It's two-thirty on a Monday morning, and you're about eight sheets to the wind and have just been kicked out of yet another bar. Someone mentions that there's a little place near Loyola University that you might consider. Open 'til four. Hell, you've gotta end up somewhere, right? As you stumble down Sheridan Aveneu, you see it—dimly lit, but very much open. Students laughing and shouting inside, the distinctive clack of billiard balls permeating the air. A beer is in your future! This isn't just any oasis— it's the Oasis, darling dive of East Rogers Park.

While it's true that the homey storefront bar owes most of its popularity to its late closing time, the O is home to a fleet of charming barkeeps, legions of entertaining patrons and one damn good jukebox, too. Strategically located within staggering distance to a White Hen, a Dunkin Donuts and the Loyola Red Line stop, the Oasis makes the age-old question of where to end your night (or begin your day) a whole lot easier to answer. Although the menu is light on bar food, the microwave pizza here gets a lot tastier after several rounds of dirt-cheap domestic beer.

It's easy to rustle up a friendly game of pool, but the real action takes place at the dartboards—serious contenders and even a few leagues congregate here regularly to get blotto and diddle for the middle.

Centerstage Reviewer: K. Tighe