Amanda Reed loves a challenge—and making "dealer's choice" drinks at Tavern Law (1406 12th Ave, 322-9734) is right up her alley, as the San Francisco transplant and level II certified sommelier prides herself (and her fellow bartenders) on the ability to come up with new drinks on the spot. Though she describes her own style as "really delicate and aromatic and floral," incorporating fortified wines like sherry into custom cocktails, she says that people most often ask for "manhattan variations and, on the opposite spectrum, gin-based drinks." On her own time, Amanda heads to her local, the Hideout (1005 Boren Ave, 903-8480), for "whiskey or mezcal or Chartreuse."

With perks like a vending machine that dispenses little works of art and karaoke on the first Sunday of every month, this spot charms over other bars on First Hill. "There's so much to look at, it's romantic and dark, and you can get a good cocktail—it's the kind of cocktail bar that I'd like to own one day, and the kind of place you can go nightly without it being a whole to-do." And rather than offer a standard photo booth, the Hideout features "a cocktail called the Andy Warhol—I don't even know what's in it because I'm always with someone who orders it—where they take a Polaroid of you and give it to you. Now I have all these random Polaroids of different moments in time with random people." recommended