Something’s Sure to Score with You at Cali Comfort

Meat 1, Potatoes 2.

That's the score we gave the night we dined at this locals' sports bar and family restaurant in Spring Valley. The turkey in the croissan'wich ($8.29) and in the mushroom Swiss turkey burger ($9.49) were absolutely delicious and deserve a high ranking in the fowl category. The pearl mashed potatoes served with the meatloaf and the shoestring fries accompanying the croissantwich tasted just like homemade, hence our spud score above.

On the other hand, we would have liked to given a higher score to the meatloaf ($10.99), but the house specialty was too dry, too salty and too tough for our taste. The gravy atop it was too spicy, as well. The steamed veggies were fine but a little cold, although the side salad was fresh and flavorful.

Cali Comfort is a sprawling place in a converted house in a mixed-use neighborhood, There are three dining rooms, a patio and a sports bar filled with plenty of HDTVs on the walls and dozens of team pennants on the rafters. The bar area is a hoppin' place, where fans gather to cheer on their favorites from football, baseball, UFC fights, basketball, NASCAR and other sporting events. You can pick up a calendar of the monthly sports lineup or check online to see which events you want to watch with your fellow fanatics.

But we were there on a Tuesday night to see how the food scored. For appetizers, we tried the foot-long quesadilla ($7.99), a flour tortilla stuffed with cheddar and jack cheeses, carne asada or chicken, with sour cream or salsa. Again, the carne failed to score very high with our taste buds, but the cheese and tortilla helped it go down more easily. Guacamole is offered for an extra buck. Since it was Tuesday Taco Night, we tried the calamari ($2). It was lightly batter-fried, tender inside, crunchy outside and just perfect with a few squeezes of lime.

So it seems that on our visit that the fish and fowl scored higher than the meat. But there are plenty of other beef choices on the menu. We'll back again to see which ones score better.

Our waiter recommended the peach cobbler ($5.99) for dessert, and we were glad he did. It was a trough of crumbly, cinnamon-dusted crust over hot, sweet peaches and drizzled with caramel sauce. It made our taste buds really, really happy for the first time that night.

The full bar features eight draft beers and daily specials, as does the menu. You can reserve the rooms and patio for private meeting rooms. Free Wi-Fi is offered if you want to surf the web or check email.

Cali Comfort has been owned by the same family for many years, and they're making sure it retains a family atmosphere – outside the bar, anyway. We saw some kids watching Cartoon Network on HDTVs in the dining rooms – another homey touch.

Lengthy breakfast and lunch menus are served all day, which start at 7 a.m. and end as late as 12 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Everything was priced pretty moderately. Service was prompt and the waiter helpful. We took home three cartons of leftovers,

We found the restaurant listed on another website, offering 20 percent off an entire meal. We mentioned it to the waiter and he lopped $8.75 off our bill, for a total of $38.06 for three people, including tax (always tip the waiter on the full price).

My suggestion is to visit Cali Comfort a few times, find something you like for each meal, and stick with it. Even if you're not a sports fan, this tucked-away place is sure to score with you on one level or another.