Description: An inconspicuous Wallingford dive with no storefront signage, just a black facade with silver stars.

Decor: Old-timey wilderness murals.

Scene at 5 pm on a Friday: Dude-heavy, with plenty of avuncular, blue-collar fellows mesmerized by a televised football game.

Al's Tavern year of inception: 1940. (Lordy! That was 70 years ago!)

Other treasured entities sprung from 1940: York Peppermint Patties, John Lennon, mass-produced nylon stockings.

Uses for nylons: Casting women's legs in a luxurious sheen, blocking certain jellyfish stings (in Australia, male lifeguards don pantyhose, or mantyhose), protecting against saddle sores (William Shatner is said to have worn them beneath his costume when filming the horse-riding scenes in Star Trek: Generations).

Happy-hour drink specials, Mon–Fri 5–7 pm: $2.25 Rainier/Bud Light, $3.25 microbrews (Manny's, Sierra Nevada).

Happy-hour drink specials, daily 7–9 pm: $2 Rainier and Bud Light, $3 microbrews, $3 wells.

Other bargains: Wear an Al's T-shirt on Saturday and get half-price Rainier and Bud Light.

Happy-hour food specials: None—but the menu is always darned cheap ($1.50 corn dog!).