Crawford's

At Crawford's, what you see is what you get. The simple signage on the bar’s brick exterior reads “Fried Chicken” and “Ice Cold Beer,” and that’s exactly what you can expect: delicious Southern-style fried chicken (hot or not) and beer served in thick, frosty mugs. There’s something familiar and comforting about this Westlake haunt, which skillfully treads the line between homey nostalgia and hokey gimmicks. You won’t find $11 tater tots on the menu, for example, and while you can order a PBR, it won’t come in a brown paper bag for the sake of someone’s idea of “irony.” Once you find parking, the atmosphere feels effortlessly friendly and relaxed. Renovations certainly didn’t leave this place with that polished “new bar” feeling—think partially stripped brick walls, a perpetually busy pool table and eclectic but restrained kitsch. Despite the narrow focus, it’s far from a concept bar—it’s just a bar that serves chicken and cheap beer, and that’s more than enough to win our hearts.