With the abundance and variety of bars in Seattle, there's no excuse ever to go thirsty here — but when trying to share the greatest spots with friends and visitors, where should locals even begin narrowing down the contenders?

Belltown, Ballard Ave, and the Pike-Pine corridor of Capitol Hill are certainly amusement parks for boozehounds — on 2nd Avenue in Belltown, for example, it's easy to drink from Guadalajara to Coney Island to the South Pacific without crossing the street.

This guide includes some excellent options in those areas, and also highlights diverse standouts elsewhere in the city, with an emphasis on well-established, homegrown institutions. Whether you're on the hunt for beautiful beers, wonderful wines, killer cocktails, live music, classic dives, or even a weirdly woodsy atmosphere, here are 17 of Seattle's must-visit bars.

Note: Map points are listed in geographically and no ranking is implied. Seattle has so many great bars — which ones do you consider essential? Show them some love in the comments, send us an email, or start a forum thread in their honor.