The real standard for a restaurant of this type is pork chops with vinegar green-cherry peppers and oven-fried potatoes ($17.95). The potatoes could have more crust, but this is a dish so savory you pretty much inhale it. "Grilled Wild Swordfish" ($18.95) is a menu description that makes me giggle. It's hard to imagine farming swordfish. How would you get the prize one to the county fair? What would the other kids in the 4-H club think? And for tame swordfish, you would need an awfully long leash. So, with no possible comparison, I would say that the steak at East Side Bar and Grille had that delightful, wild swordfish taste, and was a fresh, well-handled piece of seafood.
The wine list is not amazing, though the wines we had were pleasant with food. Pepperwood merlot ($6 glass/$24 bottle) is not from Argentina, as the list says, but it is a full-bodied California merlot with enough fruit and spice to drink with pizza. Chateau Ste. Michelle Indian Wells riesling ($8; $28) is even better, an off-dry German-style riesling loaded with aroma. It tastes sweeter than it is because of all the fruit. I think Pacific Northwest whites are undervalued, and suggest ordering lots of them before the vineyards tear out the vines to plant pinot noir and make awkward, expensive reds.
Decaf coffee and tea ($2.50) are okay. But you'll want them anyway, since you don't want to miss out on dessert. East Side Bar and Grille is only a few blocks from the major wholesale cannoli shells baker of the region, Golden Cannoli. They deliver to East Side on Thursday, though we enjoyed a superb cannolo ($5) on a Tuesday night, so they hold up. The filling is homemade, quite sweet, and smooth. We also had a chocolate mousse cake ($6.95) that was lighter than it looked and very enjoyable.
The atmosphere is cozy enough that the hospitable staff will know your name and preferences soon enough. And if you must have sports, the bar has two nice sets tuned to the game in progress. That will sort out the serious boyfriends from the guys who can be distracted.
Robert Nadeau can be reached at robtnadeau@aol.com.
Editor's Note: In a previous version of this article, it was incorrectly stated that the East Side Bar and Grille serves only beer and wine. In fact, it has a full liquor license. We have updated the review above to reflect this change and apologize for the error.
