Gastropubs have been opening one after another at a steady clip for the last few years, and this year has been no exception. In fact, maybe this is the year we hit critical mass of upscale pubs: The Spanish Fly, The Corner Door, and The Parish all opened this summer, for example, and Atwater Village will have its own (Scottish-themed) one in a few months. You can even find it in Merriam-Webster's 2012 Collegiate Dictionary (the Oxford English Dictionary was, as it is, ahead of the semantical curve and added it in 2005). Thus, as weary as you may be of this trend, the number of gastropubs per capita makes it highly likely that you'll find yourself going to at least one in the near future — to meet a potentially bad date, maybe, or for an after-work happy hour. To help you when that time comes, use our flowchart to give you a few ideas on where to go and what to eat.

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