The District Lounge If you’ve ever dreamed of living inside a Lava Lamp, the District is your kind of bar. And if you’ve ever imagined returning to the womb and finding $3 drink specials there, you might feel just as much at home. The U District’s most unsung watering hole is tucked beneath a towering Best Western, so it’s no surprise that the lounge seems virtually empty most weekday evenings. That’s a shame, because the District’s soft red-orange lighting and endlessly plush booth-couches recall the good old days when all we did was float and kick. On a recent evening, the sound system bled cold-comfort music into the place—mostly Radiohead, Morrissey, and Belle & Sebastian—as we raised $3 well drinks and $4 glasses of red wine (selected whites are $3 as well), snacking all the while on a gorgeous small bites plate ($9). Essentially a nouveau antipasto assortment, the plate was like a still life: white bean paté, perfectly smoked almonds, olive tapenade, roasted garlic, and various vegetables arranged beside an exquisitely broken heap of taro chips and crispy flatbreads. Happy hour is from 3 to 6 p.m. daily; on weekend evenings, there’s live jazz piano. 4507 N.E. Brooklyn St., 206-547-4134. UNIVERSITY DISTRICT $$

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