RESTAURANT REVIEW:Centerfield food goes great with the game

The prior weekend was spent in glorious celebration of the best time of the year. Football season has arrived, and I spent my weekend lying prone on the couch for most of it, toggling between games.

There was college football Saturday, which proved to be an appetizer for what I really hungered for — the NFL.

By Monday I was bleary-eyed from watching television for so long and feeling a bit self conscious that I was basically a hermit for 48 hours.

There was a rare double-header Monday night, but rather than deepen the imprint on my couch, I decided to venture out and join humanity and share in the joy of the nation’s most popular sport.

I joined about 50 of my closest friends at the Centerfield Sports Bar & Grill and hunkered down at a table just after the first game’s kickoff.

There are four large-screen televisions against a wall in the dining room and more than 30 other televisions mounted on walls and stands throughout the dining room and the bar area.

The food is what you would expect to find at a sports bar: burgers, tacos and sandwiches. But there are some surprises on the six-page menu, such as the prime rib and New York strip steak dinner specials.

The prime rib is served Thursdays and Saturdays, and the steak special is available Sundays. The prime rib is $10.95 for a regular cut, $14.95 for a large cut. The 10-ounce New York strip is $9.95 and $12.95 for a 14-ounce cut.

They are part of weekly specials offered by the establishment.

There is also a taco Tuesday promotion, spaghetti Wednesday and meatloaf and margarita Monday.

Bar food is what I wanted, so I began with the appetizer sampler. It is a plate of several of the starters they serve and is a good choice for two people, allowing you to share and taste the different selections they have.

On the plate are drummettes, mozzarella sticks, potato skins, egg rolls, stuffed jalapeños, onion petals and tortilla chips.

There were a couple of things that could have made this a better plate. First, get rid of the tortilla chips.

They offer nothing except to take up space that could be occupied by more of the items listed in the description on the menu. And give me more than two drummettes, two potato skins, one egg roll cut in half and three mozzarella sticks. For $12.95, I should get more food.

The last problem would be the sauces that accompany the food. There is ranch for the chicken and salsa for the chips, but no sour cream for the skins or marinara sauce for the cheese sticks.

There was a mayonnaise-based sauce in the middle of the plate, but I wasn’t really sure what that was for. They did work for the onion pedals, which are just like onion rings, only shortened and straight.

The Philly cheese steak I got was pretty tasty, though I prefer the steak cut in short, thin strips, rather than chopped.

The tacos looked appealing as well, with two hands needed to handle them.

Burgers are good here, as are the sandwiches, including the barbecue pork with sauce on top.

The service, however, was disappointing. The server was overwhelmed and twice I had to get up and track her down for a refill on drinks and then to get my check.

She did have a lot of tables to work, but spent a lot of time with one customer in particular while the rest of us suffered.

There are 15 more weeks of Monday night football, and I am sure I’ll be back for a couple of them when I am in the mood for company and bar food.

Address: 17296 Beach Blvd., Huntington Beach

Phone: (714) 848-0113

Cuisine: Pub and grill food

Specialty dish: Burgers

Alcohol served: Yes, full bar

Dress: casual

Family friendly: no

Credit cards accepted: MasterCard, Visa, American Express

Rating: ** 3/4