The scene: A lot of places say they want to be the go-to neighborhood bar. Tryst doesn’t aspire to that—it already is. When waiters and chefs and maitre d’s from around Delray Beach leave work, they come to Tryst. Lawyers strip off their suit jackets; office drones get their personalities back over a pint. And they’ve been doing it for the last four years at this bar that remains busy even out of season. It has the casual feel of the European countryside with relaxed, mis-matched chairs and couches and a long bar that runs the length of the narrow quarters—no doubt the effect of wizard English-born chef Julian Greaves, who migrated from the excellent 32 East to bring the finest quality ingredients to bar food. Oh, and beer. Rare, delicious, hard-to-find beer.

The signature cocktail: If you’re at Tryst, you should be having a beer. But if beer isn’t your thing, they also have a Blueberry Lemonade ($10) that’s sure to please. Tart without making your lips pucker, sweet without killing your palate, it’s a perfect starter to a honed bar menu of flavorful food.

Other drinks: You could just sit yourself happily in front of the beer tap, which has 12 rotating craft brews (daily!) that are hard to find, each with it’s own character. One day a Belgian wick will replace a Hefeweizen and a day later it will be something else unexpected. Small breweries such as Oskar Blues, Lagunitas and St. Bernardus all find homes here. Tryst also keeps its wine cellar well-stocked, and wines are marked up only about one to one-and-a-half times, making some great wines affordable by the glass.

Bar bites: It’s no surprise Tryst sold 42,000 of the fresh mahi tacos ($6); a fishmonger brings in mahi daily and Greaves coats chunks in a buttermilk batter and finishes them with a four-citrus mojo that includes his own habanero hot sauce. The Warm Pretzel Breads ($5) are baked in Long Island City by a master German pretzel baker and Greaves has them regularly shipped in for their unmatched tasty, pillowy softness. He combines them with a beer mustard and cheddar cheese sauce and sprinkles them with smoked English sea salt. The Two Mini Burgers ($8) are nothing more than a pared down version of the 8-ounce dinner burger, and that’s a great thing. Served medium, unless you ask differently, they’re covered in aged gouda.

Best bite: With all of the foodie twists on traditional bar food on Tryst’s menu, it’s the Chicken Pad Thai ($13) that chef Julian Greaves likes to take home and eat cold the next morning out of the refrigerator. (A perfect hair of the dog, we’re told.) The flavors are so rich when they’re warm—from the from the cilantro, lime and seared shiitake mushrooms — to help balance out any number of rare craft beers always on tap, 12-at-a-time, at Tryst. You can only imagine the creamy noodles hold up well the next day when you can’t remember where you left your shirt.

Deals: Seven days a week, from 4-7 p.m., all draft beers are two-for-one. A Happy Hour menu is available during those times only at the bar.

Info: 4 East Atlantic Avenue Delray Beach; (561) 921-0201

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C O C K T A I L

Blueberry Lemonade

3 ounes Van Gogh acai blueberry vodka

2 ounces freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 ounce agave nectar

Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice.