Restaurant Review:

“Upscale sports bar” would seem to be an oxymoron, but in recent years, I have seen more and more places upgrade not only the surroundings but the food.

One of those is SandBox Sports Grill, which is next to the nightclub Flight Bistro on Adams Avenue near Beach Boulevard. The goal, I believe, of both places is to pull in the 20- and 30-somethings, because SandBox looks more like a club than a sports bar.

There are high-back leather chairs around the bar and a raised area that has leather couches, just like a club.

The look of the restaurant is fresh — it has been open a little more than a year, and the many widescreen televisions on the wall and around the bar give a lot of different viewing angles.

Don’t go here, however, if you are timid. The place is loud, and there is a definite attitude. When I called to ask how late they were open, the woman who answered said 2 a.m. and then hung up on me.

When my friends and I arrived, we were standing at the entrance and then realized no one was going to seat us, so we found a place in the corner. It was a Sunday afternoon, but the decibel level screamed Saturday night.

We were ignored by one of two waitresses for a while, but I finally caught the attention of one.

Realizing my friends and I weren’t in the desired demographic, I suggested we order quickly as we might never see her again.

The menu is typical sports bar food with few surprises. The appetizers run the gamut from cheese sticks to potato skins, chicken wings, fried calamari and nachos.

The salads seemed a little more inventive. Tossed in with the requisite Caesar and house salad is a Hawaiian, which has romaine, pineapple, ham and jack cheese, and a buffalo chicken with romaine, red onion, jack cheese and grilled chicken in a buffalo ranch dressing.

The entrees, though, go back to predictable. Wraps, burgers and pizza fill out the mostly uninspired menu, though I did find the Cajun dog a bit intriguing. That is a grilled New Orleans hot link with sautéed onions, peppers, tomatoes and pepper jack cheese.

I wanted the pizza, but they only have one size — large — so I figured I would share it with my three guests and take the rest home to the neighbor kids.

I got the carnivore. It had pepperoni, sausage, ham and bacon.

What happened next totally floored me. I have never had this happen to me in all the years I have been dining out. My three guests got their entrees.

One had a buffalo chicken salad, another had a chicken veggie wrap and the third had the mushroom jack burger.

They got their orders, and the waitress walked away. I figured she ran out of hands and was going to get my pizza. Uh, no, she came back out with her hands free and went over to the bar to get drinks for another table.

I waited and urged my table to eat. When they finished, I still had no pizza, nor an explanation. I wanted to see how bad this could get and, to my surprise, the waitress managed to exceed my already low expectations.

She brought the pizza with the bill. I figured she thought I was taking it home with me, but no, that was when she decided I would get my entrée.

I said, “You realize I wanted to eat this here,” to which she replied, “Yes, that’s why I brought a plate.”

I was speechless. She made no apology. It was as if she was completely clueless about how to wait on a table.

I was going to school her on the subject of food service, but I knew it would be lost on her. We paid and left, the same way as we entered, with no acknowledgment to our existence.

Usually, when I have a bad night at a restaurant, I go back to give them a second chance. With SandBox, I gave them one strike. There were so many egregious violations of etiquette and restaurant professionalism that I knew a second chance would be futile.

Besides, the food wasn’t good enough to lure me back, especially because I would probably have to go into the kitchen to get it.

SandBox Sports Grill

Address: 8052 Adams Ave., Huntington Beach

Phone: (714) 969-1400

Website: www.sandboxsg.com

Cuisine: pub food

Specialty dish: pizza

Alcohol served: full bar

Entrée price range: $6 to $16

Family friendly: No

Credit cards accepted: American Express, Discover, MasterCard and Visa

Rating: *

JOHN REGER reviews local restaurants and may be contacted at [email protected] or P.O. Box 2984, Seal Beach, CA 90740.