Bar Guide 2014: Gold Dust Meridian

3267 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 239-1143, golddustmeridian.com. 2 pm-2:30 am daily.

Since its inception a few years back, the Gold Dust has quietly held up its end as a utility bar for a seemingly endless array of social contingents—from happy-hour account managers to late-night dandies who stop in for a friend's DJ set. The lighting is appropriately dim, the booths are deep enough for privacy, the rear patio is something of a local treasure—unless you ask the persnickety neighbors—the food menu is a step above regular bar fare and includes reliable shellfish dishes, and the beer taps lately pour the Commons Farmhouse Ale. It is a useful bar, and it is a good bar. And if you're not a fiend for Belgian beer (in which case go to Bazi), it's the best bar on Hawthorne. 

Happy hour: 2-8 pm daily. Food specials, 50 cents off drafts and wells, $1 off wine.

WWeek 2015

Matthew Korfhage

Matthew Korfhage has lived in St. Louis, Chicago, Munich and Bordeaux, but comes from Portland, where he makes guides to the city and writes about food, booze and books. He likes the Oxford comma but can't use it in the newspaper.

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