An underrated Allentown staple, KGallagher’s has a warm, friendly vibe that serves as an invitation to hang up your coat and let down your guard, whether for a dinner-time kickoff or a late-night dose of serenity.

It’s all about comfort, and this place keeps it quaint and classy, from checkerboard floors to green, patterned wallpaper. Flush right and at the entrance is an L-shaped bar, lined with brass arm and foot rails, that tucks into the front corner and spans the near wall back to the kitchen. A black and white picture of Katherine Gallagher, the pub’s namesake and owner’s grandmother, is centered above and behind the bar, looking out on an archway that splits the pub into a bar and dining room, with the farthest booth still within earshot of the bartender.

Coat racks to the back serve as a subtle persuasion for patrons to settle in, and the service backs up the notion. A seemingly impromptu Tuesday night special featured $3.50 pints, with a choice of Guinness, Smithwicks, Stella Artois, Shock Top, Labatt Blue and Flying Bison Rusty Chain, the local brew that raises funds for the Buffalo Blue Bicycle project. My father went with a Smith-wick’s while I kept it local, which apparently plenty have been doing, as the bartender said they go through a couple of kegs of the smooth amber ale every week.

Spinning around the sturdy stool, I admired the tin northern pike that hangs in the archway, and the pub owner, standing by the back end of the bar, proudly pointed out that it was wearing antlers—one of a handful of humble holiday decorations.

In the dining room, a crew of baby boomers bellowed from a long table with a catered spread, while a trio in a booth analyzed with amusement the smallmouth bass portrait that hung above them. A couple stood before a family name map of Ireland looking for their lineage. To my right at the bar, two college-aged hipsters talked baseball with a proud pair of Yankees fans decked out in the latest, loudest championship caps from New Era. Beside my dad sat a young woman who had just been given a few bags of bottle caps that she said she sells to a local artist.

Though there are two TVs above each corner of the bar, and music does play in the background, the emphasis here is on conversation. While the bartender dished the history of the location, a patron from the far corner booth called his name, and he promptly delivered another round to the next room. He returned holding a bottle of Jameson and laid out shot glasses before us and the woman. As he poured a shot for himself, I joked that he’d waited for the owner to leave her post so he could drink with us. He laughed and responded, “The day I can’t drink Jameson here is the day I quit.”

At KGallagher’s, everyone makes themselves at home.

KGallagher’s

73 Allen St.

885-2244

Scene: Classy, cozy Allentown pub.

Drinks: Six beers on tap highlighted by Flying Bison Rusty Chain, plenty of bottled beer and booze.

DressCode: Come as you are.

Music: Background.