Picture this: Walk into the latest entry in this gastropub epoch that we find ourselves living in, and here's what you won't find: an ironic slider, a tail-to-snout charcuterie parade, a farmstead cheese list as long as your arm, a chalkboard menu, or any other requisite of the genre.

If Jennifer Lopez - or maybe Benjamin Bratt - were a restaurant, they'd be sleek Zelo. Seductive - make that downright sexy - Zelo (pronounced ZAY-low, Italian for "zesty") is the work of Rick Webb, the restaurateur behind the popular Ciao Bella in Bloomington and Bacio in Minnetonka. This big-city restaurant is designed within an inch of its life: the two dimly lit dining rooms and big bar have soaring barrel-vaulted ceilings, beautifully burnished brown and copper walls, tons of original art and more custom furniture and lighting than the last five Parade of Homes dream houses put together. The battalion of servers is a strictly A-list crowd, too. The lengthy menu is a looker with a large assortment of salads, appetizers and eight varieties of wood-fired pizza. Entrees include veal chops, a porterhouse, pastas and a large range of daily seafood options. As stylish as a well-cut Armani suit, Zelo buzzes with energy over the noon hour, filled with downtown movers and shakers (or moving and shaking wannabes) nibbling on pastas, pizzas and salads. On-the-go folks go to Zelino (831 Nicollet Mall in the 9th St. lobby of the Medical Arts Building, Minneapolis, 612-333-7000), Zelo's takeout counter where they pick up mushroom lasagna, panini, prepared salads and great cookies. If "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom" were to chronicle the mating habits of heterosexual urban professionals, it might film in Zelo's big bar. Wine list: Reasonably priced, with Italian and American labels and 16 by-the-glass selections.

Patti Soskin's dine-in/take-out venture hasn't Changed Dining As We Know It, but through smart packaging and an obvious attention to detail, shen has forged a concept that feels perfectly calibrated to our casual, time-pressed times and comfort-seeking tastes. The menu, which changes twice a month, has a similar ease: nothing fancy, just fresh ingredients, clean flavors and uncomplicated preparations.

This strip-mall-bound place might not look like much from the road, but makes up for it with good, cheap eats and lots of hookahs. A popular spot on weekend nights. Open 'til 1 a.m. -- Tom Horgen

Featuring 300 bottled beers and 70 draft beers. Serving Classic American Pub Food until midnight everyday. Daily specials, free peanuts & popcorn.

A coffeehouse/wine bar/cafe/ice cream shop hybrid. The place buzzes with a flurry of salon-style events. A big lure is the warm atmosphere and the marvelous riverfront patio. A counter-service menu, with breakfasts including French toast that is deliriously decadent. Sweets are where the kitchen really sparkles.

It sounds improbable, but it's true: A hot dog/burger joint (with an emphasis on the affectionate side of that word) that also manages to pull off a decent number of vegetarian and vegan options.