Nightlife in Plano

Curating their comedy showcases with the passion of football draft scouts, the team of ComedyComedy has filled many a bill with touring national headliners and prime up-and-comers for more than 20 years. Having populated popular Chicagoland venues such as Walter Payton's Roundhouse and The Funny Bone with sturdy standup lineups, ComedyComedy has now moved its laugh caravan to the Tap House Grill, where buffets of handcrafted brews and a full menu of savory pub fare complement servings of laughter. Some Tap House menu items are available during shows, as well as drinks.

Open since 1945, Elmer's Doghouse has been a haven for generations of diners looking for cold brews, hot meals, and a set of familiar faces to enjoy them with. At this casual neighborhood spot, the kitchen staff still dishes out burgers, pizzas, and steak dinners lit by the neon glow of beer signs. On Monday nights, these meals emerge amid the tuneful clatter of the bar’s acoustic open mic, refueling audiences and musicians alike. Other musical entertainments include karaoke nights and live bands, who often coax diners into dancing or just giving them a bite of their food.

Ballydoyle specializes in comforting Irish fare and even more comforting Irish ales. Folks will wonder why more meat isn't corned after trying the star of Ballydoyle's sandwiches, the corned beef on marble rye (8.95). Heartier Irish specialties include shepherds pie ($11.95), Bangers and Mashed ($11.95), and Dinny's Irish Fry—an aorta-challenging amalgamation of Irish bacon, Irish sausage, black-and-white pudding, grilled tomatoes, sautéed mushrooms, baked beans, two eggs any style, toast, and the keys to Dublin for those that clean their plates ($12.95). Another Irish specialty, boxty ($11.95–$13.95), wraps a homemade potato griddle cake around a variety of fillings, such as vegetables, chicken, and Larry Bird's NBA championship rings. An Irish pub would just be Denny's without an extensive list of draft and bottled beer. Ballydoyle's is one of the only pubs that serves McCaffrey's Irish Cream Ale, making it as delicious as it is exclusive.

The friendly staff at Rudy's Place fuels mealtime revelry and poolroom rivalry with a menu of Mexican favorites alongside classic American sandwiches, burgers, wraps, and pizza. Armed with homemade tortilla chips, diners dive into meals with an appetizer of guacamole or wake up palates with a sampler platter salvo of chicken wings, mini tacos, flautas, and breaded bites of alarm-clock parts. Kitchen magicians pack a half-pound of pure Angus beef into each burger, dressing the most ornate patties in barbecue sauce, pepper jack cheese, and onion rings, or in fried jalapeños and chipotle ranch sauce. Within the bready bookends of a philly cheesesteak, seasoned green peppers and onions fresh from the grill court gooey swiss with charred fragments of the Liberty Bell, and across the table tangy green salsa smothers chicken, beef, steak, or cheese enchiladas as beans, rice, and guacamole offer sideline commentary. Smiling barkeeps pour heaping glasses of beer to refresh over-stimulated palates, whisking away savory sensations with amber bubbles from makers such as Sam Adams, Budweiser, Guinness, Coors, and Miller.

Moves Dance Studio hosts a jam-packed schedule of energetic, challenging dance classes led by talented faculty members. Dancers select two weekly sessions and can get down with beginning or intermediate hip hop classes for ages 10 and up, focusing on east- and west-coast moves with choreography as sharp and precise as a perfectionist laser beam. Contemporary and lyrical dancers find expression in a variety of movement progressions and exhilarating performance dynamics; Pilates introduces students to the strength of their own cores and the sight of their own lower backs. Other classes include tap and a multitude of lessons for 4–6 year olds, including Broadway Babies, which teaches the fundamentals of ballet, tap, and tumbling.

Katie O'Connor's churns out a medley of American pub grub alongside traditional Irish staples on a menu that harmonizes with beers and libations from the full bar. Pub wings by the pound weigh in with six flavors from savory roasted-chipotle-garlic to sweet mango-habañero ($6–$21.75). Flat-screen televisions mounted on exposed brick walls rev diners for sports games and a round of bangers and mash, a customary dish that beds pork sausage in a pillow of gravy-slathered mashed potatoes ($10.45). Sate further Irish inclinations without smooching the Blarney Stone by canoodling with a reuben boxty that nestles lean corned beef, sauerkraut, and thousand island dressing inside a traditional irish potato pancake ($7.50). A new york cheesecake with or without strawberry sauce ($4.95) provokes post-dinner chatter about whether the dessert technically classifies as a pie, a cake, or a pizza.