Some restaurants hold a soft opening, opening their doors without stirring up publicity. The Horseshoe Bar & Grill took a different route.

Call it a clandestine operation — a bit of hush-hush exposed by those who stumbled upon the secret and were able to spread the word. For weeks after the restaurant’s March 17 opening, first timers had to do a little legwork to find the place.

One clue that there was a new feature in the Farber landscape was a neon beer sign that peeked from a window, depending upon which direction one approached the unadorned red building sitting next to the railroad tracks.

But there was a simple explanation for the restaurant’s stealthy opening.

“We just got the sign two or three days ago,” said Jimmie Null.

The lack of signage did not seem to hinder business. From the moment The Horseshoe opened traffic, the place has been steady.

“Farber needed this for a long time,” observed Janet Stevenson, who works the front of the house during the day shift.

The Horseshoe is something the community has been missing — a gathering spot, a space to meet up with neighbors and wile away a Saturday afternoon or shoot a friendly round of pool.

The bar features three beers on tap, with a fourth to be added. The menu is true to bar and grills of yore, with burgers, tenderloin sandwiches, fries and onion rings — no gastropub frills to be found.

“We’re trying to keep it simple,” Null explained. “We have a small kitchen.”

Null is the son of owners Leroy and Lynette Null and serves as the cook. And while the kitchen may be small, the owners have big plans.

Don’t look for them to expand the menu. Instead take in the surrounding lot, with plenty of room for extracurricular activity — which in this case means a patio, a space for cornhole and other games, as well as horseshoe pitching.

With the sign in place, The Horseshoe now stands out.

“There’s nothing like it in Farber,” Stevenson said.