The List: No, I'll just eat at the bar...

Leigh Jones and Matt Brown at Jonesy's, Denver's first gastropub.

Gastropub, gastropub, gastropub... This week's Cafe section was all about gastropubs and my intense dislike of the term. So this week's list is simple: my favorite places where it's just better to eat at the bar, places that would never think about calling themselves gastropubs. No knock againt their dining areas, but sometimes a man just wants to have a quiet moment alone with his cheeseburgers and whiskey.

1) Bones, 701 Grant Street. Yeah, there are a few tables here, but the real action is at the counter where you can sit and watch the crew make your steamed buns and udon.

2) The Capital Grille, 1450 Larimer Street.  The dining room here is excellent, and so is the floor service.  But I was forced to eat so many dinners at the bar because the floor was completely awash in bright and shiny yuppies that it just became a habit.

3) Govnr's Park, 672 Logan Street. Why?  Because the service is better, the company is cooler, and there's no better way to break the ice than buying a round and sharing your gigantic bowl of tater tots.

4) Jax, 1539 17th Street. Because the bar is where they keep all the oysters...

5) Black Cat, 1964 13th Street, Boulder.  I've met more interesting people at the short bar here than in almost any other restaurant in the metro area.

6) Sushi Katsuya, 2222 South Havana Street.  A true neighborhood sushi joint needs to have two things: A great handroll and an engaging crew working behind the bar.  Katsuya has both.

And now, I put the question to you: Where is your favorite place to eat at the bar, and why?  The comment button is below.  Use it well.