"So, what do you feel like doing tonight?" This unavoidable question has been met with apprehension throughout all of time. It's not so much that there's nothing good to do in Chicago, but that the best laid plans are inevitably laced with predicable annoyances. Well, a new dawn is upon us: Pressure Billiards & Cafe is your best defense against social pitfalls.

Feel like shooting some pool but not crazy about the idea of trying to win a table from that drunken old-timer in a smoke-filled dive? Pressure's upscale billiard room boasts fourteen top-notch Brunswick tables with reasonable rates. The entire hall is clean and smoke-free, and you'll eventually get the hang of handling your cue under the influence of sobriety.

Want to take in some stand-up without the outrageous cover and two-drink minimum? Every Saturday night at Pressure is comedy night. For a reasonable $10 cover ($5 for students), you get to feel good about supporting Chicago's emerging comic talents. Care to sip a latte and surf the internet without kowtowing to a certain corporate coffee chain? Wi-fi here is free, the baristas are friendly, and the well-crafted espresso drinks are all made with Chicago's own Metropolis coffee. In addition to your straightforward coffee menu, this Edgewater spot offers a bunch of inspired specials like the four-shot powerhouse Sonic Ruth, a creamy strawberry and caramel steamer aptly named the Short Cake, and honest-to-goodness real macchiatos (beer and wine were added to the menu in mid-January 2008). Not content with just filling one niche, Pressure has provided North Siders with a perpetual answer for that pesky recurring question.

Average cost: <$10

Centerstage Reviewer: K. Tighe