Carmelita's Balls Deserve To Be Tongued & Swallowed

Vegetarian chic on Phinney Ridge.

The Hours: 5-7 p.m.

The Deal: $5 appetizers off the bar menu, $5 well drinks, and $2 off specialty cocktails.

The Digs: If the Lilith Fair had a theme restaurant, Carmelita would likely be it.

For starters, the soundtrack is nonstop girl power--Rosie Thomas, the Sundays, Kate Tucker covering Springsteen's "I'm on Fire." The crowd is almost all Caucasian, and either middle-aged or swiftly approaching it. The food is strictly vegetarian (with select vegan options, naturally), and if there's a Clint Didier vote to be found among those assembled, I'll swallow a jar of pickled eggs.

The Verdict: Look, I love chewing the flesh of deceased animals. So when I declare a vegetarian restaurant to have rendered me fat and happy, that's high praise.

On the specialty cocktail side of the ledger, Carmelita delivered a classic--and classically potent--Manhattan. But it was $9 after the happy hour discount (normally $11). The bourbon fizz, discounted to $7, is more where you want to arrive, price-wise. Composed of Maker's Mark, amaretto, tamarind-ginger lemonade, and ginger beer, it's a drink you don't see too often, and it's creatively and deliciously rendered here.

As for the food, no animals. But you already knew that. The mini pizzas--one features 'shrooms, seasonal greens, and nettle-spinach pesto--were plenty good, and the beet chips were salty as Ruffles. But the real star of the bar menu is the spaghetti squash bonbons. I could gargle them all night, and even in the morning.