IMAGE: Vivianjohnson.com

It just underwent a major remodel, but Blitz Pearl (110 NW 10th Ave. 222-2229), the bartender tells me, was a sports bar to begin with. They just made it bigger. Flat-screens are omnipresent across the club’s bright yellow walls, so you’d better be a basketball fan. Or, if you plan to enjoy Blitz’s pool tables, air hockey and darts, at least some kind of a fan of competitive sporting. Comfortable black leather couches are everywhere you turn, so despite the games it’s possible to relax with a whiskey and tune out the Pearl’s social scene. But that would be missing the point a bit: Blitz is clearly a convenient meet-up spot for Pearly young singles: On my visit everyone seemed to act like they were on blind dates; the abundance of games providing a welcome diversion from the possibility of awkward small talk. Blitz’s main room is sunk below street level, so if you stand on your tiptoes you can crane your neck to see passersby. If subterranean and sporty aren’t your drinking-hole criteria, try the smaller street-level room, which is quiet, empty of flat-screens and—on the day I dropped in—customers, too.