.Best Local Speakeasy: Blue otters, watch your back

Keeping itself safely secreted in the shadows of the local bar scene — there are no signs to direct seekers to its hallowed halls of hedonism behind a Chinese restaurant — Spoontonic is a cool, classy enclave where the more cosmopolitan species of tippler comes to converse, consume, and feel comfortable luxuriating in its natural leisure habitat. Spoontonic’s low ceilings and black walls decorated by local artwork and lit by black lights (which somehow cast spots of blue throughout the bar) seem to lend another dimension of mysteriousness to the joint. For those who haven’t had the opportunity to partake, its gems include a jukebox with an array of music from metal to rap to rockabilly, a photo booth, and a refreshing concoction called the Blue Otter Pop. No, drinking it quickly won’t give you brain freeze, but it does resemble the popular frozen treat of the same name. Why Spoontonic remains a mystery to the beer-chugging, shot-taking population is itself a mystery. Then again, it’s probably best left that way.