Welcome to "Meet the Mayor," a segment in which we interview local Foursquare Mayors in their natural habitats.

Allston
Thom Martin

Does this mean you've taken over for Mr. Butch?
He's still the mayor and always will be. I don't believe Foursquare existed when he was alive.

Welcome to "Meet the Mayor," a segment in which we interview local Foursquare Mayors in their natural habitats.

Silhouette Lounge
Mercer Smith

How long have you been coming to the Sil?
Four months. I had just moved here, and I didn't know anybody. Someone told me this was a good place to meet people.

Fletcher from the Sandbox on WFNX passes along this bit of news: Kelly's Roast Beef is opening in Allston.

The 58-year-old restaurant chain that takes credit for inventing the roast beef sandwich plans to revamp the former Marty’s Liquor store in Allston into its first Hub location. The 140-seat eatery will be the sixth for the Saugus chain that’s been named the 2009 Restaurant of the Year by the Retailers Association of Massachusetts.

Soon after we decided to have Chris Faraone write about Boston's rat problem for this week's cover story, we realized that we would need a picture of some Boston rats. Sure, we could just have someone draw a rat, or dip into the vast depths of clip-art hell, but ultimately, we wanted to someone to snap a photo of a Boston rat in the wild.

In his unparalleled exposé on the plight of urban vermin and those of us who live among them, Rats author Robert Sullivan describes one scene in which a woman is viciously attacked by rodents during the 1979 New York City garbage strike. The Phoenix also collected some revolting rat tales.

KENMORE SQUARE, FALL 2007 A local marijuana advocate reports that his girlfriend’s car has had its battery cables chewed by furry critters.