• HOURS: Daily from 4 to 7pm
• PRICES: Food specials between $4 and $6; wines by the glass from $5 to $7 and by the bottle from $15-$28; $4 draft beers; $4 well cocktails.

I’ve always liked how Post Restaurant and Lounge reminded me of the Hatch on Lost. If you don’t know what I mean by that, go get your hands on the first two seasons of that show and I’ll see you in a few weeks.

A tiny bunker of a Post Alley bar that is flanked by Kell’s on one side and the shopping center that houses the White Horse Trading Co on the other, Post opened about a year ago. Then, a few months back, Patrick McAleese (whose family owns Kell’s) and his business partner took over. A tall Irishman with a flair for interior design, McAleese has added soft-edged bric-a-brac to contrast with the cementy lockdown feel, but all the table votives, silky harem pillows, and grape bunch-shaped chandeliers can’t stop this place from feeling like a spooky underground lair.

And why would you want them to? It’s awesome to drink in a cave under Pike Place Market. Especially on a weekday evening in winter when it is dark as evil outside. I go to happy hour at Post all the time. I think of it as my panic room.

You should come. I can tell you what to eat: the juicy mini-burgers, but not the dry lamb sliders, and maybe some artichoke jalapeno dip served with little toasties—one must eat the occasional vegetable, after all. I can share a bottle of Portuguese white wine ($15) with you, the kind of wine that goes down easy and you can drink a lot of and still feel fine. The kind of wine you can drink while having the sort of deep, meandering conversation you wish would never end.

There are seven wines on the happy hour menu, six of them available by the bottle. Remember this is not your last meal, this is your Tuesday night refuge. You will be charged accordingly.

Just after it opened last year, I went to Post and there was a wake at the next table. If you want to read about that, it’s here.