Bars on King Street North in Waterloo, and the one that does not look like the others.

King Street North runs the spine of Uptown Waterloo's bar scene. The strip starts at the King and Erb cluster and runs north to the Bridgeport row. Inside that stretch, the bar density is the highest in the region. Every kind of room is present: cocktail bars, nightclubs, late-night pubs, dinner-and-drinks rooms, a music room. IX sits in the middle of the strip on the quietest block, at 9 King North, two doors north of Crown Social and two minutes south of the Hop House.

The other bars on the street.

White Rabbit, two doors north of IX, is the strong cocktail bar with the magnificent back bar. Crown Social, two doors south, is the nightclub. Room 47, a few minutes north, is a club plus live music room. Phil's Grandson's Place, further north toward Bridgeport, is the student-leaning alternative. The Hop House and Ethel's, on the same block north, run the dinner-and-drinks pattern. ABE ERB sits a block east of King. Roost is in build a block north, set up as the late-night neighborhood pub.

Where IX sits in the spread.

IX is the only seated, dressed, twenty-five-and-over lounge on the street. Every other room on the spine answers a different night out. The cocktail bar at White Rabbit is the right room for a drink at the bar. The clubs are the right rooms for a dance night. The pubs are the right rooms for a casual run. IX is the right room for the night that sits between those: seated, conversation-grade, a short drink list, a kitchen that runs late, a door that holds.

The block, plainly.

9 King North is on the middle block of the spine. The block does not have a patio bar and does not catch the spillover from the dance clubs. The door is small, set back, and not on a queue. The walk-in approach is calm. The block has retail neighbors on either side and the awning is brass. The room is named for the address; from across the street the only thing you see is the numeral above the door.

Planning the night on the strip.

If the night is a dinner first and a drink second, the right pattern is a dinner-row table at 7pm and a move to IX at 9pm. If the night is a drink-first night, IX is the right first stop and the room reads at its best between 9pm and 11pm. If the night is going to end on a dance floor, the cluster around Crown Social and Room 47 is two minutes' walk south. The ION stop at Waterloo Public Square is three minutes east; the Bauer District garage is five minutes west.