Restaurant of the Week: City Broiler

City Broiler, 12959 Peyton Drive (at Rock Springs), Chino Hills.

In a standalone building in a shopping center on the north end of Chino Hills, City Broiler is reminiscent of New York Grill at Ontario Mills. Both are white tablecloth restaurants, lightly swank, with a Big Apple theme. City Broiler took over in 2007 from Peppino's, a short-lived Italian eatery.

The interior is brick with wood trim, brass and etched glass. There are some stylish B&W NYC photos dotting the walls. The restaurant feels urban, certainly more urban than Chino Hills, even if it is across the parking lot from a Wendy's.

I ate there Wednesday night with a couple of friends who live nearby and like the place. We sat in the bar area, which I would recommend for a casual experience. We ordered the mini-pizza with mushrooms ($6) and the crab cake sandwich ($8) off the bar menu and the fish and chips ($12.50) off the regular menu. The latter two came with a side dish; we got fruit and mixed vegetables, respectively.

We traded food and none of us were disappointed. I wasn't blown away, but I would eat there again. Service was attentive and the atmosphere is appealing. It's nice to see a family-owned sit-down restaurant.

The specialties are steak and seafood, by the way, although they also have sandwiches, salads and pizzas. You can view the menu and photos here.