If you haven't already made a dinner reservation for Valentine's Day, you better call quick—and have a second, and third, and fourth choice lined up. Then there's always buying some live crabs at Taylor or Pike Place or Uwajimaya and getting messy together at home... as a commenter says over here, "what could be more romantic than boiling alive hapless creatures and then eating them with a soon-to-be loved one? thanks for sharing that lovely picture." And you can always go out another night, when there aren't so many red roses all over the place.

But assuming you're going out with LOVE on your minds, whether it's Friday or Saturday or tonight or next week: What are Seattle's best romantic restaurants? Well, obviously, it depends. There's the kind of spending-a-lot-of-money, haute-cuisine, fine-dining-service type of romance of a place like Crush (betting they're all booked up for sure). There's the crowded-French-cafe, free-flowing-wine, best-salad-ever kind of romance of a place like Cafe Presse (no reservations required, plus you can drink bubbly while you wait and experience what Jordan Baker said: "I like large parties. They’re so intimate. At small parties there isn’t any privacy”). Some people (like me) would argue that eating tacos on a bus at Tacos al Asadero, is romantic, especially on a rainy evening (also no reservations).

In any case, here are all our recommended romantic restaurants in Seattle, in all their diverse glory (including Dick's! The couple that runs also-romantically-recommended, fancypants-and-great Altura met there, don't you know).

Whatever you do, don't forget Dan Savage's standard advice for Valentine's Day.