Description: Eastlake Bar & Grill has a massive patio overlooking South Lake Union that fills up quickly when the sun is shining, so hurry. It's clean inside, with pale wood and nondescript furnishings, the service is brisk and affable, and the general mood is pleasant enough. If the bar were a person, it'd be your old roommate Shannon who was mostly mute but paid her bills and sometimes supplied the house with a case of Mello Yello just to be nice. (I know, I'd totally forgotten about her, too. I guess she moved back to Nebraska and runs a tanning salon out of her cousin's basement.)

Scene on a Wednesday evening: Outside, people at tables stare at all the boats and clouds and sparkly water positioned so thrillingly near, a server says "Booyah" as he drops a bill, and confident-looking guys wear sunglasses upside down at the base of their necks and plaid shorts. Meanwhile, inside, a neuroscientist talks about robots—it's hard to teach them to walk on carpeting, he says—while across the room, a pretty blond is laughing and shouting, "It fits in your armpit. You push it in."

Happy hours: Daily 3–6 pm, 9 pm–close.

Happy-hour drink specials: Beer—$1.99 PBR tallboys, $2.99 Coors Light, $3.50 Blue Moon, $3.99 Boundary Bay IPA and Widmer Hefeweizen; wine—$3.99 Talus merlot or pinot grigio, other brands $1 off; wells—$3.99 single/$5.99 double; select cocktails—the $4.99 Berry Fizz has Absolut Raspberri vodka, fresh strawberry lemonade, soda; shots—$3.99 Fireball whiskey liqueur.

Happy-hour food specials: A huge menu of standard-issue snacks such as a $2.99 Caesar, $3.99 hummus plate, $4.99 cheeseburger and fries. MARTI JONJAK