Baseball, politics, and hosting major international events clearly aren’t Seattle’s strengths, but when it comes to going out and drinking, we rock! Take a drive (sober, of course!), and you’ll see this city metamorphose into clusters of drunken hamlets—from the nattily dressed crowd spilling onto Belltown’s streets to the frat-infested clubs of Pioneer Square, from the colorful quilt of queers and crazies on Capitol Hill to the Bud-swillin’ types in Ballard—not to mention the refugees hunkered down in West Seattle watering holes or singing “You Oughta Know” at the top of their lungs at an International District karaoke joint. There’s one problem, though. With so much variety conflicting with the human impulse to frequent the same place over and over until the bartender knows your social security number by heart, we Seattleites face an emotional tug-of-war each time we make a date, set up plans with friends, or simply escape the drudgery of our rain-soaked, hard-workin’ lives. Should we go with what we know, or try something new? Shaking up the routine’s the best way to achieve that fresh, vivacious feeling. We at the Weekly ventured out into the wilds of Seattle’s nightlife and picked the 50 top spots to have a drink and a bite, check out a band or DJ, shoot some pool, or check out the action. Of course, there are dozens, maybe hundreds, more places out there, but these are the hangouts, dives, saloons, or—as we Halloween-spirited folks call ’em—haunts that we’d recommend to friends, Romans, and fellow Seattle night cats.

KEY: (disclaimer: It’s damn near impossible to discern the nuances of every haunt. If you have issues with smoking, age, live music, or you’re finicky about anything else, please, we implore you, call ahead!)

=Full bar =Beer, wine only =Cover =All ages =Darkness (1=lightest, 5=darkest)

=Loudness (1=lowest, 5=loudest) =Bands =DJ =Jukebox =Karaoke =No smoking

BELLTOWN

DOWNTOWN

CAPITOL HILL

QUEEN ANNE

EASTLAKE

UNIVERSITY DISTRICT/NORTHEAST

FREMONT/BALLARD

CENTRAL DISTRICT

WEST SEATTLE/SOUTHWEST/VASHON/BAINBRIDGE

BELLTOWN

Crocodile Caf鼯B>

2200 Second, 441-5611

Tue-Sun noon-2am (kitchen 8am-11pm), closed Mon

Lunch, dinner, weekend brunch

$$

On a Friday or Saturday night, few places pulsate like the Croc. A sort of rock oasis amid the Kenny G-izing of slick Belltown, this joint’s hosted legendary rock shows, it continues to rate as a must-play for touring bands and local hopefuls, and the live music’s only part of the appeal. (Meanwhile, many of us mutter about the inconvenient sight lines in the often packed and sweaty main room.) The backroom bar and seating area serves as one of Seattle’s best see-and-be-seen arenas and hosts art shows by underground painters. The restaurant serves diner-style fare for lunch and dinner. To top things off, the weekend brunch is as casual and reliable as they come.

upshot: Rock ‘n’ roll all night, and come back for a tasty eggs Benedict!–R.A.M.

Cyclops

2421 First, 441-1677

Daily 5pm-10pm (restaurant), 4pm-2am (bar)

Dinner, appetizers

$$-$$$

Previously renowned for its inventive dinners and Jell-O mold-adorned exterior, Cyclops has settled into its deep-Belltown digs and emerged a vibrant neighborhood hangout. A bit glam, a bit meat-market, but there’s no denying the open invitation of this expansive counter and the warmth given off by the lava lamps, candles, sparkly vinyl seats, and art-covered brick walls. “It’s like two places in one,” my date said, with reference to the populated bar and the almost-empty restaurant area (OK, it was a weeknight . . .). The bar thrums steadily with a thirtysomething after-work jubilance that’s very Sex and the City, but it’s easy to assimilate. That said, the majority of women are gorgeous, and the men (gorgeous or not) are busy salivating. It ultimately makes for a good place to have a sweet, colorful drink (the grape nehis are awfully fine) and listen to the conversations fly against the stereo’s reassuring backbeats.

upshot: Pretty, mellow, and pretty mellow; a huge relief from the self-consciously hip theme park that is First Avenue.—E.B.R.

Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley

2033 Sixth, 441-9729

Mon-Sat 6pm-last show (’round midnight); Sun 4:30pm-last show (times vary)

Dinner

$$

A sleek, sophisticated decor complements Dimitriou’s well-heeled crowd, which includes couples from Lake City as well as Japanese students from the Hill. With a stage accommodating two shows a night, this is the place to hear some of the better blues and jazz acts that come to Seattle—we recently saw the Pete Escovedo Latin Jazz Orchestra, whose tunes were sultry and tropical. The only thing missing is a dance floor; even a small one could sex things up a bit for the polite patrons. Save your flirting for the long-haired waiter David, who has eyes like Antonio Banderas, or just indulge in any of the desserts, which are thick, rich, and generous enough for two.

upshot: Nice change from the rowdier club scene; good place to feel like a grownup.—S.I.

Lava Lounge

2226 Second, 441-5660

Daily 3pm-2am

Snacks

$

Your classic spillover joint, the Lava Lounge morphs like a goddamn Power Ranger; the scene changes from night to night depending on what’s shaking in the neighborhood. The constants? Comfy, lived-in booths; outside tables when the weather gods are smiling; and shuffleboard for the more adventurous. But the real charm of this joint is that it’s never the same place twice. In keeping with the random element, local DJs (our fave being the Weekly‘s own DJ Kerri) often stop by to mix up old-school favorites and post-punk hits (there’s an increasingly popular punk-rock night on Wednesdays). The Lava Lounge is a great place to be eponymous or anonymous; be yourself or hide away.

upshot: Belltown’s very own Karma Chameleon; the Lava blends right in and consequently, so can you. —L.L.

Rendezvous

2320 Second, 441-5823

Daily 6am-2am

Breakfast, lunch, dinner

$

The people who drink at the Rendezvous are like a box of chocolates: You don’t know which one has been injected with a toxic substance and is going to kill you. The Rendezvous is where beer comes in cans and ordering a fancy martini will (hopefully) get you smacked. It’s unglamorous, held together with surliness and duct tape—a welcome respite from the dot-com rutting grounds that surround it. On any given night the backroom might feature a Discharge cover band or a yodeling guy playing washboard over techno beats—$50 rents the room. In a city where many bars feel like the end result of test marketing filled with actors clumsily imitating real life, the Rendezvous stands up as a real place with real people, and hence, will bum many people out. Others find it the best damn bar in Seattle, period.

upshot: Hard drinking for the hardliving—be polite and tip well.—M.D.

Sit & Spin

2219 Fourth, 441-9484

Daily 11am-3am

Dinner, lunch, snacks

$$

The front is deservedly one of the most popular hangout spots in the downtown/Belltown area: roomy, comfortable, heavily accented in red. The food counter provides plenty of fruit juices and coffee to choose from as well as a decent array of munchables. The many tables and booths are comfortable, and hey, you can get your laundry done while you’re at it. Meanwhile, the stage-enhanced backroom has, in the past year, housed more shows than usual. Good—it’s a wonderful venue, and the booking, from Oakland agit-rappers the Coup to local power duo Sick Bees to local short-film screenings, has been stellar.

upshot: A multipurpose spot that feels comfortable and lived-in.—M.M.

Tula’s

2214 Second, 443-4221

Sun-Wed 3pm-midnight; Thu-Sat 3pm-2am

Lunch, dinner

$$

There’s a certain community of jazz musicians in this town—as in most big towns—who’ve put down their stakes, who are holding down their jobs, who are never going to New York, and who nightly pour out their heart, soul, and sweat at whatever smoky den has kindly given them refuge. In Seattle, that place is Tula’s. As welcoming and no-nonsense as the man who runs it—retired Navy bandleader Mack Waldron—Tula’s has low lights, wooden beams, unfussy furnishings, randommemorabilia. Meat-and-potatoes jazz musicians take to the raised platform in the middle of the room every night at eight for a crowd that can be wall-to-wall raucous or sparse and sullen, but is always taking deep solace in the music. You can get a serviceable meal here, but even the waitstaff will tell you that “food is not the focus.” It’s about an easy drink, scruffy atmosphere, and another chorus on “Stella by Starlight.”

upshot: If you don’t feel at home at Tula’s, you’re obviously an asshole.—M.D.F.

The Virginia Inn

1937 First, 728-1937

Mon-Thu, Sun 11:30am-midnight; Fri-Sat 11:30am-2am

Lunch, dinner, snacks

$$

Founded in 1902 and long a Belltown favorite, packed solid at lunch and after work, the V.I. has a less frantic, less crowded vibe later in the evening (particularly midweek). As is customary, canvases by a local artist adorned the walls on a recent visit (Dan Amel’s Hockney-influenced “Vague Images of Swimmers” series). Elsewhere, a quote from Henry Miller offered sour admonishment. My companions and I found the mixed greens, chicken Caesar, and smoked trout appetizer to be good, simple fare, although we were puzzled by the eclectic shuffle-play music that ranged from Moby-style techno to Tom Petty. While overshadowed by its newer, flashier, pricier competitors on First, this low-key haunt proves the virtue of modesty and consistency. For those seeking refuge from cigarette stench and pretense, the place still has a welcoming, vaguely Continental neighborhood-cafe feel to it. “So far, so good,” a stranger offered from a nearby barstool. Right.

upshot: When the smoke and scene get too insufferable at El Gaucho, wander down here for a reprieve.—B.R.M.

DOWNTOWN

Alibi Room

85 Pike (Post Alley), 623-3180

Mon-Fri 11:30am-2am, Sat-Sun 11am-2am

Lunch, dinner, snacks

$$

The big problem here is the bookcase full of bound scripts—as if there weren’t already enough dreadful movies and screenplays in existence. No more encouragement is needed for the would-be Ron Basses and Joe Eszterhases of this world. A recent midweek visit found the joint surprisingly full of late-night diners and cooing couples, all skewed toward the pierced/tattooed/smoking demographic. The room is dark and ersatz trendy, projecting what one of my companions called “a Manhattan wanna-be vibe,” without being oppressive. Tod Kalamar’s B&W photo series “El Rancho Motel” helped smarten up the place. We also liked hearing Exile on Main Street all the way through, and the bourbon apple cobbler with cinnamon sauce rocked just as hard. Still, those scripts—which no one beyond

our table was reading—have got to go. As the lizard boy said to Dennis Quaid in that

immortal screen classic Enemy Mine, “I will never forget you, uncle.”

upshot: If anyone attempts a live reading of their script, throw fruit.—B.R.M.

Back Door Lounge

503 Third, 622-7665

Daily 11am-2am

Lunch, dinner (restaurant), appetizers (bar)

$

Let’s be perfectly honest: As far as I’ve seen, nobody who can actually, like, dance goes to the Back Door Lounge on Friday nights, when DJ Riz plays a predictable but unobjectionable blend of hip-hop, house, and R&B. But that’s not really the point, now is it? The point is the opulently kitschy decor: colored lights, vinyl tabletops, ashtrays that look like orange peels with miniature carnival slides in the middle, and Barbie cars with ash-catching seats. The point is a dance floor meant for people who get on down as a reward for a hard-worked week, not as a way of life. The point is that this is what a pretty hip neighborhood bar should be.

upshot: An appealingly kitschy after-work hangout for would-be dot-com millionaires and blues-bar riffraff alike.—M.M.

Bush Garden

614 Maynard S, 682-6830

Daily 11:30am-2pm and 5pm-1:30am

Dinner, lunch, snacks, weekend brunch

$-$$

Bush Garden has the most foreboding Zen rock garden (formerly a pool, from the looks of it) and creepy dead tree in its foyer of anyplace in town. There’s also a weird, alluring waiting area, but get yourself on back into the lounge for the karaoke, superstar. The lovely old-school bartendress reports that on Friday and Saturday nights she’s kept busy peeling the more excitable crooners and fans off the ceiling as the whole place goes completely nuts. All this with a faux pagoda roof over the bar and comfortable Denny’s-style seating; it’s Chinoise meets airport cocktail lounge, and the results are pleasing indeed. Catch the appetizer and sushi happy hour (Mon-Fri 5-6:30pm) and you will be extra-happy.

upshot: The real deal for I.D. karaoke and a beautiful happy hour.—B.J.C.

Cloud Room

1619 Ninth, 682-0100

Mon-Fri 11am-1am, Sat 4pm-1:30am, Sun 4pm-11:30pm

Bar food

$$

So I goes to the top of the Camlin Hotel, right? And there’s this bar, but it’s just full of people. Just normalish people sucking back the hooch. No clowns at all . . . anywhere. So I’m thinking to myself, ’cause that’s really the best way I think, I’m thinking, “Well hell, what the hell, man? Where the hell are the goddamn clowns?” So I grab the bartender, right, and I pulls him up nice and close, cock my head, and in a sideways hoarse sorta whisper squeeze out, “What’s the deal with the clowns, man?!” And he looks at me all spooked, right, and he says real calm and soft, “I think you’d better leave.” As they shuffle me toward the door I notice they have a piano and a patio overlooking the city. Oh, and an elevator.

upshot: Will be THE place to go when they get the clowns.—P.D.

Contour

807 First, 447-7704

Mon-Thu 10am-2am, Fri 10am-8am, Sat 6pm-2am, Sun 6pm-5am

Lunch, dinner

$$

Smooth naked torsos anyone? Yes, that’s right, smooth AND naked. Come to think of it, the whole place is kind of smooth and naked. Or was it all a dream? Contour—where Pioneer Square, Kirkland, and Belltown coalesce in mind, body, and spirit. Contour—not very large, but always in charge. Contour—filling the space with style and grace. Contour—pay the cover, meet your lover. Contour—dance and prance, split your pants. Contour—swanky, spanky, make me cranky. What can I say, drink some martinis and shake what your momma gave you. Submit to Contour.

upshot: Think “tight.”—P.D.

I-Spy

1921 Fifth, 374-9492

Daily 9pm-3am

Dinner, lunch at Nation

$$

With two and sometimes three fully operating rooms for DJs and/or performers (Nation, the restaurant on the top floor, frequently becomes part of the club during dance nights), I-Spy is one of the best music venues in Seattle. The booking policy is eclectic, encompassing everything from the aggressive experimentalism of Monday nights’ SIL2K to Jetset, Nation’s Saturday parties focusing on DJs both local (Nasir) and national (Radar and Z-Trip, Ming and FS), to touring bands like Trans Am and Saint Etienne. As a bonus, they’ve also got one of the flat-out nicest staffs I’ve ever encountered at any club—courteous and nearly attitude-free.

upshot: Three floors featuring something for just about everyone.—M.M.

Marcus’ Martini Heaven

88 Yesler, 624-3323

Mon-Fri 3:30pm-2am, Sat 5pm-2am

Dinner, snacks

$$

Nestled surreptitiously under the wing of Taco Del Mar in Pioneer Square, Marcus’ Martini Heaven is easy to walk by, but after sampling a few of the hundred or so different martinis here, walking back out may be the problem. It’s dark and bricky and hipster red, with local art on the walls, a huge fish tank, big booths, and a few couches. Seating is readily available during the week after work and the atmosphere perfect for meeting a special friend, but as night brings the minions of hollering high-fives to Pioneer Square, rumor has it that backwards baseball hats and button-ups multiply like E. coli at a state fair. Still, if you are a fan of the martini, or a fan of sipping things from martini-shaped glasses, this place has enough fixes to keep you fresh for weeks.

upshot: Dark and sultry place, perfect way to start an evening.—M.D.

Nite Lite

1926 Second, 448-4852

Dinner, snacks

Mon-Fri noon-2am, Sat-Sun 10am-2am

$

Whenever I’m at the Nite Lite, I get this weird flashback to that Simpsons episode where Lisa was scheming to win the Diorama-O-Rama contest. Remember that one? Lisa was hell-bent on beating that chick Allison, and Ralphie made the startling revelation that his cat’s breath smells like cat food. I guess it’s the odd, diorama-like rendering of the Golden Gate Bridge in the wall near the ladies room that does it, or maybe it’s the cat food thing. I really don’t know. I do know this: The Nite Lite is one hell of a good dive. The drinks are cheap and stiff, just like the patrons; and it’s crusty enough to warrant extra toilet paper on the seat while peeing, and just friendly and homey enough that you’ll start to miss it if you stay gone for too long. If you’re looking to bookend a rock show at the Showbox or the Moore, you ain’t gonna do any better than this.

upshot: So damn bad it’s real damn good.—L.L.

OK Hotel

212 Alaskan Wy S, 621-7903

Bar opens Mon-Sat at 3pm, cafe opens Wed-Sat at 6pm

Lunch, dinner

$

Back in the day, this place had some ass-kicking all-ages shows like Lungfish and Treepeople, but now it’s sort of all over the board. It functions as a bar, a cafe, a gallery, and a venue, with live performances ranging from folky-dokey bands to poetry slams and DJs. Like most creatures tucked under the viaduct, the OK lacks a solid identity but still manages to have a fingerprint. Weeknights are pretty quiet with plenty of dark corners to skulk in. Weekends tend to get some of the Pioneer Square spillover. The rotating art installments are more interesting to stare at when you’re drunk.

upshot: Get shit-faced, grab a Big Mac, ride the ferry.—P.D.

Re-bar

1114 Howell, 233-9873

Call for hours

Snacks

$

If ever there was an oldie-but-goodie, it’s Re-bar. While other Seattle nightspots attempt to lure in the city’s nouveau cosmo crowd and dot-com riche with glossy fronts and pricey cocktails, Re-bar’s got a faithful following hooked because the club—along with owner Steve Wells—is all heart. The venue has nurtured some of Seattle’s edgier performing talents, from Dina Martina to various Northwest drag kings, in addition to offering a handful of the city’s more enjoyable dance nights, including a Saturday evening devoted to ladies who love ladies, Sunday’s electronic explosion Flammable, and Thursday’s classic Queer Disco. Hosted by MC Queen Lucky, Queer Disco kicked other clubs’ Prada-clad bootys in Seattle Weekly‘s “Best of Seattle 2000,” coming in at the top slot for best dance-music night, thanks to an adoring public. Sounds reasonable to me: Why hand over your AmEx card for 14-karat gold when Queer Disco’s selling ’70s solid gold for $5?

upshot: The place to feel like an established part of the antiestablishment, whether it be by delivering an erotic monologue or break-dancing to Prince’s “Little Red Corvette.”—D.M.

Showbox

1426 First, 628-3151

box office Mon-Fri 11am-6pm; events 7pm-1:30am

$$

A cross between a first-rate discotheque and the cyclops cave from Homer’s Odyssey, the Showbox looms large. Not only because of the venue’s expanded interior—management K.O.’d the lounge a year ago to add even more room to the showroom—but also because the space attracts major acts, from indie-rock giants Sleater-Kinney to hip-hop mavericks the Roots to monumental turntablists like Derrick May. While daily live acts manage to fill the space with various Northwest types, weekend electronica nights are unofficially reserved for a particular crowd: the Belltown Beautiful. Don’t be intimidated by the blondes in heels or the frat hunks in sparkly muscle shirts. There’s plenty of room to get your groove on, and two bars for taking your inhibitions off. But journeypeople looking to make it home to Ithaca tonight, take heed: While the Barbies are as harmless as Penelope, the hornier Kens, like the cyclops Polyphemos, just might be pointing that one eye at you.

upshot: A downtown spot with an uptown feel, showcasing the nation’s coolest acts and Seattle’s hot-under-the-collar singles.—D.M.

W Hotel Bar

Thu-Sat 11am-2am, Sun-Mon 11am-11, Tue 11am-12:30am, Wed 11am-1am

1112 Fourth, 264-6187

Bar snacks from earth & ocean

$$-$$$

There’s a new leather bar in town—which is something of a warning, if you are so confident as to venture to this monochromatic style palace on a Friday night without so much as a buttery black handbag. And don’t even think about jeans, unless, of course you’re willing to accessorize with—everybody now!–LEATHER. Part of the fun of sitting in a giant, high-backed couch and slurping down frosty Cosmopolitan-like concoctions (not one woman was drinking a beer here; it’s all about the retro, rainbow-colored girlie cocktails) is the people-watching. You will sit, drink, and maybe even sample the aphrodisiacal bar snacks, but you will be swept up into this Dieter-esque fantasy world of black leather and geometric haircuts and insistent electronica. This is good. You are half-expecting to see someone famous, and half-convinced you yourself are famous. Maybe you are. Or, maybe you’re leatherless and stinkin’ drunk.

upshot: Welcome to the Land of People Who Aren’t From Here.—E.B.R.

Zig Zag Caf鼯B>

1501 Western, 625-1146

Daily 4pm-2am

Dinner, tapas

$$

Not only was Zig Zag voted “the best place to hide out and get tanked” by Seattle Weekly readers, but cutie Ben Dougherty, who is one of the owners, was voted best bartender in town. Tucked in the zig of the Pike Place Hillclimb (go down the stairs next to Kasala on Western), this pretty hideaway has the intimacy of a European bar—sophisticated but not flashy, hip but not trendy. The rose-colored lights are flattering, the drinks number in the hundreds, and the mostly thirtysomethings who favor the mixed cocktails are professional but not boring. And because it’s quiet enough to have a deep conversation, it’s a good place to take a first date and get to know him/her. (There’s also live music Sunday and Monday).

upshot: As intimate as you wanna get. —S.I.

CAPITOL HILL

Bad Juju Lounge

1518 11th, 709-9951

Mon-Fri 3:30pm-2am, Sat 5pm-2am, closed Sunday

Snacks

$

Metal Saturdays! Miller High Life in a bottle! Heaven? Maybe. While dorks in faux-python shirts will try to pick up your girlfriend when it’s her turn to get the drinks, don’t let it sour you. Bad Juju rises from the ashes of Safari (yes, the gay sports bar), a surly young upstart flailing its purple tentacles feverishly from the shadows. Gristly artwork hangs on black walls. Trillions of glass flames leaping from behind the bar will mean instant death for anyone in here during an earthquake. Weekdays are uncrowded, with laid-back table service and cheap snacks. Weekends fill it with castaways from surrounding bars—a great mix of big sexy chicks in latex pants, well-groomed gay kids, and bugbears in Sepultura T-shirts who pantomime all the drum fills to War Pigs. Drinks are sometimes priced according to how big of an asshole you’re being, and bartenders breathe fire on command.

upshot: Dark, smoky, evil, and a damning good time.—M.D.

Baltic Room

1207 Pine, 625-4444

Daily 5pm-2am

Dinner, snacks

$$

This Oasis-lovin’ mop-topped freak walks into a bar, all psyched for Britpop night, but the DJ’s spinning jungle. Then this dreadlocked hard-hop head walks into the same bar on a different night, ready to dance, and a buncha folks are twirling to Latin grooves. These fools gotta get with it: Once you figure out which night is which, the Baltic can’t be beat for sophistication and lively, romantic atmosphere— especially since adding a serviceable Asian menu and nabbing a hard liquor license. Lately, the Britpop DJs (Wednesday till late, Friday 6-9) have been packing ’em in, as have the long-running drum-and-bass night (Tuesday) and La Movida (Thursday). Oh yeah, and if you can’t score after getting plowed with a date in front of the faux fireplace on the comfy upper level, you’re in more trouble than ya thought.

upshot: Dancing, dates, and decreasing soberness usually leads to a fantastic night— especially when the lights are dimmed to extinction.—R.A.M.

Barǡ

1510 11th, 325-8263

Daily 4pm-2am

Dinner, lunch, snacks, weekend brunch

$$

First of all, save yourself potential embarrassment: It’s pronounced “bar-sah,” for those of us who didn’t spend a semester in Barcelona studying cedillas. And come to think of it, this bar has a couple things in common with that cheeky little diacritical: They both assert a sort of well-lettered, classy Euro chic, and they both can cause some confusion on your first read-through. The young Bar硠hasn’t found its footing just yet, so it’s different on different nights—and sometimes you’ll find it surprisingly empty. But it’s always swank and cozy, all wrought iron, burnt umber, and high ceilings, with the sort of rich rugs and curtains that make it a great rainy-night bar. The enormously high-backed booths might be the most inviting seats in the house, but perch yourself on the balcony if there’s anyone worth checking out.

upshot: Pike and Pine’s new anti-Comet, an after-hours at the Pottery Barn with a bunch of great wine.—P.H.

Canterbury Ale & Eats

534 15th, 322-3130

Mon-Fri 11am-2am, Sat-Sun 10am-2am

Dinner, lunch, snacks, breakfast

$

This upper Capitol Hill neighborhood joint has seen a few changes over the years (during a late 1980s live music phase, the great Jonathan Richman once crooned from its tiny stage), but its major identity has been a neighborhood hangout. The menu offers a surprisingly extensive list of sandwiches and light entr饳, although the drinking crowd seems partial to lots and lots of French fries, which means the interior of the Canterbury is generally permeated by the pleasant aroma of sizzling spuds. Mixed drinks are available, but the lengthy tap line (and good bottled beer selection) gets the most attention. The club is split into four small rooms, giving it an intimate feeling. The largest is dominated by a pair of pool tables, with lively groups of players hanging around for hours. Dark beams and white plaster detailing provide an English touch (as do the bathrooms, labeled “Lords” and “Ladies”).

upshot: A good place to achieve true balance with a beer in one hand, a cue stick in the other. —J.B.

Capitol Club

414 E Pine, 325-2149

Sun-Thu 5-11pm (restaurant), 5pm-2am (bar); Fri-Sat 5pm-midnight (rest.), 5pm-2am (bar)

Dinner, snacks

$$

Capitol Club may be located in the vicinity of Bimbo’s, Linda’s, and that sketchy crack alley of a street between Pine and Olive, but this ain’t no Capitol “Hill” Club. The establishment tends to draw a flashier, more upscale crowd, perhaps Belltownies and Queen Annesters slumming in Seattle’s more eccentric ‘hood or local Hillsters who need a break from Broadway’s teen punks and trinket shops. In the downstairs restaurant, a Greco-Indo atmo encourages clientele to lounge on pillows and lap up hummus. Upstairs, in the often-crowded bar and balcony area, smartly dressed revelers sip stiff drinks or step outside for a charming view of central Seattle. Club regulars—members, I suppose you’d call them—know this is a great gathering place for a birthday bash or Friday evening dash of Stoli.

upshot: It’s Urban Outfitters meets Armani Exchange in this faux-boho hangout.

—D.M.

Cha Cha Lounge

506 E Pine, 329-9978

Daily 4pm-2am

Snacks, nearby burritos (attached to Bimbo’s)

$

Holy scene! This place has it: rock star bartenders, thrift store fashionistas, Capitol Hill playas, and one of the best tikis in town. Maybe it’s the only tiki in town, but who gives a shit? If you’re looking to play that popular board game, My Town Is Hipper Than Yours, the Cha Cha is the place to take visitors from New York, Chicago, and San Fran. Always crowded and usually obscured by a thick fog of cigarette smoke, blasting music, and hair product-stench, consider yourself warned that the Cha Cha is not for the faint of heart. The tables around the bar in the front room are prime real estate—get there early and secure a spot but be ready to look bored and unaffected. At the Cha Cha, you’re never fully dressed without a scowl.

upshot: Seattle’s rock and roll see-and-be-scene.—L. L.

Comet Tavern

922 E Pike, 323-9853

Daily noon-2am

Snacks

$

If you just want a place to drink yourself shitty, play a little pinball, and shoot some stick, the Comet will do you just fine. The beer is cheap, the wine is cheap, the pool is cheap. Ambiance? Not really: Picture a clubhouse with really high ceilings. Best part about this bar is that it’s pretty much scenester free. Not uncommon to see a bloke hunkered down with a pitcher all to his lonesome. God bless the lonely. This is a great place to “unleash the mojo.”

upshot: Where hippies, butt-rockers, and old-school Seahawks fans can all share space at the bar.—P.D.

The Cuff

1533 13th, 323-1525

Daily 11am-2am

Snacks

$

Entering the front room of the Cuff— complete with overturned oil drums, a motorcycle, and plenty of red neon—feels like stepping into a M�y Cre video, and about as dangerous, too (although that poster of a lion topping a sleeping naked dude is pretty disturbing). With the addition of a postage stamp-sized dance floor and expanded patio a couple years back, the Cuff became a refuge for fags concerned that Neighbors wasn’t gay enough anymore. But the bartenders do mix fine libations, so if you’ve come here in search of something stiff, you won’t walk away empty-handed.

upshot: Good times for the gay and gritty.—K.B.R.

Deluxe Bar & Grill

625 Broadway E., 324-9697

Daily 11am-2am (may close earlier, at bartender’s discretion)

Brunch, lunch, dinner

$$

Like the pig in the Market, it’s just so easy to meet at the Deluxe. Any idiot can find it. You’re not going to get it confused with the other Thai place or the other leather bar. There’s not much of a line. You can get an adequate burger or baked potato. The bartender knows how to pour his Guinness. Admittedly, the recent upscaling has made it about as endearing, and as swank, as a Starbucks. And the dismal soundtrack varies from smooth jazz to wretched rock. But it’s pleasant enough, and right there on the corner, and well outside the Broadway parade, and sometimes—many times—that’s all you really care to aspire to.

upshot: A great first date spot for someone you’re not that interested in.—M.D.F.

The Seattle Eagle Tavern

314 E Pike, 621-7591

Daily 2pm-2am

Snacks

$

The split-level layout and red lighting of the closest thing to a real leather bar in Seattle (particularly on weekends) recalls the set of a community theater production of Sweet Charity. But don’t worry—though some of the patrons strike poses that would make Bob Fosse proud, there’s nary a show tune in earshot; the DJs here are rock connoisseurs. A gay bar that plays Wishbone Ash and Afghan Whigs? Sign us up! Order a mason jar of suds, jockey for position along the upstairs rail, and know that even if you go home alone (unlikely), you’ll hear some kick-ass tunes regardless. You can also get a first-rate boot-polishing, unless the chair is otherwise engaged.

upshot: Two turntables and a lot of leather.—K.B.R.

Hopscotch

332 15th E, 322-4191

Tues-Fri 3pm-late, Sat 2pm-late, closed Sun-Mon

Dinner, snacks

$$-$$$

Ten-thousand-dollar bill burning a hole in your Dockers pocket? Pop into Hopscotch and git yerself a bottle of 30-year-old Glenfiddich Stags Head (unless it’s just a joke on the menu). Or you may want to save some bucks and sample a glass from the list of 140 types of scotch, from the smoothest stuff on the planet to damn near turpentine. Or you may want to skip scotch altogether: Folks from this low-key Capitol Hill ‘hood frequent the handsome Hopscotch for tasty dinners (lotsa meat on the menu, as befits a UK-themed establishment), a beer and a snack, or a late-night dessert of bananas Foster and/or bread pudding. And heck, cheapskates can score a pint and a mac-and-cheese ($3) at a low, low price that’ll make your kilt fly up.

upshot: Food, friends, and a whole lotta scotch.—R.A.M.

Ileen’s Sports Bar

300 Broadway E, 324-0229

Daily 8am-2 am, kitchen open until 8 pm

Lunch, snacks

$

Lovers of watering holes that time never touched went into mourning when Ernie Steele’s on Broadway changed hands and was slated for conversion to a sports bar, of all things. They needn’t have worried. The bar’s trademark mounted animal heads still stare glassy-eyed at the beer-quaffing hordes below—a faded portrait of Ernie himself (a former Husky gridiron star) is visible over the bar. The main room’s high ceiling helps keep the cigarette smoke in the air at a breathable level. Four large televisions hang high above the action, but even in the middle of a recent Husky football game, only a few stalwarts at one end of the bar paid them any attention.

upshot: The basic Ileen’s M.O.: People arrive in groups and wait impatiently to snare one of the prized booths so they can talk and drink and smoke on into the night.—J.B.

Linda’s Tavern

707 E Pine, 325-1220

Mon-Fri 4pm-2am, Sat-Sun 10am-2am

Lunch, dinner, weekend brunch

$

This faux-Western bar is Capitol Hill’s rec room: Everybody’s drinking Rainier and not copping too much attitude under the nonjudgmental stare of the taxidermied buffalo head. Linda’s is homey; it’s where you go when you actually only sort of want to go out. The service is a lot better than it was a while back, though you may still malinger on the back deck when it’s busy, and the cowboy food is A-OK, especially the tasty meat loaf sandwich. There’s a good jukebox and a pool table and occasionally the great DJ El Toro, but you may want to avoid the rockabilly night, for which the volume on the crap speakers is cranked to a last-nerve-shattering level. We only drink beer or shots here; Linda, dear, could you tell your lovely staff to have a little more of a glad hand with the pour? ‘Preciate ya.

upshot: Everybody comes to Linda’s for an old West-style casual hangout.—B.J.C.

Manray

514 E Pine, 568-0750

Mon-Sat 4pm-2am, Sun 9am-3pm (brunch) and 3pm-2am (happy hour)

Weekend brunch

$-$$

After ARO.space sadly deteriorated from the talk of the town to yesterday’s news, homos with a penchant for modern architectural angles and cute boys’ curves had to find new, equally classy boozing and cruising grounds. Voila Manray, a video bar where you can bet Madonna’s “Music” does indeed make the people come together. With an all-white interior that hums futuristic chic, the bar looks something like the pad of the Jetsons’ long-lost lush of a grandmother—if there was such a character. If not, no prob: She would make a fab identity for one of the drag queens who sometimes mingle with Manray’s mostly clean-cut clientele. In spite of past noise hassles with the open-air patio and rival bar R-Place’s location right across the street, Manray keeps packing the out boys in.

upshot: The equivalent of Britney Spears, a somewhat sassy girl who’ll temporarily do for a diva-starved gay community waiting for the next best Miss Thing.—D.M.

Satellite Lounge

1118 E Pike, 324-4019

Daily 11:30am-2am

Lunch, dinner, bar menu (until 10pm weekdays, 11pm Sat-Sun)

$$

Put another dime (or is it now a dollar?) in the jukebox, baby, cuz you’re at the Satellite, where the TV’s always on and the MTV medleys from your high-school days will be blaring. But don’t worry, be happy; there’s cheap food and plenty of it to keep your mind off the Guns N’ Roses. Watch the game, watch the news, and watch the clock—you may find yourself asking “How did I get here?” when suddenly it’s last call and you arrived when it was still light out. The anything-goes mood is just the thing for Wild Rose regulars or UW professors. Spectacles, pierced faces, and baggy jeans saunter in, adding to the unisex crowd. But it’s uncomplicated and congenial. A would-be patron stepped inside with his buddies and said, “They’ve got Tom Jones playing. It can’t be that bad.”—E.B.R.

upshot: Like your living room, but with more strangers and less early Madonna.

Six Arms Tavern

300 E Pike, 223-1698

Mon-Thu, 11am-1am, Fri-Sat, 11am-2am, Sun noon-midnight

Lunch, dinner, snacks

$

Working its funky juju, Capitol Hill seems to have sucked all the corporate poisons out of this McMenamins export and left only the good stuff: tasty quaff, huge comfortable booths, and a welcoming vibe. Whether you’re wearing gold lam頰ants and fishnet gloves, sporting tats and a skateboard, or showing off your cleanest T-shirt and jeans, it don’t matter, as long as you want to eat, imbibe, and talk all friendly and peaceful-like. Books (look for Ally Sheedy’s “poems”), folksy statues, Turkish rugs, and Sputnik-inspired sculpture are eclectic without being overly T.G.I. Fridays and somehow manage to make the cavernous space of this former garage feel cozy and intimate. The fries are yummy, cheap, and absorptive; Dylan’s on the stereo. Did we mention how comfy the booths are? Plus, the drunker you get, the bigger the smile on the vat o’ brew by the bathrooms.

upshot: A friendly neighborhood tavern.—D.S.

Wild Rose

1021 E Pike, 324-9210

Mon 3pm-midnight, Tue-Wed 3pm-1am, Thu noon-1am, Fri noon-2am, Sat-Sun 3pm-2am

Lunch, dinner

$$

With its no-frills tables, chairs, and neon beer signs serving as decoration, the Wild Rose distinguishes itself from other nondescript watering holes with its mostly female clientele. Walk by any evening of the week, and you’ll see women huddled around talking shop, softball, or gossiping about bad dates (“She did what?!”). Boys are welcome, but understandably, only a few venture in. Extra diversion is provided by two pool tables and a jukebox filled with female voices—Indigo Girls, Melissa Etheridge, Sinead O’Connor, and Lilith Fair compilations.

upshot: Tomboy central.—S.I.