Calistoga's entrant in the dive-bar sweepstakes is on the demure side—but that's a good thing. Susie's is a cool place to toss back a top-shelf cocktail or a local brew after every place else in town has thrown in the bar towel.
A cheery blue awning and neon sign welcomes passersby to Susie's, and only a forbiddingly long passageway stands between them and a dive bar that's all they hoped it'd be. A rare breed for the area, it has two pool tables, walls plastered with Nascar memorabilia, a stripper pole and $3 bottles of Coors. The kind of place where you can catch regulars muttering under their breath, "If there was a...