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Even before Rope replaced the sailor’s knot and plastic penguin that once marked the door with an honest-to-god sign, the arty types pushed north by escalating rents around the strikingly similar Boat were knocking back beers with droves of Pratt kids every Monday. Life-size pin-up girls of the variety usually found on the biceps of sailors grace walls of exposed brick and Bordeaux paint, and at kindly lit love seats, couples can play Connect Four and Jenga if someone’s vetoed a backyard deck make-out. It wouldn’t be a hip bar without an oddly unfocused and constantly molting jukebox, so get ready for this month’s boys-in-tight-pants rock anthem to be interrupted by “Ring of Fire” or “99 Problems.” In its less crowded moments Rope makes a happy home for the Pabst hordes, the Sidecar girlfriends, and the Basil Hayden’s big boys alike. — Frannie Kelley

Get to know your bar stool neighbors at Trivia Smackdown the first Tuesday of every month and Street Fighter Challenge (a video game contest played on the big screen) the last Sunday.