The style of many family chain restaurants is one of borrowed history—an old sled, pictures of someone’s first Cutlass Sierra, a leather football helmet. The main idea is someone making his place of business something just as personal as his own home. While a "snug" was historically a private drinking area where one went to have drinks in private, this particular bar offers no separated area for secret lovers or women not wishing to besmirch their good status—unless you consider the entire bar the refuge for its familiar clientele. Horan's Snug has only been around since 1979—somewhat young for your neighborhood family watering hole, but old enough for at least a generation and a half to have warmed up to it. The beers are a familiar stable, the liquor shelf has all the staples; it even includes infamous local bitters Jeppesen's Malort.

The appetizers are greasy and familiar, and the servers are well-known to the regulars and vice-versa. The TVs offer baseball, basketball and occasionally professional wrestling, and the digital jukebox's top tracks include both Patsy Cline and Kid Rock. The food is basic, stick-to-your-ribs fare: burgers and sandwiches with an occasional Irish slant, but not enough to exclude items like an $8 Mediterranean wrap with spinach, roasted red pepper, black olives and feta. They also have Wisconsin bratwurst for the upper Midwest crowd, and a New York strip steak for those who've got $16.50 to spare and want to spend it somewhere familiar.

Centerstage Reviewer: Dan Morgridge