Eastside Grill is the kind of place you hope will offer a positive experience the minute you walk in.

Sports tchotchkes and memorabilia — some of it priceless, some of it promotional — are tucked just about anywhere there's free space. Neon beer signs and a multicolored illuminated glass ceiling left over from long-ago tenant Moose McGillycuddy's keep the room and everything happening in it happily bright. Mismatched tables and chairs almost beg to be pulled together — party-on-the-patio-at-home-style — for a chat with neighbors over pupu and pitchers. Every table boasts at least three orders of food.

The 6-year-old Puck's Alley sports bar and grill exudes a distinctly local-style, friendly, come-as-you-are kind of comfort. Good thing then that just about every minute of my two hours at Eastside Grill lived up to my initial hope.

With a nod of thanks to the anonymous reader who left a voice-mail message demanding I not only visit but "order the teri-steak and one beer," I'll start with Eastside's food menu. There were three of these to choose from — together covering every conceivable example of local-style bar grinds, served till 12:30 a.m.

Eastside's "da unique" teriyaki steak ($9.50) is as distinctly local a pupu as you're likely to find in town. Does a 10-ounce steak marinated in teriyaki sauce until tender, then grilled, sliced pupu-style and drizzled with ranch dressing and diced tomatoes sound delicious to you? Uh-huh. It didn't to us either.

So we were surprised to find the sweet meaty flavor of the steak actually playing nice and tasty on our taste buds with the tangy zip of the ranch dressing. Thank you, anonymous-voicemail-leaving reader!

Rich with sweet Maryland blue crab and little else, Eastside's crab dip ($9.75) is a creamy crustacean-lover's delight. A couple of warm, crisp-crusted mini-loaves of french bread served alongside it disappeared just as quickly.

And we'll definitely order another basket of beer-battered zucchini slices ($6.95) on our next Eastside visit. Deep-fried and quickly served with a side of — Surprise! — ranch dressing, each slice arrives crisp on the outside and melt-in-your-mouth warm on the inside.

There were at least a dozen other pupu we wanted to try, but three appetizers easily sated us. Menu prices were affordable; and portions generous.

Eastside's crowd was busy with a constant flow of mixed-age locals in for food, drinks, talk and sports.

A quartet of fiftysomethings was enjoying a night out with beers, steak pupu, fried noodles and poke. A table of University of Hawai'i-Manoa students complained about the football team's misfortunes over pitchers and soy beans. And a vocal group in the middle of the room cheered every goal of an arena football game as if watching the Super Bowl.

At least four of Eastside's dozen or more sports-tuned televisions are visible from any seat in the house. Among the pickings at 9 p.m. Hawai'i time on a Friday, depending which televisions one faced: golf, boxing, football, baseball and, of course, arena football.

Owner Robbie Acoba and his staff excelled at keeping service extremely attentive even when Eastside got busier later in the evening. I'd suggest service staff from a few places in town — upscale and downscale — stop by for lessons ... and arena football.

Reach Derek Paiva at dpaiva@honoluluadvertiser.com.