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On Clinton Hill's Fulton Street, still a strip of bulletproof takeout joints and broken-down bodegas, Outpost Lounge offers laptop-toting twenty-somethings a spacious spot to sprawl. As if in homage to the once affluent neighborhood, Outpost’s interior feels like a rustic saloon decked out with a few goods from a plundered mansion. The menu is scrawled in marker on antique mirrors behind the bar, a glass chandelier glitters above the entrance, ornate couches share the bamboo floor with unfinished wood tables, and exposed brick walls bear the framed work of local artists. Predictably indie baristas helm the soundtrack and sling Fair Trade organic coffees. Pre-prepared entrees manage to avoid the stale fate of most coffeehouse fare: Provolone ziti mac and cheese comes in hot ramekins, and pairs of breaded salmon cakes arrive with a mild cajun remoulade. Crisp salads and sandwiches are made to order. Homemade juices like the Grasshopper, a sweet and balanced mix of ginger, green apple, and lemonade, refresh the selection of usual café drinks. Another nod to the neighborhood, the Classon (a not-for-beginners coffee that doses four espresso shots with vanilla), is named for a nearby avenue as needy for a good neighborhood lounge as Fulton Street once was. — Laurel Fantauzzo

Outpost offers Pabst Blue Ribbon beers for a buck on Mondays after 5 p.m., Thursday night movies, and live jazz, electronica, and rock on weekend afternoons.

Salmon cakes, $6.95; mac and cheese, $4.50; sweet potato pound cake, $3.50; grasshopper lemonade, $3.50