Gio's Tavern

This place is a real gem, sitting right there in plain view in a double storefront on Walton. I only stopped in here for happy hour because most of the other bars on the block were packed and Benjamin's wasn't open yet. Good choice.

Gio's has an ok collection of drafts, but a really good list of bottled beers and pretty good happy hour prices. Even better, it doesn't attract that notorious creature of the Armory district - that gelled-up, cargo-shorts-wearing suburbanite whose interests include fist-pumping and sucker-punching people in bars. Tame crowd here, looks like something approaching actual humanity. Gio's has the usual sports bar collection of pop-a-shot basketball and several television screens, but manages to feel a lot more spread out than many sports bars.

Bonus for the free popcorn and the Wells Banana Bread in bottles.