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A local's look at the top bars, pubs and clubs, and the hottest nights to be there with text and photos.

Bars and Pubs in Seattle

Peso's is the place for food, drink and to see singles.

• Seattle's Best Bars & Clubs
• Nightclubs and Dance Clubs Guide

Every city worthy of a cocktail has the kind of place that could be considered home base. A bar where, on any given night, it's cool to hang out with the knowledge that, if anything is likely to happen that night, it will start there.

Like a past boyfriend or girlfriend, one can always call upon this "old reliable" to be there, be receptive and sometimes turn the night into one to remember.

In Seattle, that place is Pesos. A quaint Mexican cantina (why are these places almost always cantinas?) tucked away on a small street in the Lower Queen Anne neighborhood, Pesos is a Happy Hour Heaven that gets a bit crazier with each margarita. The crowd is among the best-looking in Seattle – 20s and 30s, good jobs, casually smartly dressed – seeking an escape from the office and slave-driving boss. Fridays are particularly popular, though it packs potential all nights.

If dreams don't come true at Pesos, then Seattle has plenty of other pubs and bars to find a fantasy. Location is the key, as specific areas stack in bars the way Pike Place stacks fish:

• Belltown
• Pioneer Square/Downtown
• Fremont

Belltown [MAP]

Girls chat it up at Belltown Billiards; at right is a bartender at the Cloud Room.

Not far from Peso's – it's not an unreasonable walk – is the hip area known as Belltown. The bar/restaurant activity rivals that of Peso's, though with a slightly more upscale tone. Whereas shorts will work at Peso's on a comfortable summer night, they would be like a fish out of water in Belltown. (See our Dining Guide for Belltown's best restaurants.)

This is the home of Belltown Billiards, which is where any single person in Seattle should be on Wednesday nights. A swanky martini bar with singles is Axis, where people only pretend to be in conversation with their friends. In reality, they are making a subtle move on the hottie a few notches down the bar. Among those likely to be making moves are members of the SuperSonics NBA team (he goes left, he goes right, he shoots, he ....).

By night, Belltown Pizza becomes less pizza and more pizzazz, its low-lit bar area suitable for menu browsing of a different kind. Across the street, Ohana Japanese Polynesian Grill has good bar possibilities, especially on "off" nights such as Sundays and Tuesdays.

On the edge of Belltown (technically in Queen Anne) is Tini Biggs. It's famous for martinis and is crowded almost every night. People tend to be in groups here, so while it's good for a drink, a date or a "just-met" follow-up, it's less productive as a singles stop.

Pioneer Square/Downtown [MAP]

The J&M is often like a UDub college rush party

Historic brick buildings line 1st Avenue in the old area of Pioneer Square, and most of them house small bars and pubs. A single cover charge of $10 – payable at any of the bars – is good for entrance to the dozen or so places in the immediate area. There's a jazz bar, a salsa bar, dirty pubs and Irish bars. Take your pick.

To skip a cover altogether and have fun with the circuit of people going in & out of the clubs, hit the J&M. Known for smelling like "Drakkar & beer" it's a frat/sorority breeding ground. Great eye candy, young, innocent, tight and right.

A pair of fun Irish pub are worth a pint (or two, three or more). The Owl and Thistle is the real thing, laid back with great music on weekends. It's a good place to hang with people you know. Fado is new and trendy, an Irish bar with an upbeat atmosphere.

Downtown – Marcus' Martini Bar is an underground find that draws a good crowd. No dancing but you might feel like it after trying some of its 64 martinis. If it's early, or a weekend afternoon, Kell's Pub (down an alley from Pike Place) is a casual beer stop.

Remember that 80's TV show with Crystal Bernard ( not "Wings"), where there a bunch of waitresses/bar people at high rise hotel with a cheesy piano player? That place actually exists.Well, it did. It was the Cloud Room in The Camlin hotel. It's closed now, due to open as another establishement.

Fremont [MAP]

Funky Fremont area is lined with rustic pubs and bars.

Once an artistic community of free expression – how else to explain a statue giving tribute to Lenin – Fremont is now being slightly transformed into a more mainstream area.

Oh, the old dives are still there. The Triangle is one of our favorites. So, too, is the creaky and sometimes out-of-control Dubliner. Just hang back and hang loose. Then when things start to happen, jump in. The Triangle, by the way, is owned by the same guy who runs Pesos.

But just around this corner in this tiny community that can be walked in about 10 minutes are a few new places that reflect the changing times. Take The Red Door, for example. It used to be a total dive located a few blocks from its current spot. Now, it's a pristine place, with a well-lit fresh wooden bar and a concrete patio so clean it appears to have just been poured yesterday. They kept the red door, by the way, as many of its patrons, though it seems the latter is a bit better behaved than before.

The Ballroom is also a classy bar with a nice patio. Dad Watson's is a restaurant/bar that could almost – almost – be considered upscale. It's a good spot for drinks. El Camino is a classy Mexican restaurant but feel free to stop in for a couple of strong margarita at the bar.

Of course, you can get down-and-dirty at the Red Hook Brewery. A small bar serves all kinds of this native Seattle brew and on cool, rainy days or nights, snuggle up with a mate on the couch and let the crackling fireplace provide the background music. If there's no mate in site, then snuggle up with a beer and see who you could be with by reading the personal ads in The Stranger.

Seattle Pubs & Bars Locations

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