2051 E Madison St (Central District), 322-2029. Tues-Fri 4 pm-2 am, Sat-Sun 5 pm-2 am, closed Mondays. $.

Oscar McCoy and his German wife, Barbara, opened their second bar/restaurant in its present Central District location in 1986, and Barbara is still waiting tables while Oscar cooks. Their menu focuses on good old-fashioned comfort food--Southern favorites and soul food, along with diner fare like burgers and fries. Old standbys like New York Steak ($9.50) and BBQ Chicken Legs ($8) are done just right, and most entrées come with moist, pancake-style cornbread and your choice of two sides. Try the macaroni and cheese (creamy and delicious), red beans and rice (highly filling), or the heavenly greens: Oscar's collards are succulent and fortifying, with added crunch provided by onion and cabbage, while a meat stock contributes a deeper flavor. After weathering a late-'90s wave of police harassment against local African American clubs, Oscar's is better than ever--so whether you go for the food or the nightly DJ soul music, get your butt on down there! MELODY MOSS

Sapphire

625 Queen Anne Ave N (Queen Anne), 281-1931. Sun-Wed 5:30-10 pm; Thurs-Sat 5:30-11 pm; bar open until 1 am. $$.

While the pungent scent of hip pretense can occasionally be detected here, the food is still graceful, honorable, and marked by natural and hearty Mediterranean flavors. The Chef's Platter, billed as "a daily selection of little bites, antipasti, and salads" ($10), is a mammoth trough that seems almost big enough to jump in. Cauliflower florets are lightly steamed, a modest counterpoint to the other more heavily flavored "little bites": Crunchy asparagus, toasted pecans, thin slices of Granny Smith apples, purple Finn potatoes, tangy golden beets, marinated ahi, baba ghanoush, and little balls of fresh mozzarella complete this exhaustively thorough appetizer. Fedelini pasta ($10), with shaved delicata squash and mellow cheese, creates a warm and soft cloud upon which to lay our hunger. Smartly spiced, the Moroccan-style "Oregon Lamb" stew ($16) blends creamily with Arborio rice, underscoring Chef Leonard Ruiz Rede's firm grasp of his "Mediterranean plus fresh Northwest" game plan. JIM ANDERSON

Buongusto

2232 Queen Anne Ave N (Queen Anne), 284-9040. Dinner daily 5-10 pm, lunch Tues-Fri 11:30 am-2:00 pm. $$.

Queen Anne's best Italian restaurant feels like a "special occasions" kind of restaurant. You know: After the wake, before the wedding, whatever--there are some events which require that special blend of elegant dining with a relaxed atmosphere. With a candlelit dining room and affable owner Salvio as your host, Buongusto offers that same serene experience. But the best part is that this is not Rocky's Italian food; this is minty olive oil on tomato bruschetta ($5.25), pumpkin ravioli with raisins and walnuts ($12.95), perfectly spiced beef and grilled vegetable lasagna ($11.95), and a host of other delicate wonders. The food and ambience are so enjoyable, in fact, you'll find yourself eagerly counting the days till the next wake. NATHAN THORNBURGH

Jade Pagoda

606 Broadway E, 322-5900 (Capitol Hill). Open daily 5 pm-1:30 am; happy hour 5-7 pm. $$.

The bare, bald exterior and shabby entranceway of this faux Chinese temple may be depressing, but strut right past the silent restaurant and head for the bar on the side. In this small, unpretentious room, saucy bartenders will charm your pants off as you sip, giggle, and gossip until last call with chatty queens, Cornish kids, and drunken writers. Pours are generous, the jukebox exuberant, and the food--from salty chow mein to burgers and fries to vodka-friendly fried wontons and egg rolls--well, the food is perfect if you want to prevent a mean case of the morning-after "liquor polio." Don't show up with a book, or post-breakup misery, although the cozy corners might be ideal for moping. Dimly lit (everybody looks good in here!) with an inexplicable retro-Americanized-Chinese vibe, this place works best as a fun, relaxed hideaway, where it's so easy to keep missing the #7 bus outside. Frat boys and retail girls beware: We don't like your kind 'round here. MIN LIAO

Flapjacks Too

9655 16th Ave SW (West Seattle), 762-4073. Daily 6 am-9 pm. $.

Flapjacks' dining room is composed of booths and banks of fluorescent lights. Daily specials, obscured by the partial fog emitted from everyone's cigarettes, are a superfluous gesture in light of the menu's gracious expanse. On most breakfast menus at other restaurants, the meat choices are separated by commas and the word "or," as in "bacon, sausage patty, OR links." At Flapjacks, the menu lists meat after meat connected by the word "AND": Served on two plates in under 10 minutes, the "R'U' Hungry I" platter begs the question with two eggs, two strips of bacon, two sausages, two pancakes, mealy hashbrowns, AND biscuit with sausage gravy. "R'U' Hungry II" substitutes French toast for flapjacks, with ham as the meat feature, and "R'U' Hungry III" involves pork chops and applesauce. You get the idea--all for $6.25. The omelet selection borders on baroque with the Tropicana Omelet ($5.95), which is essentially piña-colada-flavored eggs. RACHEL KESSLER

Cocktail Pep

My dad is a notoriously picky eater and really hard to shop for, but Oh Boy! Oberto’s giant bag of Cocktail Peps solved my family’s dinner and gift-giving problems forever. Cocktail Peps are not just for snacking!

Serve as fancy schmancy hors d’oeuvres on those cute sword toothpicks! Great for cheap beer and malt liquor tastings! Or whip up this delicious Pep-A-Ghetti meal in minutes: It’s a guaranteed plate-licker for children and other adherents of the beige/brown diet (people who eat only foods approximately beige/brown in color), like Pops Kessler.

Pep-A-Ghetti

1 jar of spaghetti sauce (large)
1 8 oz. box of long spaghetti noodles
10 sticks of Cocktail Peps, chopped
1/2 cup corn, drained
Cook pasta according to package directions.
Add spaghetti sauce, Peps, and corn. Cook until hot.

For dessert, pass around toothpicks and construct model log cabins and Eiffel Towers with the remaining pepperoni sticks. When your meaty architecture is ?nished, get ready for fun! Pretend you are Godzilla on the American frontier, crushing logs between your terrible teeth, or practice your French as you chomp away on that most gloried of industrial icons. Be sure and take pictures BEFORE you begin play-acting and eating, as extended handling of Cocktail Peps tends to leave a greasy residue that could damage photographic equipment. RACHEL KESSLER