbonara was sooo tasty. They had the fireplace going and the atmosphere was warm and friendly. I definitely plan to go back. I can see why it is a favorite of my son’s and his girl.

Our party of 6 LOVED this restaurant. It's "cozy elegant" and the menu is extraordinary. We focused on their wondrous, everyone enjoyed their choices and my lobster dish with pasta was out of this world delicious. We experienced great service and will be back again next year when we come again to the Head of the Charles Regatta.

We got to Cambridge on a Sunday and immediately started walking around looking for a place to eat. We found this gem and we’re so happy to discover it. There were four of us and we all agreed it was top notch. The mushroom ravioli, turnip soup, lobster chowder and black bean bowl were all excellent.

Very good oyster deal (6 for $3 then $1 each) everyday starting noon. Wine by the glass is expensive ($12). Small and charming terrace.

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Happy hours at ZuZu!

5:00pm - 7:00pm: 20% off tapas

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The Piano Works

PARTY & DINE

PICK YOUR PARTY. LIVE MUSIC LED DRINKS? DINNER? BRUNCH? ALL OF THE ABOVE?

Big birthday, bestie getting wed, uni reunion? Or maybe you just fancy a night of good food and great tunes? Whatever the celebration, spend your evening with us. 

From delicious dinners to decadent drinks, all with non-stop live music, we’ve got a party package to suit you. Check out all of the options below!

And if you can’t find one that’s the perfect fit? Give our party planners a call and they’ll come up with a night that’s perfect for you and your crew. 

• ALL PACKAGES

PRE-THEATRE

Weekday dinner party, tuesday - thursday, a la carte dining.

ANYTIME BEFORE 9.30 PM

Early Doors Dinner

Tuesday-friday, brunch to the beat, saturday & bank holiday sundays, £55 pp 2 courses + bottomless bevvies, £35 pp 2 courses only, (4 person minimum), 11.30am-4.30pm.

KEEP YOUR TABLE FOR 2 HOURS TWO COURSES WITH AN OPTIONAL 2 HOURS OF BOTTOMLESS DRINKS (PROSECCO, BEER AND SELECTED COCKTAILS)

HAPPY HOUR 11:30AM – 1PM

Weekend Early Doors Dinner Party

Friday and saturday, a la carte dining (6 person minimum).

TWO COURSE MINIMUM WITH THE CHOICE OF AN ADDITIONAL DESSERT COURSE

Weekend Dinner Party

Friday and saturday, 7.30pm - 9.30pm.

TWO COURSE MINIMUM PLUS THE CHOICE OF AN ADDITIONAL DESSERT COURSE

FRIENDS LIST

£7.50 pp (discounted from £15), book in advance, £15 pp with a free drink, piano work lates, tuesday to saturday, 11pm til close, £15 pp tues to thurs, £22.50 friday and saturday.

Entrance and your first three drinks on us

wednesday - FRIDAY

Got plans later on or just want to get the evening started in style? If you’re seeing a show or want dinner done and dusted early doors, then take advantage of our Pre Theatre dinner. With an extra helping of live music played throughout, it’s the perfect way to get in the mood for the rest of your evening.

Fancy an encore? On Wednesday and Thursday you can head back after your show with free re-entry!

Because everyone knows weekdays are the new weekends, come celebrate on a school night with us.  Our weekday dinner parties are made to feel easy. With no minimum party size or strict seating times it’s a no-fuss, maximum fun evening. Bring it on.

TWO COURSE MINIMUM AND THE CHOICE OF AN ADDITIONAL DESSERT COURSE.

Got somewhere to be this weekend and fancy kicking off the evening early? Come down between 5-7pm and as well as enjoying two delicious courses you’ll also find yourself stuck in the middle with our infamous Happy Hours. That means 50% off ALL drinks*.

*excludes champagne.

7.30PM - 9PM

Something special on the horizon? Need guaranteed good vibes with none of the hassle of organising entertainment yourself? Your search is over. The iconic Weekend Dinner Party is our biggest and boldest crowd pleaser. Two courses with the option to add a dessert course on and all the chosen-by-you songs you can manage.

Selling out every weekend we recommend booking early for our number one party. Our fave way to play it is with a warm up at our Happy Hour from 5pm then two hours of delicious dining and table service.

£55 pp 2 Courses + Bottomless bevvies

£35 pp 2 courses only, (4 person minimum), 11.30pm -4:30pm.

Keep your table for 2 hours Two courses with an optional two hours of bottomless drinks (Prosecco, cocktails or beer)  A whole afternoon of non-stop live music

Happy Hour 11.30am-1pm

Welcome to The Piano Works legendary Brunch To The Beat. Two courses and an optional two hours of bottomless bevvies + non-stop live music requests! An ICONIC way to spend the day. 

Dedicated brunchaholics can arrive for our support act, Brunch To The Beat Happy Hour from 11.30am-1pm where you’ll get 50% off all our drinks* 

*excludes Champagne

2-FOR-1 COCKTAILS

Tuesday & wednesdays from 7pm, buy one cocktail and get the second one free..

We’re all for solo acts but sometimes two really is better than one and that’s definitely true when it comes to cocktails. Pay us a visit on our 2-for-1 nights and for every cocktail you buy we’ll give you a matching one totally free. 

Let’s makeover the midweek, because good things don’t have to wait for the weekend. 

*Offer available on selected cocktails only!

We’re always up for being your happy place and to make it even better we’ve got some sensational happy hour offers. Every. Single. Day.

Pint of Piano Works Pilsner – £4. Bottle of white, red or rose – £15. Bubbles your thing? – £15 Prosecco. Plus a selection of our most popular cocktails available as 2 for 1! ‘come take advantage of our happiness – double the value, double the fun!

TUESDAY AND SATURDAY

£15 pp tuesday to thursday - £20 friday and saturday.

If you like to keep the party going after pub closing times but fancy something a bit different our Lates deal was made for you. 

Arrive any time after 11pm and as well as your entry fee you’ll also get THREE free drinks included in the price.*

*Choose from single spirit and mixer, small glass of wine, bottle of beer or two soft drinks

Just in the mood for drinks? We’ve got you. Come for a few as a walk-in (we guarantee you won’t want to leave) or book one of our drinks packages to really enjoy your visit. From popping bottles at our drinks tables to late night drinks and entry offers there’s something for every night out.

BOOK IN ADVANCE

£7.50 pp pre-booked, £15 pp on the door.

Daly Specials & Happy Hour

Daily specials.

Gastown Lager (4.8%), Pale Ale (5.2%), Kolsch (4.8%)

Lager (5%), Amber (5.2%)

Budweiser (5%), Bud Light (4.2%)

3 pm - 6 pm everyday 9 pm - Close (except Tuesdays, Fridays & Saturdays)

100% beef patty, lettuce, pickles, tomato, red onion

Add fries $3

Corn tortillas with chipotle mayo, lettuce, sauteed onions, mushrooms, red peppers, salsa, onions and cilantro

Corn tortillas with grilled chicken, chipotle mayo, lettuce, salsa, onions and cilantro

Corn tortillas with bbq pulled pork, coleslaw, chipotle mayo, onions and cilantro

Grilled pita bread with house-made hummus dip

8" cheese pizza

Cheese, olives, tomatoes, jalapeños, salsa, sour cream

Extra large cut onion rings flash fried and served with smokey BBQ sauce

Make it a double $2

Blackberry Hibiscus or Raspberry Lemon

Peach Bellini, Strawberry Daiquiri

Mango, Pineapple, Green Apple

White, Red, Rosé

P49 Trash Panda IPA (5.5%), Phillips Pilsner (5%), Gastown Lager (4.8%), Driftwood Fat Tug IPA (7%), Red Truck Amber Ale (5.2%), Windstrom Pale Ale (5.4%)

Bucket Hour

Avaliable on Tuesdays from 6pm - 9pm

Served with BBQ sauce

Flash fried garlic marinated button ribs, dusted with salt & pepper

Served with chipotle mayo dip

Served with ketchup

Tropical, coconut rum and Jarritos Lime

Created with Jarritos Mexican soda, the right amount of Jimador Silver Tequila and triple sec. Your choice of Jarritos: Lime, Pineapple, Guava or Mandarin

Paradise in a bucket, Captain Morgan White Rum, Blue Curacao, Malibu & sprite

Jack Daniel's Old No. 7, cranberry juice, vanilla syrup, sprite

Make a Reservation

General question.

Chicago, IL: Alumni Happy Hour

Cambridge in America (CAm) warmly invites alumni living in the greater Chicago area for informal drinks. This is a great opportunity to reconnect with old friends and meet other alumni local to the area.

If you have any questions, please contact our Events team at [email protected] .

Booking information

Booking for this event is now closed.

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event April 18, 6.00pm EDT location_on New York, NY

Please contact [email protected] to add yourself to the waitlist.

Seattle, WA: Artificial Intelligence for Social Good

event April 18, 6.00pm PDT location_on Seattle, WA

Cambridge in America (CAm) invites you to Artificial Intelligence for Social Good on Thursday, April 18th.

Belmont, MA: The Vintage Tea & Cake Company

event April 21, 11.30am EDT location_on Belmont, MA

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You are invited to join the Oxford and Cambridge society of New England for tea at The Vintage Tea and Cake Company.

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Kate Middleton's Secret to a Sweat-Free 5-Hour Hike Revealed 8 Years After Her Impressive Feat in Bhutan

The future Prince and Princess of Wales tackled a tough hike in the Himalayas during their royal tour of Bhutan

Janine Henni is a Royals Staff Writer for PEOPLE Digital, covering modern monarchies and the world's most famous families. Like Queen Elizabeth, she loves horses and a great tiara moment.

Samir Hussein/Pool/WireImage

Kate Middleton and Prince William 's tour of India and Bhutan eight years ago included a five-hour hike to a historic monastery, but the future Princess of Wales stayed camera-ready with a little backup!

In April 2016, the future Prince and Princess of Wales embarked on a week-long tour to the Asian countries, which included a grueling hike to the Tiger Nest monastery , a sacred Buddhist site in the Himalayas. The royal couple crossed paths with a group of trekkers on their way up, and one said "there wasn’t a single trail of sweat" on William or Kate.

That may have been because Kate brought along a special entourage for the outing: her longtime hairdresser Amanda Cook Tucker and her personal assistant-turned-stylist Natasha Archer joined the royal couple. The glam team likely made sure that Kate was camera-ready with a few touchups before she greeted the press during the hike.

Responsible for liaising with designers and calling in all of Kate’s outfits and accessories, Archer has helped style Kate for nearly a decade. Cook Tucker, meanwhile, has been on the royal scene since at least 2013 and visited Kate in the hospital shortly after the birth of Prince George to do her hair before she greeted the world’s press on the steps of Lindo Wing at London’s St. Mary’s Hospital. Both style and beauty pros have joined the Princess of Wales on official trips and tours around the world over the years.

Samir Hussein/WireImage

The future Prince and Princess of Wales had a sporty visit to Asia in 2016, from taking turns at archery in Bhutan and watching a game of cricket in India, in addition to their big hike.

During their trek in the Himalayas, Prince William quipped, "Easy!" before the couple posed for a brief photo call on the spiritual spot with a view.

"So far, so good. Stunning," William said. 

Can't get enough of PEOPLE's Royals coverage? Sign up for our free Royals newsletter to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more!

On the way up to the monastery, otherwise known as Paro Taktsang, the royals stopped to talk to three hikers from California who were returning down from the mountain.

"They were pretty altogether," Lauren McKennan from San Francisco told reporters. "There wasn’t a single trail of sweat. They stopped to talk to us for three to five minutes and were absolutely charming."

"They asked us how long we had been here and talked about how lovely the weather was," added Alex Willmore from Oakland. "They said how rainy it had been when they were doing the archery and how glad they were doing the trek today."

"We asked for a photograph they just laughed and wouldn’t do it," Willmore added. "But they were absolutely charming, very cool, very nice. They kept on saying how beautiful it was."

UK Press Pool/Getty

Built in 1692, there is a cave inside the temple with spiritual significance: 8th-century Buddhist deity Guru Rinpoche, who brought Buddhism to Bhutan, is said to have flown to the cave atop a tigress before fasting for 90 days to battle the demons that inhabited the valley. The cave itself is opened just once a year in a special ceremony.

"It is a magical place that The Duke and Duchess [of Cambridge] are thrilled to be visiting," a royal spokesman said at the time, adding that the trek "will allow them to get a real sense of the natural and spiritual beauty of the country."

Prince William and Princess Kate followed in the future King Charles ’ footsteps with the Himalayan trek to Tiger’s Nest, as then-Prince Charles walked some of the summit in 1998.

"It is very good for Kate and William come here," Sonam Penjor of the Bhutan information department told reporters at the time. "The United Kingdom and Bhutan already had a relationship before Prince Charles came here before in 1988, but he only make it to the cafeteria, the halfway point."

“So he took some nice shots, but he was not able to come to this point. Maybe the altitude affected him," he added. “I think his son and daughter-in-law wanted to beat him!"

"They wanted to recapture his father’s memories but go further. And maybe later George and Charlotte will come to follow in their parents’ footsteps," the local said, referring to Prince William and Princess Kate’s children Prince George, now 10, and Princess Charlotte , now 8 — while 5-year-old Prince Louis wasn’t born yet.

The day before they hit the trail, the couple met King Jigme and Queen Jetsun of Bhutan, who are playfully nicknamed the " Will and Kate of the Himalayas ." The British royals spent time with the Dragon King, 44, and Queen, 33, who both studied in England before acceding to the throne in the small nation.

On April 16, it was confirmed that Prince William, 41, will return to royal duties for the first time since Princess Kate, 42, announced her cancer diagnosis in March. On April 18, the Prince of Wales will highlight the work of community and environmental organizations in southwest London and Surrey. 

When the Princess of Wales made the announcement about her health on March 22, sources told PEOPLE that William would return to public royal duties after Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis returned to school following an Easter holiday break in a measured way, tempered by the needs of their family.

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How One Family Lost $900,000 in a Timeshare Scam

A mexican drug cartel is targeting seniors and their timeshares..

This transcript was created using speech recognition software. While it has been reviewed by human transcribers, it may contain errors. Please review the episode audio before quoting from this transcript and email [email protected] with any questions.

Hello, James.

Hey. How’s it going?

Yeah. I’m not having much luck. So the problem is funding. And all of my money is in Mexico, all of it.

From “The New York Times,” I’m Katrin Bennhold. This is “The Daily.” A massive scam targeting elderly Americans who own timeshare properties has resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars sent to Mexico.

Once you move forward and make your payment, if anything were to happen, he will directly pay you the full amount of what you’re entitled to, including the gains. He will pay you the full amount.

You’ve got all my money. It’s been sent. I sold a freaking house.

Listen to this. I sold a house that I grew up in so that I could come up with funds to send to Mexico.

I don’t even have anything from the sale, nothing.

My colleague Maria Abi-Habib on one victim who lost everything and the people on the other side of the phone.

That’s it. That’s it. There’s nothing —

You know what? That’s what has been said every freaking time. Every time, just pay this. That releases the funds.

But that’s why we won’t allow it to happen again. This is the last time, James.

It’s Friday, April 12.

Maria, you’ve been looking into this scam that’s targeting Americans. Where did your investigation start?

So several weeks ago, I received a phone call from a lawyer based in St. Petersburg, Florida, who had been contacted by a family who was very concerned that the father, this man named James, was in the middle of being scammed. He’d sent hundreds of thousands dollars to Mexico. And he was considering sending another $157,000 when his daughter decided to call up this law firm and try to get her father to stop, stop sending money to Mexico.

So I called him a few weeks ago as I was trying to understand what was going on.

Hi, James. How are you?

Good. Thank you.

He’s asked that his last name be withheld for privacy concerns because he’s quite embarrassed about the story that I’m about to tell you.

You’re retired now, but what were you doing for work? And if your wife was working, what was her job?

I was with the Highway Patrol.

James is a retired state trooper from California. And his wife Nikki is a former school nurse.

She was born in ‘51. So 71-ish.

Two. She’s just reminded me, 72.

And they’re both in their early 70s. And they own this timeshare that is in Lake Tahoe, California. And they bought it in the 1990s for about $8,000.

And for someone who did not grow up vacationing in a timeshare, remind me how exactly timeshares work.

Timeshares are essentially vacation properties. And they tend to be beach resorts. And multiple people can buy into this property. The ownership is a shared ownership. And this gives you the right to use the timeshare for one to two weeks out of every year.

And so James and Nikki used their timeshare every other year with their daughters. But as they hit retirement age and their daughters are growing up and starting their own families, they’re just not really using it that much anymore. And timeshares require the owners to pay off yearly maintenance fees. And so they’re starting to think about maybe letting go of their timeshare and selling it.

Then one day, in late 2022, James gets a phone call from a company that is purporting to be based out of Atlanta, Georgia called Worry Free Vacations.

Worry Free Vacations?

That sounds enticing.

Yeah. And they start off with a simple question, which is, do you want to buy a timeshare? And James says, I already have a timeshare. And then they say, great. Well, what about selling the timeshare? Do you want to sell? There’s this Mexican businessman, and he’s interested in your timeshare. And he’s willing to buy it for about $20,000.

So we figured, well, what the heck? If we can make a few bucks on it, we’ll go for it.

And James jumps at the opportunity.

And did he do anything to try and verify that this was real?

Yeah. So remember, James is former law enforcement. And he feels very confident in his abilities to sniff out untrustworthy people. So he goes online, and he googles this Mexican businessman and sees that, yeah, he is a real person.

He’s a very well-respected individual in Mexico, very well off. And —

And this makes James feel at ease, that he’s selling to a legitimate person, that Worry Free Vacations are who they claim to be and that he’s going to double his money overnight, essentially.

And what happens next?

Well, a couple of weeks after he makes the agreement with the buyer, he’s told that he needs to send a couple thousand dollars to facilitate the purchase.

What does that mean, facilitate?

[MUSIC PLAYING]

I can’t remember specifically whether it was supposed to be cross-border registration —

So he’s being told that there are these fees that are paid directly to the Mexican government.

Or SPID or some other fee that was Mexican government required or not.

A lot of these fees are the same types of fees that you would pay in the United States for a real estate transaction. So he begins wiring money to an account in Mexico.

After that —

— a few days later, we get a notification. Well, everything went well, except that we have to pay an additional fee.

Every time that he sends one fee, he’s being told that he’s got to send another fee right afterwards.

Does he get suspicious at any point?

His wife is suspicious. After the first couple of payments, she starts saying, this does not feel right.

But James is the former law enforcement officer, right? And he’s the one that basically handles the family finances. And he’s confident that all of this is going to work out because he’s being told that the buyer of the timeshare will reimburse James for all of these fees once the sale goes through.

Michael from the Worry Free Vacations was constantly reassuring me the money’s in that account. Check with the commercial escrow account. It’s there. It’s just these fees have to be paid, and you’re being reimbursed for all of this.

They’re sending James documents that show all of the reimbursements that he’s owed and how much money he’s going to get. And this just makes him feel like all of this is kosher.

We have this commercial escrow company that was involved out of New York. So there was an air of legitimacy that I was comfortable with.

Maybe OK, these guys just need one more fee and everything is going to finally be cleared.

But about a year in, James starts to get suspicious. He begins asking questions because he wants his money.

And every time I asked, hey, is there a way I can get a partial release of these funds, there was always no, these funds have to be paid from your account before they’re released.

But Worry Free Vacations, they pivot. And they tell him that, listen, there are all these complications. It’s going to be really hard to get your money out from this transaction.

I could pay about $30,000 and change to reinvest the $313,000 into an environmentally-conscious development in Loreto, Mexico.

Instead, we’ve got this other investment opportunity in Mexico.

And I’m sure you know where that is, over on the East Coast of Baja.

And that is going to make you a huge return, even more money than you had thought that you were going to make, much more than the $20,000.

I’m supposed to have 54 million pesos in a Mexican bank account.

So this is now no longer just about his timeshare. They are now partners in a real estate investment.

Right. And there’s this whole new round of fees and fines associated with that.

So how many payments would you say?

Quite a few. Couple dozen at least, maybe more.

When was your last payment?

It would have been 17 January.

Uh-huh. And what was that for?

Good question.

And all along, he believed it was necessary to pay these costs just to get the money that he’s owed.

The amount of money that I’ve sent to Mexico is just freaking exorbitant. And I mean, it is approaching $900,000 or more.

And at this point, he’s sent about $900,000 to Mexico over about a year and a half.

Nearly $1 million.

That was almost all the money that he and his wife had saved for their retirement.

It also included money from the sale of James’s childhood home and money that he had borrowed from his daughter and son-in-law, about $150,000 from them.

It’s awful. So they were completely cleaned out by these guys.

Yeah. And this is when his daughter asks a law firm to look into this, which is the point in the story when I meet James. And when we start talking, it was clear to me that he just did not know what to think, even after losing this much money.

So this started in 2022. When did it end?

We’re still in it.

And he’s still talking to the scammers.

And as a matter of fact, presently, there was a request for $157,000 and change to clear up this whole thing. It would clear the entire issue out. Now —

And James is even considering putting a second mortgage on his house to send that money that he’d been promised would finally clear all this up — one final payment of $157,000.

It really sounds like he’s still wanted to believe that this was somehow legit.

Yeah. It was pretty clear to me that he was being scammed. But I didn’t definitively know what was going on, so I asked him if he could start recording his phone calls with the scammers.

Would you be so kind as to do me a favor?

Would you be willing to give them a call and record them?

[LAUGHS]: I’ll let you in on a little secret. I’ve been recording them.

And it turns out he already had been.

Worry Free Vacations.

So he shared the recordings of these calls that he’d had with these scammers over the last year or so. And it was just remarkable. It gave me huge insight into how the scam worked and the way that it sounded over the phone.

Is this is Michael in? I think he’s trying to call me. I couldn’t get through pick up.

Yes, I believe he did try to call you, sir. Give me a second. I think he’s only going to be in for a couple of minutes. One second.

There are two main takeaways for me listening to these calls.

Good afternoon. Michael McCarthy.

Michael, I missed your call. I was trying to pick up.

Yeah, don’t worry. Yeah, I figured something was wrong with your phone. Everything OK?

The first is that these scammers had really gotten to know James so well, and they really made James believe that Worry Free was a company that was working for him.

That’s why we need to hurry up and get this money over to you. Because hey, I’m losing my mind too. I’m not even here to convince you, James. I’m not — I’m your broker, and —

One of the things they continuously say is, trust me.

Look, I’m doing everything I can in my power and will on my end. So James, just look — like I told you from the get-go, I’m going to resolve this. And we are doing it. I just need you to focus on the goal.

They would refocus the conversation on what James needed to do to get his money back.

Look, if you make your payment as a security deposit, right away they will release the funds to you. With these —

And the other thing —

I’ve been having so much trouble trying to reach you, and I have not been successful.

— is that the scammers had created this elaborate cast of characters.

Why don’t you answer my calls?

And some of them were really aggressive. James shared a recording of this one man who claimed to be an agent for the Mexican government. And he basically started yelling at James.

I don’t care if your wife is at the hospital. To be honest with you, I don’t give a damn! But you know where I do give a damn? It’s your money, and my name is written all over it! Do you understand?

And he even threatened James. If James didn’t pay off these fines, then he would lose all the money that he’d sent to Mexico already.

You could get the best lawyer you want. You could get whoever you want. And this is not a threat. This is facts. But anyways, who am I to convince you, right?

Well, thank you for the information. And — are you still there? Hello?

Wow. So these scammers were basically doing a good cop, bad cop routine to stop James from walking away and to squeeze every last penny out of him.

If you provide me your email, contact information, I will certainly be happy to forward all of the wire transfer information from my bank account to you so that you can see where those funds went.

Yeah, that would be great. I have your email.

James asks me, a reporter who’s based in Mexico, who speaks the language, if I could help him figure out where his money had gone to.

Thank you very much. I really appreciate your assistance.

I’m just doing my job. Thanks again, and we’ll talk soon.

And the only way that I could figure that out was to understand who was on the other side of the phone.

We’ll be right back.

So Maria, who was on the other side of that phone line?

So by the time that I’d met James, I’d already gotten a tip from US law enforcement agencies that they were seeing a new trend. Mexican drug cartels were getting involved in the timeshare scam industry.

Drug cartels?

Yeah. And not just any drug cartel. This is one of the most notorious, violent, bloody drug cartels that exists in Mexico and Latin America, the Jalisco New Generation cartel. And when I looked at James’s bank records, guess what? All the money that he was sending was going to various bank accounts that were all located in Jalisco state in Mexico.

Wow. So why would the drug cartels get into the timeshare scamming business?

It is a huge business. The FBI told me that it’s about $300 million in profits over the last five years.

But the thing is is that the potential for it to actually be multitudes more is huge. Because the FBI estimates that most of the scams are actually not even reported. In fact, only about 20 percent are. So that means the total timeshare scam business could actually be much larger than the $300 million that they have knowledge of over the last five years.

But wait. I thought the drug business was a pretty lucrative business in itself. So why get into the scamming of elderly people for their properties in Lake Tahoe?

Well, you have to remember that these drug cartels, they’re not just doing one thing. They’re doing multiple things. They’re essentially conglomerates. Because it’s really expensive to run a cartel. You need to pay off officials, both Mexican and American. You need to maintain basically an army in order to secure your routes up to the United States, ports of entry into Mexico from Colombia. And any big business, you need to diversify your income to make sure that you keep the money flowing. Because you never know when one business is going to be shut down by authorities or taken over by your rivals.

We’ve reported that they’re now in the avocado business and the construction business. And timeshare fraud is basically no different than any of those. So we’re seeing that the cartels have their fingers in many pies, the legitimate and the illegitimate economy here in Mexico.

It’s kind of fascinating to think of these drug cartels as like sprawling diversified business empires. But when did the cartels first get into the scamming business?

So Jalisco New Generation started about 15 years ago.

And when they started to consolidate their empire in Jalisco state, they found that there were all these scam timeshare call centers all over the state that were being run by various players, and that this was a huge, huge moneymaker. Because essentially, all you have to do is call up retired senior citizens in the US and Canada. It doesn’t take that much money to run that kind of a scheme. There’s no product you’re making.

So essentially, they conducted a hostile takeover of these call centers. They went in. They kicked down doors and dragged out the people who were managing these call centers by their hair and threatened to kill them unless they gave up the call centers or started handing over a cut of what they made. And slowly, slowly Jalisco New Generation cartel took over the entire timeshare fraud industry.

Interesting. Were you able to find any of these call centers?

So these call centers are pretty hard to find. They look like any other storefront. But I was able to visit two that were located in an upscale neighborhood in Guadalajara, which is the capital of Jalisco state. And it was just really perturbing because it was just so normal. Two villas about a mile away from each other outside. Outside of one villa, parents were walking by, holding their children’s hands as they did drop off at school.

It was right next to a park where people taking their morning exercise or their dogs for a walk. There was no real sign that the cartel was doing business there. But a few months before, Mexican law enforcement had found the bodies of eight young people who had used to work at one of these call centers and said that the Jalisco cartel had killed them.

Wow. What happened?

So I wasn’t able to talk directly to any of the victims’ families. They’re just too scared. But in general, this is usually how it starts.

The cartel seeks out English speakers to work for their call centers. Sometimes they don’t even tell them what exactly they are doing. They would tell the recruits that the job was adjacent to the hotel industry.

You have to remember, Jalisco is a huge, huge tourism magnet for Americans and Canadians and others. And the cartel would get their call lists from bribing hotel employees to give them the names of people who stayed at these hotels and also at the timeshare resorts. And the people who would work at the call centers are provided the names and a manual of what you need to do when you call, like a loose script of how to try to suck as much money as you can out of these people up North in Canada and the States.

So we don’t know for sure what exactly happened with the eight young Mexicans who were killed last year. But through an intermediary, one sibling told us that when their family member knew what their job actually was, they became extremely uncomfortable and tried to leave the call center and find another job maybe.

But the Jalisco New Generation cartel is known for being extremely brutal. They chop off heads, and they’ll put them on the gates of a playground, for instance. So that everybody in the neighborhood knows what went down. And in this case, it’s possible that they wanted to send a warning that there’s no defection from their timeshare call centers.

So basically making a very scary example of these guys, in case anyone else is thinking about quitting one of the call centers.

Exactly. And one man, who runs an organization who advocates for missing people and actually organizes search parties to comb the forests of Jalisco state looking for the missing, says that he knows of about 30 people who have disappeared from the call centers in Jalisco state since 2017. So while Americans and Canadians might be losing much of their life savings, in Mexico, this is actually deadly.

Are the authorities doing anything about this?

Not really, other than the fact that these two call centers were shut down. The authorities haven’t arrested others. They’re not putting pressure on Mexican banks, for instance, to look into these payments coming from senior citizens in the US or Canada. And you have to remember that people are really afraid. But you also have to remember that in Mexico things are not that clear. There is a lot of corruption and government collusion with organized crime and cartels.

And the tourism industry, it is huge in Mexico and particularly in Jalisco state. This is a multi-billion dollar industry. They don’t want Americans or Canadians or Europeans who are coming to Jalisco for its beautiful beaches and its mountains to hear about these stories regarding the cartels being involved in the tourism industry and think, I’m not going to send my family there for that beach vacation. It’s just simply too dangerous.

So everybody has an incentive to have the scam continue, whether because they’re too afraid and don’t want to speak out or because they’re in on it.

So in a way, local authorities have an interest in sweeping it under the carpet in order to just maintain this idea of a tourist destination.

Exactly. I mean, the spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office was very responsive to me until I told her what I wanted to ask her questions about. And then she just simply never answered any of my texts or phone calls.

So Maria, based on everything you know, all the information you have, would you say that you’re confident that the cartels were the ones who scammed James?

Yes, 100 percent. Everything I’ve seen points in that direction.

What did James say when you told him this?

So it took him quite a while to really allow himself to believe it. On the advice of his lawyers, he stopped picking up the phone calls. And about a week ago, they stopped after the scammers kept trying to call him.

But you said he was in it for over a year. Why do you think it took him so long?

Can you tell me, after all of that had been presented to you, why do you think you weren’t willing to be entirely convinced?

Well, I actually asked him that question.

That’s a very good question. Why wasn’t I able to pick up on that right away? And I think in the back of my mind, I’m finding out that I’m a little more stubborn than I thought I was.

And for him, it was pretty complicated.

And I think that I didn’t want to believe that I had fallen for this. I didn’t feel I was that foolish and stupid when it came to this. You know? I guess I didn’t want to believe that I could be fooled.

To come to terms with the fact that he had lost so much money was to come to terms with the fact that he wasn’t the person that he thought that he was, that he wasn’t this kind of clever former law enforcement officer who was used to fighting the bad guys and winning.

I’m disappointed in myself. There’s a huge level of anger towards the perpetrators. And all of those things wrapped into one. And part of that, I think, contributes to not wanting to actually believe that I was wrong.

Hmm. Yeah, I hear you. I’m sorry. I can hear the pain in your voice.

[LAUGHS]: Yeah.

Some of it’s based on shame, right? That he lost all this money, everything that he’s worked for, and the fact that this was all supposed to be money that his children and his grandchildren were going to inherit. And now it’s gone.

And have you told your daughter that you think you’ve come to terms with the fact that this might have been a scam?

Oh, she’s been involved. Yeah. They know.

My daughter does.

I’m sorry. This is a tough time.

So I’ve got to make some sort of arrangement to compensate them for this on top of our regular debt. So yeah. It’s been a swell experience, all of it brought on by my — evidently, my stubbornness to believe that I couldn’t possibly be a victim.

How’s your wife doing throughout this whole process, with this new knowledge?

She’s not real happy, obviously, at all. I hear a lot of “I told you so.” And at this point, I’ve got no defense. She’s absolutely right. There’s no question about it.

Do you worry this is going to affect your marriage?

Yes, there has been an effect.

And do you think that at this point there’s any way for James and his family to get some kind of justice or at least find some kind of closure?

Ay. Justice? Unlikely.

At this point, I’m not necessarily expecting much in the way of restitution.

And as for closure, it’s a little bit too soon to tell. In a way, James has gone through several stages of acceptance for what happened. There’s fear. There’s shame. There’s resignation. And now he’s talking to me partly because he feels like it’s a public service, that he needs to be vocal so that other people don’t go through what he’s gone through and fall for the scam. And I think it also helps him feel a little bit empowered in a situation for over the last year and a half he was at the mercy of these people who were calling him multiple times a week.

I want to try to get as much information to as many of these official organizations as possible. I have a streak of anger through me now that I’ve developed to the point where I’m not going to let this go.

Well, Maria, thank you.

Thank you for having me.

Here’s what else you need to know today. OJ Simpson, the football star who was accused and later acquitted of murdering his former wife and her friend, died of cancer at his home in Las Vegas, his family said Thursday. He was 76.

Today’s episode was produced by Astha Chaturvedi and Will Reid, with help from Clare Toeniskoetter and Lindsay Garrison. It was edited by Brendan Klinkenberg and Michael Benoist, contains original music by Marion Lozano, Rowan Niemisto, Dan Powell, Pat McCusker, and Will Reid, and was engineered by Chris Wood. Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly.

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That’s it for “The Daily.” I’m Katrin Bennhold. See you on Monday.

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Hosted by Katrin Bennhold

Produced by Asthaa Chaturvedi and Will Reid

With Clare Toeniskoetter and Lynsea Garrison

Edited by Brendan Klinkenberg and Michael Benoist

Original music by Marion Lozano ,  Rowan Niemisto ,  Dan Powell ,  Pat McCusker and Will Reid

Engineered by Chris Wood

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Warning: this episode contains descriptions of violence.

A massive scam targeting older Americans who own timeshare properties has resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars sent to Mexico.

Maria Abi-Habib, an investigative correspondent for The Times, tells the story of a victim who lost everything, and of the criminal group making the scam calls — Jalisco New Generation, one of Mexico’s most violent cartels.

On today’s episode

Maria Abi-Habib , an investigative correspondent for The New York Times based in Mexico City.

Background reading

How a brutal Mexican drug cartel came to target seniors and their timeshares .

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