The Lookout
757 Bellevue Ave E, 860-2752

Description: A cute little neighborhood bar with a great view, located near Capitol Hill's bewildering Bellevue, Bellevue, and Bellevue intersection.

Decor: Messages in bottles in various forms, from the street-art-style seascape mural (featuring bottles scattered over the roiling waves) to the actual message-stuffed glass bottles that hang above the bartender.

Messages in bottles, a user's guide: Don't fear the corny. In the late '50s, Ake, a Swedish sailor, met and later married Paolina, a Sicilian girl, after she'd received the note he'd cast out to sea: "To someone beautiful and far away... write to me, whoever you are." And beware of dickhead maneuvers: In 2006, a high-school girl in Oregon received a chatty letter from someone who'd found her note on the shore. He claimed to be a 16-year-old Honolulu boy named Keoni who loved surfing and football and was probably a dreamboat but was really just a married, 34-year-old, chubby white guy. "If I would've said I'm a married, 34-year-old, chubby white guy, it would have sounded creepy," Keoni, whose real name is Tom, told a KHON-TV news reporter after the ruse was exposed.

Happy hours: Mon 4 pm–2 am, Tues–Sun 4–7 pm.

Happy-hour drink specials: $4 house wine, $3 micros (9 Lb. Porter, Hale's IX Gold), $4 well drinks.

Food specials: $5 appetizers (pita pizza, mac 'n' cheese).