The Red Fox Steakhouse

"The piano bar at the Red Fox Steak House opened in 1959. So you know this joint's not just reaching for the lounge vibe -- it helped define it, right down to the Cabernet-colored Naugahyde, the dry martinis, and the rollicking sing-a-longs. Few fedoras hang on the hat rack nowadays, but old timers still show up to vie with a post-college crowd for piano-side seats. The piano, after all, is the bar's blood-pumper, and the Red Fox veterans remember scoring choice proximity to it for one reason: Shirley Allen. The "Amazing Shirley," as they called her, hammered out marathon Dixieland jams and lounge standards for eleven years, four nights a week. Cancer-stricken in 2005, a 73-year-old Shirley muscled through pain and exhaustion to charm the Red Fox with a farewell encore that stretched into the wee small hours. That performance looms legendary now, and fortunately, local ivory ticklers carry on its tradition most nights and during the lunch hour. So when you raise your glass to the pianist, make sure you also knock one back for Shirley."

-Daniel Ross, Esquire Magazine