The Grill On The Alley

Nine out of ten doctors agree that, for every night you spend spooning watermelon carpaccio in a restaurant that looks like a space ship, you must spend three nights devouring old school food in a throwback setting -- and who the hell are you to argue with nine out of ten of anything? Get sustenance at The Grill On The Alley.

A Beverly Hills landmark since Arnold achieved his first "-ator" (1984), The Grill's a face-stuffing marriage of Miami deco, 1940s big-city grill, and Hollywood: dark, high-backed leather & wood booths, stout wooden columns, and oak floors giving way to white marble with diamond black inlays at the bar, all surrounded by shots of Cary Grant, Joan Crawford, and other Golden Agers. No-frills meatiness includes USDA Prime filets, bone-in ribeyes, NY strips, and double-cut lamb & pork chops, all cooked on a red oak char broiler and delivered with few adornments; the ocean's repped by pan-fried Dover sole, cedar plank Atlantic salmon, Thousand Island & avocado-abetted "Shrimp Louie", and a lobster martini, for when drinking alone doesn't scratch your itch for unwieldy glasses. Booze runs from a Napa/Sonoma-heavy wine list, to classic cocktails like the mint julep and sidecar, to not-so-classics like the Pom Margarita (Patron Silver & Citronge, Pom juice, fresh lime) and the 10 Cane Rum "Black and Blue", made with mixed berries -- nothing evokes the crooked-nose pugilism of the 1940s like sweet, diminutive balls.

The Grill also rocks a special happy hour menu, with app-sized portions of everything from chicken pot pie and lump crab cakes to seared ahi tuna and Kobe burgers with blue cheese mayo -- which nine out of ten doctors will happily spoon out of your arteries.