Next Door By Josie | Santa Monica, CA

The dudes in suits, the ladies who lunch, and the bottles of Burgundy lining the walls might make you think otherwise, but believe this: Next Door by Josie, the two-month-old Santa Monica restaurant run by Josie Le Balch, is a sports bar.

We present, as Exhibit A, the two flat-screen televisions set high over the full bar, the tables set in such a way that nearly every seat has a good view.

Exhibit B: The menu, which includes such dishes as homemade BBQ potato chips, wild-game chili, and hot dogs with kraut and "ballpark mustard."

The deviled eggs ($6) are a good example of how Le Balch can enliven a thankless bar snack: Resting on a pile of pickled beets cut into neatly shaped batons and scattered with duck-skin cracklings, it's a rich, biting dish that begs for a beer.

You won't care who's winning if you happen to be eating the roasted pork sandwich (pictured; $14). Soft slices of meat and piquant aged Provolone are complemented by rapini that, in an inspired touch, has been deep-fried to a crisp. The greens' crunch is a welcome texture in a soft sandwich that is indeed, as the menu states, "sloppy."

Next Door by Josie, 2420 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica; 310-581-4201 or nextdoorbyjosie.com