A plate of oysters on the half-shell were prelude to the marriage proposal accepted by my wife. If Blue Point had been around a year ago, perhaps I'd have been on bended knee in this classy yet casual restaurant. Granted, there are so few romantic eateries that serve up bivalves. Thank goodness, though, that Blue Point is one of them.

    Proprietors David and Lesley Cohn have another hit on her hands. The Cohns also own other spots on Fifth Avenue, including Dakota Grill & Spirits, and Kemo Sabe in Hillcrest. San Diego native and executive chef Darrell Henderlite now pulls double duty at Blue Point and Dakota. Gaslamp street strollers take note: Keep your eyes peeled for the commanding presence of Henderlite, decked out in white kitchen shirt and floral zubas, trekking the four blocks between the twin gigs.

    Blue Point has an extensive and sophisticated wine list, and a fun selection of martinis. Dean Martin-style libations come with vermouth "splashes" and "whispers" available on request. I ordered a B&B Blues Chaser ($8.50), one of five house martinis. The B&B comes with 1.5 ounces each of Boodles gin and Belvedere vodka, jumbo Spanish olives, and a refill packed in ice.

    One bit of menu whimsy: the titles "Hook," "Line," and "Sinker" substitute for appetizers, main courses, and desserts. My wife was hooked with our sentimental favorite: a plate of assorted oysters ($9.95). I ordered steamed mussels ($7.95), served in a tasty white wine sauce with tomatoes and fresh herbs.

    Blue Point's main courses are excellent - albeit pricey. My wife's "steak and cake" - filet mignon and crabcakes - was $24.95. The market price of my grilled fresh Maine lobster was $42.95. Both were delicious, especially the lobster claws, dipped in toasted macadamia nut butter.

    Price notwithstanding, we’re eager to return to Blue Point for its fresh seafood, a plate or two of oysters, and an ambiance worthy of any special celebration - especially a wedding anniversary.

- Ron Donoho

Albie's Beef Inn occupies a niche somewhere between the modern sports bar and the gleaming mahogany Grant Grill. Like those, it is a macho mecca at lunch, where "regulars" meet to establish contact.

    In 35 years, the ownership has only changed once, and the clientele has shifted its eating habits slightly - fewer martinis and more specialty salads.

    Even Albie's location, in Mission Valley, lies between the suburban hangout and the power-brokering Downtown sophistication.

    And so does the menu. Dinner chef Miguel Serrano has been in Albie's kitchen for a quarter century, and his straightforward steak and potatoes format has been quite successful. He now offers two fresh fishes nightly for the health conscious, and the extra flourish of mushroom sauce on the filet or mint jelly with the lamb.

    A nice touch is the dinner salad arriving in a big bowl, for us to toss and serve ourselves without own choice of dressing. We could pick out just the lacy leaf lettuce and drench it in bleu cheese, if that’s our thing.

    The moderately priced dinners, from $10 for ground beef steak to $14 for the filet mignon, include a salad or homemade soup and vegetables. On a recent night the cream of spinach soup was hot, rich and very good. The boiled potatoes were tender and tasty, but the giant, uncut carrot, an Albie's trademark, was intimidating to anyone but Bugs Bunny. Maybe it’s Serrano's reaction to the six peas plus two bites of squash elsewhere. Steaks are Albie's staple, and the New York cut was as juicy as could be found most anywhere. The domestic lamb Serrano prepared was tender, but not to my taste.

    If a large steak and salad bowl doesn’t fill the chinks, Albie's has an assortment of appetizers a la carte, from artichokes and potato skins to calamari and shrimp cocktail. These filling selections are popular with the happy hour crowd in the bar.

    And there's New York cheesecake or a rich four-layer fudge cake to top it all off.

    The restaurant is split about equally between the dimly-lit, paneled bar and the cozy dining room in back, glowing under Tiffany fixtures. Classical nudes in arty photographs form the backdrop for the pianist in the bar; diners view an innocuous fish mounted on the one brick wall.

    The bar is busier, and mostly male, until happy hour ends at 7 p.m. Then the dining room fills with couples, some of them tourists from nearby hotels. Albie's has never been a site for the singles scene.

    The staff is friendly, and more professionally attentive than at many moderately-priced restaurants. Again, Albie's service strikes a nice balance between the too casual collegians and the supercilious snobs.

    The atmosphere is clubby at lunch and mellow at dinner. The excellent acoustics allow deal-making without din, and quiet conversation at dinner. Albie's is something of an institution; customers come back for its satisfying combo - a hearty meal and a low-fat bill.

    If the kitchen would only slice its carrots and find a better bakery to supply the sourdough bread (it has the density and flavor of pound cake), Albie's would soar through the next decade.

- Judith Witty

Dining out is about more than food. It’s also a form of entertainment. Now a La Jolla restaurant has taken the idea of entertaining its customers one step further.

    Sports City Cafe and Brewery lays claim to the most televisions - 60 - seen in one place, outside of an appliance store. Televisions hang along the walls and ceiling, are positioned at every booth and even blare in the bathrooms.

    Not a sports fan? Each booth comes with the option of turning the television off, or changing the channel to watch the news or a favorite soap, if that is not too sacrilegious. NTN trivia keeps diners occupied before the food arrives - not that the wait is long - and the service is excellent. Our server was friendly, sincere, happy to answer questions, and very accommodating, offering to make adjustments to suit our personal tastes.

    Sports-themed restaurants are generally associated with fun finger food, and Sports City is no exception. My lunch partner and I went straight for the "City Sampler," an appetizer consisting of onion straws, boneless Buffalo wings, baby back ribs and a smoked chicken quesadilla. This generous plateful of goodies is enough for four people. Our favorite was the onion straws - thinly sliced onions dipped in buttermilk and dusted with seasoned flour, then fried. These light and flavorful delights melt in your mouth.

    Our second favorite item was the "Boneless Buffalo Wings," a Sports City signature item. The restaurant holds this secret recipe under lock and key, boasting that it is the only place that keeps the taste in and the mess out of buffalo wings. These boneless chicken breast strips resemble the size and shape of wings and are coated with a spicy, tangy sauce - a little too spicy for me, but still worth the treat. I was later assured the chef would make a less spicy version upon request. The cold beer from the on-site micro-brewery was a nice addition to these munchies; six different kinds are on tap at any given time. (There is also a full bar.)

    The Cajun pork chops entree is another restaurant specialty. The portion is generous, the grilled meat lean and tender, and the spices delicious. The accompanying homemade mashed potatoes lived up to my every expectation. The vegetable stir-fry wrap wasn’t quite as good. The vegetables were crisp and the tortilla flavorful, but the sauce, although tasty, did not compare to Sports City's other homemade sauces. Other menu items include: chicken penne pasta, grilled ahi tuna, Aztec pie (a taco-like pie), "adults only" burger (made with burgundy wine), grilled eggplant sandwich and pepperoni pizza.

    As dessert approached, we were more than full, but splurged anyway on the apple cobbler tostada. Served in a fried flour tortilla, this dessert is a variation on apple pie. The tangy sweetness of the warm cinnamon apples complemented the scoop of cold vanilla ice cream.

- Melissa Jacobs