The new Lower Queen Anne bar's cornhusk-wrapped tamales, which are filled with your choice of chicken, pork or veggies, are a perfect match for a Shiner Bock beer. And if you show up during happy hour (4 to 7 p.m. daily) this killer one-two punch of barley and cornmeal can be yours for six bucks.

This dueling-piano bar boast two baby grands and a revolving team of performers who crack jokes and pound out everything from Billy Joel to Def Leppard to Sir Mix-A-Lot.

Got a lust for life? This cheerfully rough-and-tumble punk bar will bring out your inner stooge.

This humble tiki bar is destined to become one of our mightiest weapons against Seasonal Affective Disorder. Drinks here are served as the tiki gods intended -- in mugs shaped like coconuts and festooned with paper umbrellas.

This is a nice place to hang out, play some pool or a board game, and relax with a tasty, frothy pint. We recommend you try the thick Terminator Stout.

This diner has been serving modestly priced burgers, breakfast and pie for decades. It's adjoined by a magnificent dive bar that proudly declares, "Booze makes you cuter -- so come in for a make-over."

Ozzie's hosts some of the liveliest karaoke you'll find in Seattle, seven nights a week.

The Paragon plays host to "very live music," including everything from funk and hip-hop to blues and Latin. The dining-room menu is respectable and seafood-heavy, and the bar turns out classic cocktails like martinis, cosmos, grape nehis and lemon drops with ease and flair.

The seafood and Latin/Asian fusion dishes here are made with zestful ingenuity, and are quite enjoyable if you can ignore the loud music, bared midriffs and amber-lit Alhambra/dungeon vibe.

As ridiculous as "punk rock fine dining" sounds, it somehow fits perfectly at Solo, lower Queen Anne's haven for anyone hoping to avoid the neighborhood's typical meat-market crowd.

What unites sports fans across borders? Fried food, if The Spectator Bar and Grill is any indication.

Sport Restaurant & Bar by Seattle Center welcomes sports fans of all ages. It has 48 TV screens and a menu that includes wings, pizzas, deli sandwiches, Kobe beef burgers and expertly grilled steaks and salmon, among other things.

Sully's Lounge, opened in July by self-proclaimed "bar guys" Marcus and Thomas Tellefson and Sean Sullivan "Sully" McShane, is exactly what it aims to be: a mellow spot to watch a ball game, have a shot, drink a beer, eat a steak.

"Seattle's second-best cocktail lounge" has a lot to offer -- an energetic yet mature vibe, a deep specialty drink menu and a selection of premium vodkas, rums and scotches that skims the divine.