Maddox Grill and Bar, Lynnwood

Third-pound burgers of char-grilled ground chuck. Flame-kissed steaks accompanied with Yukon gold mashed potatoes. Slow-cooked, hand-pulled pork slathered with homemade barbecue sauce. The menus at Maddox Grill and Bar read like the great American cookbook. For a bit of regional variation the chefs prepare everything from Dungeness crab cakes to spicy, Cajun-style gumbo. All of this warm, homespun cooking complements the dining room's cozy ambiance. Exposed ceiling beams and polished wooden tables gleam in the light of the red-domed pendant lamps that dangle overhead. To keep patrons warm on the inside, the bartenders pour tipples of single-malt scotch or amber-hued tequila and diligently mix specialty cocktails using the bar's private hadron collider.