LONGMONT - There's something about a 39-foot beer-can label painted onto the side of a former grain silo that compels one to stop into the adjoining restaurant and bar.

That's my excuse, anyway, for why I visited Oskar Blues Home Made Liquids and Solids at least five times in the first four weeks it was open - that and, y'know, making sure I got all the details right for this article.

The beer can is just one element in a whole tableau of features that makes the Longmont eatery - a spinoff of Oskar Blues Cajun Grill & Brewery in Lyons - so appealing. The roadhouse feel, with dark wood booths and floors, mosaic-glass hanging lamps, kitsch on the walls, and blues coming from the speakers, lend a sense of having stepped into an earthier, more sedate version of Graceland.

Add in the 43 beers on tap, the Cajun/Creole menu and the chill vibe, and it's hard not to keep coming back to explore new tastes.

"We really felt there was a void in Longmont for a brewpub with a local brewery that also had great food. There are a lot of chains here, so (we liked the idea of) having an independent restaurant that offered live music and a large selection of craft beer," said Anita Gray, manager and part owner of the new restaurant, along with Dale Katechis - of Dale's Pale Ale fame - and his wife, Christi.

Oskar's didn't just bring in its own selection of hand-crafted brews, though; the tap line includes draughts from competitors, such as Left Hand and New Belgium. "We're all about promoting great beer in general," Gray said. "Introducing craft beer to the consumer is so important to us. When someone orders a Coors Light, we serve it with a 3-ounce sample of Mama's Little Yella Pils."

While the beer was certainly part of the original vision, other developments weren't. The restaurant was scheduled to open in May 2009, but city politics, remodeling and landscaping issues pushed that out till mid-October. "The permit to get the silo painted, I think, was harder than getting our liquor license," Gray mused.

And despite an early announcement that Liquids and Solids would not offer live music, bands play upstairs every Friday and Saturday night, and every Sunday afternoon. "We changed our minds very quickly because the people spoke and said, 'How can you be an Oskar Blues and not have live music?'"

The trio also wanted to stay true to the Southern-inspired theme they originated at their Lyons restaurant. "I grew up in Alabama and Louisiana," Katechis said. "So when my wife and I moved out here 17 years ago, I wanted to bring a little taste of the Big Muddy flowing through the Rocky Mountains."

Still, Gray said, they didn't want to "copy-cat" the Lyons menu. So signature dishes, like the burgers and the blackened catfish carried over, but others - like the boudin balls and the fried chicken and waffles - are all new, created by chef Jason Rogers, who's done previous stints at the JW Marriott in Cherry Creek and the St Julien Hotel in Boulder.

"I don't know anywhere else you can get boudin balls around here," said my friend Penny, who was born in New Orleans, and raised eating red beans on Mondays and fish on Fridays. For the uninitiated, boudin is a mixture of rice, ground-up pork sausage (typically made from organ meats) and Cajun spices, fried into golf-ball-size spheres. Oskar's puts a Western twist on it, serving it with green chile and perhaps more cornmeal breading than in Louisiana. "It's a good stab at it for Colorado," Penny allowed.

But the beer-can chicken, the ribs, the pulled pork and the smoked wings might be the true soul of the food menu.

"People just love the items that come out of that smoker," Gray said. "They nicknamed the smoker 'the midnight toker,' because we actually had to hire a gentleman who works overnight to keep those meats going. We load it up at 11 at night and pull it out in the morning." The result is tender, juicy and flavorful.

The meaty wings made with the restaurant's habanero-infused Blues Juice are among the better ones this side of Lake Erie, though the lack of searing high heat means they don't develop a crispy exterior.

Getting the menu right was important to the owners - which is why it also includes non-southern pub food, like salads, pizza and nachos, and more upscale selections like grilled Colorado striped bass and lemon-herb chicken. In December, the restaurant also began offering Sunday brunch, with offerings that include Fat Elvis French Toast (banana, peanut butter, Frosted Flakes, sweet butter and maple syrup) and bagels with smoked salmon.  

"My concern was that with 43 taps, I didn't want people to assume we were just a bar and live music venue," Gray said. "I want people to feel comfortable bringing their children in here to eat." It seems to be working. On each of my visits, the crowd comprised families, athletes cooling off after a workout, singles looking to socialize, and business types working on their laptops. I suspect that the mix changes slightly on weekend nights, when the live music gets going upstairs. Visit No. 6 might just be around the corner - so I can report back, of course.