There are a couple places near and dear to the heart of every true Seattle resident. Your local coffee purveyor. The local farmer’s market. Elliott Bay Books. And, of course, that haven where you can shut out the real world for awhile, where everybody knows your name: your neighborhood bar.

Over the next few days or weeks, your humble scribblers at Metroblogging Seattle will be writing up their favorite watering holes. We spared no research expense by choosing the places where, well, we happen to like to drink. Got a place we should try? Let us know in comments.

With the introductions out of the way, let’s fight our way through the 520 traffic to Montlake Boulevard and head south for a few blocks. Just after you pass the still-incomplete library building, look to the west side of the street. Right next to Cafe Lago, home of the best gnocchi in town, you’ll see: the Montlake Ale House.

The Montlake Ale House (2307 24th Ave E) opened up a year or two ago in the space formerly occupied by Grady’s. The Grady’s regulars, a motley assortment of barflies and college frat boys, hated it on sight. Too clean, said the Grady’s people. Too yuppie. Too many kids. And no good dive should have sandwiches served on foccacia bread, for Chrissake.

So they left, and were immediately replaced by a quirky assortment of families, slumming university profs, local Montlake folks, and thirty-somethings of a political bent. The families liked the sunken play pit in the back of the restaurant, complete with carpet and strewn with toys. The rest of us came for the greyhounds, Maker’s manhattans, Mac & Jack pitchers, and the food.

Oh yeah, the food. That roast beef on foccacia is great. I still don’t know why they bother serving pasta dishes with Cafe Lago right next door, but they make a decent ravioli. The real secret to the place, though, is that the cook knows his Tex Mex. The nachos are the best in town. If you’re not that hungry, get some chips and guacamole. If you want a full meal, try the tacos durango.

On Tuesday nights, the Montlake Ale House plays host to Drinking Liberally, a gathering of politically-minded folks that is pretty much what it sounds like. I gather that they had a pretty good time mocking Bush’s State of the Union on Tuesday.

Trivia Night is Wednesday night. It’s been quiet lately, but used to be one of the best trivia contests in Seattle, for a simple reason: you win, you get 50% off of your tab. “My God,” said a friend one day during a moment of restaurant-wide silent concentration, “I never knew anyone could take bar trivia that seriously.” My friend, you don’t understand: there are cheap drinks on the line here. Show up and help us bring the night back to life.

There are a bunch of TVs in the place, where you can keep an eye on the latest game while you eat. It’s not usually a sports bar vibe, though there are exceptions. Sunday promises to be one of those exceptions. Be nice to Matt, the bartender, though: for reasons known only to him and God, he’s a Steelers fan.

“There’s nothing flashy about the Montlake Ale House,” says the Seattle Weekly, “…but the vibe is very, very comfortable.” And they’re right: it’s a friendly neighborhood pub, the perfect watering hole. Try it sometime.