TASTE BITES

Bob Golic's Sports Bar & Grille

Where: 1213 West Sixth St., Cleveland.

Contact: 216-363-1130.

Hours: 11 a.m.-midnight daily (bar open until 2:30 a.m.).

Prices: Appetizers, $4.95-$11.95; salads, $4.95-$12.95; sandwiches, $7.95-9.95; entrees, $9.95-$29; desserts, $5.95-$7.95.

Reservations: Accepted, except during Browns games.

Credit cards: All major cards accepted.

Cleanliness: Good.

Kid-friendliness: This is not a real kid-friendly atmosphere, but children's portions can be arranged if you ask.

Quality of service: Ranged from friendly and enthusiastic to downright slow.

Noise level: Fairly quiet on a weeknight without any big games on television, roaring during a Browns game.

Bar service: Full.

Accessibility: Fully accessible.

Grade: **

Ratings are based on a scale of zero to four stars. (One star means fair; 2 stars, good; 3 stars, very good; 4 stars, exceptional. Zero stars: not recommended.) Each rating should be measured against comparable restaurants. Plain Dealer reviewers make at least two anonymous visits to each restaurant and do not accept complimentary meals.

And now, sports bar haiku:

Go to a sports bar

Drink beer, eat, watch Football, cheer

Boo when Braylon drops

Sure, there are better overall restaurants in Cleveland's Warehouse District than Bob Golic's Sports Bar & Grille. But you'll never get the satisfaction of booing your lungs out when the Browns do something frustrating over oysters on the half shell at the Blue Point Grille.

The former Browns defensive lineman has filled a niche among the chic, expensive spots on the bluff above the Flats. The aim at Golic's is to provide a fun, casual and affordable spot to grab a bite or catch a game while serving food that is a cut above the usual sports bar fare.

The 3-month-old establishment was still undergoing some growing pains (sometimes slow service, unavailable items) when we visited but delivered on its main goals.

If watching sports on television is your idea of fun, Golic's is Disneyland. It seems like every available square foot of wall space is filled with a high-definition set. I felt like I was entering the flat-panel department at Best Buy the first time I walked in.

When I think sports bar food, I think chicken wings, pizza, chili, ribs and burgers. "Brown food," as general manager Jim Bryson describes it. Golic's has all that.

Their half-pound Angus Burger ($8.95) was thick, juicy and tasty. The restaurant seems to have lined up an excellent source of beef. The grilled Angus Filet Mignon ($27) my wife tried was first rate. Unfortunately, the restaurant was out of the aged strip steak she first ordered that night.

I tried a dozen wings ($8.95) while sipping a Guinness and watching a Browns game, lucky to get a bar seat on a standing-room-only Sunday. The wings were extra large and cooked perfectly - crisp skin, moist and tender inside. I ordered the hot version, but they scored only about 2 out of 10 on my pepper meter.

An excellent Stuffed Peppers appetizer - banana peppers filled with veal, Italian sausage and fontina cheese ($8.95) - delivered more in the heat department, and the three large peppers were a generous serving.

The first pizza we tried was a disaster. The Margherita Flatbread ($8.95) was a soggy mess. Thick-sliced tomatoes had soaked the tortilla-thin dough with their water during baking. By that point, it hardly mattered that the fresh basil promised on the menu was omitted.

We gave the kitchen an opportunity to redeem itself when we returned and found traditional pizza on the menu, thanks to a newly installed oven. This time, Golic's scored. The 9-inch sausage, mushroom, roasted red pepper and roasted garlic pizza ($12.95) had a nice, crisp crust - light and thick - and quality toppings.

The problem with the pizza was that it came after an almost comedic wait during a weekday lunch visit. Three times, my wife and I ordered glasses of wine. Three times, after waits of several minutes, our server came back to tell us that the wine was unavailable. Starting to worry that our parking meter would expire, we asked for Diet Cokes and ordered. After another 35-minute wait, the pizza arrived.

I heard a manager tell patrons at a table near ours that several servers had not shown up for work. That doesn't cut it with busy workers who have less than an hour to spend on lunch.

Service was better during a dinner visit, and the entrees were definitely a cut above most sports bars. In addition to the simply prepared filet mignon, my Chorizo Mac & Cheese ($10.95) with onions, peppers, spicy sausage and pepper jack and cheddar cheese was flavorful and satisfying. The teriyaki-marinated grilled chicken was perfect in the Asian Chicken Salad ($9.95).

Bryson assured me the restaurant is taking steps to improve on the occasional fumble. Too bad it can't also do something about Braylon's hands.

Bob Migra is a free-lance writer in Westlake.