Good bars are always established around solid personalities -- and the best inevitably become maternal institutions for the patrons. Liz Knox learned early on how to succeed in the often slippery business world of drinking establishments. With more than three decades under her belt, she can finally look back and laugh at the early times -- at her first place, she had to write a check to the drink supplier and hope there'd be the initial traffic to generate the cash to cover it. There was. And in the years that followed, Liz learned to cover her clientele with the kind of attention, service, smiling humor, motherly care and often stern advice to set her bars apart from the pack. Lizzard's, the popular Sackett Street pub she turned over to her son, is perhaps the best example. By now, this veteran bar operator has thousands of surrogate sons and daughters -- drinkers and waitstaff alike -- whom she's consoled (and cajoled, for that matter) and counseled and aided in her career. When it comes to bars, this mom knows best.