The neighborhood living room for the South End’s gay scene, the Club Cafe Lounge & Video Bar (209 Columbus Ave., 617/536-0966, 4 p.m.–2 a.m. Mon.–Thurs.; 12 p.m.–2 a.m. Thurs.–Fri.; 11 a.m.–1 a.m. Sun., www.clubcafe.com) is clean and well-lit, all the better to check out the attractive stranger at the next table. Groups of people play musical chairs while trading gossip before and after clubbing.

Located on two levels beneath the Boston Center for the Arts, The Beehive (541 Tremont St., 617/423-0069, 5 p.m.–2 a.m. daily, www.beehiveboston.com) buzzes with a bohemian crowd who come for laid-back jazz and a potent drink list that tastes of blood orange and apricot nectar. The space itself is a knockout, designed within an inch of its life from an eclectic mix of influences ranging from Spanish bordello to New York pop art. Upstairs, tables serve a bistro menu of bouillabaisse and steak frites.

The hole-in-the-wall Delux Cafe & Lounge (100 Chandler St., 617/338-5258, 5 p.m.–1 a.m. daily) is one of the most trippy bar scenes in the city, where a heterogeneous crowd downs pints beneath Christmas lights and Elvis album covers. Snack food includes the best grilled cheese sandwich in the city.

The Butcher Shop (552 Tremont St., 617/423-4800, 11 a.m.–11 p.m. Sun.–Mon.; 11 a.m.–12 a.m. Tues.–Sat., www.thebutchershopboston.com) is only a meat market in the most literal sense. Butchers prepare cuts of meat during the day; at night, however, the giant butcher block table is taken over by the young and metrosexual, who toy with an extensive by-the-glass wine list and nosh on honey-soaked figs and panini sandwiches.