Best throwback concert venue

At the Triple Door, you might hear Robert Cray while munching on salt-and-pepper squid one night and then discover a folk singer-songwriter along with Malaysian otak-otak (banana leaf-wrapped fish in red curry) the next. As long as your evening’s a surprise, owners Rick and Ann Yoder are happy. They saved the 1926 theater from boarded-up neglect to turn it into an intimate place to hear musicians who are, as Rick puts it, "not just run-of-the-mill mainstream." $$$; 216 Union St.; thetripledoor.net or 206/838-4333.