Ever wonder how the city’s Board of Aldermen can be so boisterous — yet, at the same time, so convivial?

Perhaps it’s because so many of the aldermen — three actually — are in the saloon business, a tradition deeply rooted in St. Louis politics. (Look no farther than South Side legend Albert “Red” Villa, for whom the Board of Aldermen’s meeting chambers is named.)

This week, the Riverfront Times took a peak inside one of the watering holes run by a city lawmaker, naming Ninth Ward Alderman Ken Ortmann’s Cat’s Meow pub in Soulard their “Bar of the Week.”

Thought not necessarily a place you would take your mother to lunch, the Meow is a colorful joint where the spirit of imbibing and free speech is alive and well: The bar is covered with Anheuser-Busch schwag, while a candid remark about InBev can be found scrawled in the men’s room. (Hint: It’s not “I Love Belgium.”)

“Contrary to the grim facade,” reviewer Lyndsay Johnson writes, “the interior is an explosion of cheer.”

She continues:

It actually does feel like someone’s living room. A living room during a Cards game party, where everyone knows everyone there, except you. They offer you some stools and invite you to share in their brash good humor. As aloof as one may feel at first, the party mood is infectious.

The tubby guy dancing his pants off to Michael Jackson as you enter automatically wins a spot in your heart. When you leave, the bartender genuinely thanks you and wishes you a good night. Open most days as early as 7 a.m., it’s easy to see how locals could spend not only the whole day here, but their whole lives here, generation after generation; it’s the community living room.

Sounds a lot like City Hall — without the Michael Jackson, of course.