6 p.m.

8. DOWN SOUTH

Cambridge may not be the first place you think of to indulge in boiled peanuts, shrimp and grits or barbecued beef tongue, but Hungry Mother (233 Cardinal Medeiros Avenue; 617-499-0090; hungrymothercambridge.com) has some of the Northeast’s best Southern food. The chef, Barry Maiden, is a Virginia native, and his restaurant honors his home state at every turn — from the name, which is taken from a Virginia state park, to the Cardinal motif on the menus and the now-familiar grandma-chic aesthetic. Opened in 2008, Hungry Mother was financed, in part, by small donations (donors’ names grace a wall beside the bar), and there’s something in its easy welcome that feels unpretentious and sincere.

8 p.m.

9. GET FOLKSY

Since the 1950s, Club Passim (47 Palmer Street; 617-492-5300; clubpassim.org), a dark basement space on an alley off Harvard Square, has drawn musical greats. This legendary spot got its start as a jazz club called Club 47, which later became a folk venue, hosting everyone from Joan Baez, who got her start here at 17, to Bob Dylan, whom Baez would later introduce to her hometown crowd. It’s now a nonprofit; there’s live music every night (ticket prices vary) and, after many dry years, a beer and wine license.

10 p.m.

10. DISCO FABULOUS

Dance with the Donkey Show, a shimmering, intoxicating disco-opera adaptation of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at Oberon (2 Arrow Street; 617-496-8004; cluboberon.com), the new “nightclub theater” that’s the carefree second stage to the American Repertory Theater. The performance is an interactive event where actor-dancers are distinguishable from the audience only by their ’70s get-ups. For a tasty, nongreasy midnight snack or a $3 local Notch beer, duck into Clover Food Lab (7 Holyoke Street, cloverfoodlab.com). Founded by an M.I.T. grad, Clover is a food truck phenomenon turned storefront fast-food joint. The menu — meatless dishes like chickpea patty sandwiches, spicy carrot soup and rosemary French fries — is healthy and cheap enough to sustain the student body.

Sunday

11 a.m.

11. THE UN-DIM SUM

For brunch, try the crispy pork belly, mantou bread with pickled vegetables, or pork and kale shumai (dumplings) with carrot purée at East by Northeast (1128 Cambridge Street; 617-876-0286; exnecambridge.com), where small plates are described as Chinese-style tapas. The Chinese-American chef Phillip Tang makes all noodles and dumpling wrappers there. Wash them down with the brunch bloody mary with Chinese peppercorn vodka and Sriracha ($9) or the pear, ginger and prosecco cocktail ($9).

12 p.m.

12. A RESTFUL PLACE

Before leaving town, take a walk among the historic gravestones of Buckminster Fuller, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Winslow Homer and the abolitionist Harriet Jacobs, among many others, at the 175-acre Mount Auburn Cemetery (580 Mount Auburn Street; 617-547-7105; mountauburn.org), founded in 1831. The grounds are home to hundreds of varieties of trees and gorgeously maintained gardens.