RESTAURANT REVIEW : Good Times Are Brewing at Angel City

They call Angel City a “brew pub� and boy, will that give you the wrong picture. This is no cozy, woody spot for an ale and a game of darts. It does brew its own beer--big stainless steel tanks are on proud display--but the walls are in shades of green and gold that seem corroded by decades of chemical fumes, and the beer tanks are bathed in the chilly blue light that goes with chain-link fences and security patrols.

Altogether, Angel City suggests a refinery rather than a brewery, or maybe something even more in the industrial nightmare line.

Anyway, it seems to be great fun for the lively crowd of tanned young Santa Monicans who hang out here. Maybe they like the beer, maybe they like talking about the beer and maybe they just like the fact that City of Angels Brewing Company has managed to suggest simultaneously two of the great visions of our time, “Blade Runner� and “The Night Belongs to Michelob.�

Maybe they like the food, too, but the beers brewed here are the surest bet. They may seem a little strange to somebody who’s never had anything but fizzy, highly carbonated mass-production suds (you’ll never get a tall head on any of these). But since they’re all fresh and unpasteurized they do have good flavor, from the tangy light beer (very blond, brewed from wheat as well as barley) to various dark beers that show up among an ever-changing list of “seasonal brews.�

When the place opened, I heard complaints that the food was too salty. An odd complaint about bar food--it’s supposed to make you thirsty--but Angel City seems to have taken it to heart, maybe even too much to heart.

The food is not oversalted today, and it is positively underspiced. Among the appetizers neither the chili (thick and meaty though it is), the chicken wings nor the rather dry ribs are hot enough to make you even think about reaching for a tall one.

In fact, there is an odd avoidance of strong flavors. “Smoked trout in vinaigrette� comes in a brown sauce that tastes of butter but not at all of vinegar. The fish of the day, your typical California cuisine grilled fish on a bed of basil and chopped tomatoes, desperately needs lemon.

There are some nice points, though. Thick french fries with lime-flavored mayonnaise are a definite guilty pleasure, and the linguine with steamed clams, bacon and tomato is in a sauce with a wonderful fresh cream flavor.

The daily changing sausage selection comes mostly from Jody Maroni and is usually served in curious ways. I’ve had a dandy pork sausage full of garlic and red pepper accompanied by fried slices of pineapple.

Portions are often surprisingly large (notably the roast turkey thigh, as big as a Buick fender), and the mashed potatoes with cracked pepper are terrific.

Now here’s the thing I can’t understand: This is a bar, but the best part of the menu is dessert. The star is a deliciously moist cinnamon apple cake, rather brown and full of apple flavor like an apple betty. There’s a rich home-made frozen fudge bar, halfway to being a Dove Bar, really.

There are good old-fashioned American pies: tart cherry pie, a somewhat overdone pecan pie (when the pecans of the pecan topping spill all over the place, this is no longer a pecan pie, it’s a nut basket made out of a pie). And you can actually get a fresh chocolate cupcake with a little bit of pastry cream filling, served a bit self-consciously in a coffee cup.

Pub, my foot.

City of Angels Brewing Co., 1445 Fourth St . , Santa Monica, (213) 451-0096. Open for lunch Mon.-Sat., dinner nightly. Beer only. Street parking. American Express, MasterCard, Visa accepted. Dinner for two, food only, $20 to $55.