More than 10 years after Wolfgang Puck launched the trend for large, glamorous downtown dining rooms, it's still a rare night when brother chefs Mitchell and Steven Rosenthal don't perform to a full house. Eating, however, is only part of the reason you come to Postrio. After squeezing through the perpetually swinging bar -- which dishes out excellent pizzas from a wood-burning oven in the corner and is a great place to grab an affordable bite -- guests are forced to make a grand entrance down the antebellum staircase to the cavernous dining room below (it's everyone's 15 seconds of fame, so make sure your fly is zipped). Pure Hollywood, for sure, but it's fun.

The menu, which was painfully panned in early 2002 by San Francisco Chronicle food critic Michael Bauer, combines Italian, Asian, French, and California styles with mixed results -- sometimes the kitchen is on, other evenings it's way off. The nightly changing menu might include grilled chicken breast with potato sausage, onion purée, and walnut vinaigrette; or roasted salmon with potato eggplant ravioli, Thai basil mint salad, and orange coconut-milk cream. If you're up for a fancy dinner, there are better options around town, but when I'm in the mood for a light bite and a festive scene in Union Square, I'll happily head straight for the bar here.