Rapture landed on the Downtown Mall in 1998 to a flurry of expectations and has been going strong ever since. They’ve got a prime spot in a historic building on Main Street, and lots of space both indoors and out.

Outside, wrought-iron tables and crisp black-and-white market umbrellas make a prominent impression on passersby, but the simple purple neon sign in the window gives little indication of the ornate playland within. If you venture in the front door, you’ll find yourself in a vaulted front room with an exposed-beam — actually exposed everything — ceilings. There’s a cool 15- foot gilded mirror soaring up one wall, and a faux-marble L-shaped bar immediately ahead under the second-level mezzanine.

If you walk through this area, the ceiling opens up again into a larger back room with more grand old mirrors, red walls and stained-glass lamps. A coveted round red leather corner booth is a great spot for one lucky group to gather. Upstairs, pool tables are surrounded by a railing made of antique iron fence pieces. The furnishings here are upscale, down to such last-minute details as the ornate carved wood holders for the cue sticks. The funky, elegant surroundings seem to foster carefree flirting, and we suspect that more than one romance has been started over a casual game of pool at Rapture. —Kim Mattingly