Barber Shop

Cafe Lago

From the regulars cozied up to the counter to the black-and-white checkered floor, Cafe Lago is like an Italian Cheers blended with Mayberry's barbershop. It's welcoming, unhurried, and neighborhoody, with the waitstaff dispensing good-natured barbs and advice as easily as Chianti and antipasti. I always feel like the residents of Montlake have convened here after walking their golden retrievers, picking up their children from daycare, and reading The Economist in the library across the street. In their khakis and Gore-Tex coats, they nod hello to neighbors who are tucked into booths that seem as familiar to them as their own dining room tables a few blocks away. (I have actually heard a customer order "the usual" here.) Cafe Lago's trim, one-page food menu is the culinary equivalent of the barbershop's blackboard permanently advertising a "buzz" and "shave." There's nothing trendy here—expect a few rustic standards done to perfection. The crisp wood-fired pizzas are laden with goodies such as roasted peppers, smoked mozzarella, and caramelized onions. The vodka-cream gnocchi is slightly denser than a cloud. Surprisingly—in a very good way—so is the fluffy lasagna. SARA NIEGOWSKI

Serves: dinner. 2305 24th Ave. E., 329-8005. MONTLAKE $$

www.cafelago.com

With all the right elements and an ample amount of charm, this cleanly elegant little sister of Belltown's Le Pichet has become a neighborhood gathering point, almost a salon in both senses of the word. Here, you can share a cheap pichet (about four glasses) of a jammy red like Les Hérétiques with your eggs and read from a wide array of magazines for sale, or watch international soccer games (check the online schedule to see who's playing). Despite its worldly airs, the place is as down-to-earth as it comes, creating equal spaces for social opportunity and intimacy. Local gallerist Scott Lawrimore is one person that's made use of this, by hosting an early-morning gathering of artists and critics every Tuesday. The same menu, with its melty croques messieurs and air-cured ham seemingly infused with butter, is available all day long. As one friend likes to ask, referring to the delicious salade verte with hazelnuts, "Lillet and lettuce at 10 p.m.?" I always take her up on the suggestion. RACHEL SHIMP

Serves: breakfast, lunch, dinner, late night. 1117 12th Ave., 709-7674. CAPITOL HILL $-$$

www.cafepresseseattle.com

I was hunched over the piroshky display when I heard the woman at the register ask for a "stuffed thing" her co-worker had gotten the day before. The man behind the counter immediately knew who she was referring to as well as his entrée of choice. Near us, two more women were gossiping as they waited for to-go salads before heading their separate ways. It's easy to miss Cafe Yarmarka, tucked as it is off Post Alley. But the customers there know one another and the staff the way a good barber knows what his clients mean when they say they want it "a little shorter than Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music but not as short as in Victor/Victoria." It's the place where you become intimate gossips with total strangers through the joy of great customer service. Here the food is what brings it all together: piroshkies bursting with a stuffing for every craving, traditional Russian salads that rely more on the flavor of the ingredients than on oozing mayonnaise, and a loyal customer base that can help newcomers navigate the selection. LAURA ONSTOT

Serves: breakfast, lunch. 1530 Post Alley, 521-9054. PIKE PLACE MARKET $

Forget reviews and tourist guides, and don't even consider the Internet. I learn everything I need to know about a breakfast joint by the size of the line snaking out the door as the hour flirts between lunch and brunch. If there's a seat available, it's probably for a reason. Geraldine's Counter is where Columbia City assembles for Sunday brunch, and where the rest of us wait patiently for our table or spot at the counter. The meal transcends the greasy-spoon genre with a hint of kitschy class. Perhaps incidentally, the glassware coordinates with the meal: my mug matches the avocado in my omelet, the jar of Heinz my plate—which is not heaping with hash browns and toast but instead with a generous helping of fruit. For once, you'll feel better walking out than you did on the way in. CHRIS KORNELIS

Serves: breakfast, lunch, dinner. 4872 Rainier Ave. S., 723-2080. COLUMBIA CITY $

www.geraldinescounter.com

There are a few hideouts in the market where, for whatever reason, the tourists just don't seem to venture. Pan Africa Market is one of those places. The lunch crowd is mostly working locals, come to sop up stews, meats, and veggies with Ethiopian injera bread while chatting with the waitstaff and watching the foot traffic on First Avenue. With its burnt-orange and yellow decor, friendly owners, casually arrayed tables, and generally relaxed atmosphere, this refuge from the market madness has a familiar neighborhood feeling. Like the best old-timey barbershop, you're there not just for the service but for the sense of connection. All the better that it's one of the few places downtown to get a great sit-down, fresh-cooked, no-fuss, no-teriyaki meal for cheap. MARK D. FEFER