Like songs that wax romantic about the good old days, Kaplan's Liquors is a throwback to a time when it was acceptable to bring your kids to a bar, order them Shirley Temples with lots of maraschino cherries and leave them to their own devices while you pounded back cheap draft beer and pretzels. This Bridgeport bar and liquor store, known to locals as "Maria's" (after the salty Korean woman who owns the place), is popular with the hipster artists moving to the neighborhood for the cheap rents and the longtime ne'er-do-wells just trying to make it through the day as simply as they know how.

The front store area of Kaplan's offers wine sold by the bottle (including some surprising name-brand selections one wouldn't think of finding in the store) as well as cheap beer, energy drinks and convenience food items like eggs and lunch meat. The bar in the back is a long, formica-topped beauty with a vintage draft box (MGD, Lite and Old Style are always on draft for $2.50), an electronic dart board, a jukebox and ceramic tributes to the Golden Age of Chicago taverns. Maria's is a place where $20 can be stretched like soft-pulled taffy.

Centerstage Reviewer: Chuck Sudo