Imo is an important part of the Pioneer Square dining scene. Oh, it’s hardly serving the best food in the city (and we’ll pretend for a second that the I.D. isn’t a few blocks south), but it’s one of few places in the neighborhood serving something other than sandwiches, and it offers both cheap lunches and late-night snacking.

Downtown workers show up in the afternoon for the huge combo plate: a great bento box–type deal, with miso, salad, rice and your choice of two items. But Imo is actually more of a bar than a restaurant. There’s even a karaoke room and unreliable service. The sushi bar doesn’t quite fit in with the rest of the place—which can best be described as brushed aluminum dive bar—and fittingly, the sushi is nothing special, and should only be ordered to supplement other dishes. The best bets are udon, dumplings, and okonomiyaki; really, any of the typical cooked snacks will be fine.

Imo typically draws a young crowd at night—man, it gets loud in here—but it’s a bit more egalitarian at the popular happy hour (picture college-age Korean thugs getting trashed alongside Pioneer Square after-work lawyer types).