Oscar Simoza

Early shifts behind the bar at Johnny D’s in Somerville, Massachusetts, and Beat Hotel (now Beat Brew Hall) in Harvard Square, Massachusetts, gave Oscar Simoza a practical base in service. Those rooms shaped a style built on reading the room, working with pace, and keeping the bar steady under pressure. The work was not limited to pouring drinks; it was about managing tempo, holding attention, and making the room feel settled.

Today, the scope of Oscar Simoza’s work runs across multiple posts: bartender of Silvertone, director of spirits of BCB3 Hospitality Group, beverage program lead for jm curley and Bogie’s Place, curator of the beverage program at The Wig Shop of BiNA Family Hospitality (since 2022), and bartender of The Wig Shop (since 2024). The range of those roles points to a career built through accumulation: handling the bar, shaping programs, and carrying a point of view from one setting to another.

That position calls for a bartender who treats hospitality as a full system, not just a sequence of drinks. At The Wig Shop, that approach shows up in a program that reads as cohesive and lived-in rather than assembled for effect.

Oscar Simoza’s signature cocktails include Mala Vida’s advice, Pony Star, Channing Ta-Yum, Vapin’ in Vegas, and Rise & Grind. The names suggest a bar language that is playful without losing control, with each drink carrying its own identity before it reaches the guest. They sit within a body of work that balances wit and precision, the kind of balance a bartender needs when the menu is meant to stay with people.

Oscar Simoza’s honors include James Beard Award semifinalist, Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service (2025) and Culture Shaker (2021). The recognition follows a path that runs from early bar shifts in Somerville and Harvard Square to a larger role within Boston hospitality. In those honors, as in the work itself, the measure is consistency: a professional voice built through steady service and a clear point of view.