It’s fun to go out to eat with someone who’s worked in the restaurant business, especially if they’ve toiled at that very restaurant. My teenaged friend Ben recently accompanied me to Tyler Point Grille, where he had once put in many hours as a bus boy. The fact that he had most likely eaten his way through the menu and still wanted to go back was a good sign.

It was he who pointed out that the unexpected bustle of a Wednesday night was due to the nearby Barrington Yacht Club. Tyler Point Grille’s location couldn’t be better for sustaining a good crowd. You must meander through the club’s boatyard, between the towering hulls of boats in dry dock, to come upon the restaurant, perched on Tyler Point, at the tip of a peninsula formed by the Barrington, Palmer, and Warren rivers converging to flow into Narragansett Bay. On late spring and summer evenings, shafts of golden light from the setting sun pierce the two dining rooms (or you can catch it over the water at a few outdoor tables).

But even on a rainy spring night, the rooms are light and airy. The upper room has a high ceiling in a slender arc (like an overturned skiff) with small windows up high as well as mullioned ones all around two sides. A third side has a half wall that separates it from the lower dining room, which also has the crisp, nautical feel of natural wood and brass, with green plants set into the divider.

The bar is next to the restaurant’s entryway and nearby is an open kitchen, where chef Ian Sullivan turn outs very carefully prepared contemporary Italian and seafood dishes. The "grill" part of Tyler Point’s name comes across in everything from Black Angus burgers and steaks to tuna and pizza. The popular mixed Tyler Point Grille (a bargain at $14.95) includes veal sausage, a pork chop, and a chicken breast. Just one "house specialty" is highlighted on the menu, "chicken C.V.M.," pan-fried chicken breasts with arugula, radicchio, onions, tomatoes, and balsamic vinaigrette.

The pasta section at Tyler Point is also wide-ranging, from linguine with fresh clams to four-cheese agnolotti with chicken in an agrodolce tomato sauce, an alluring kind of sweet-and-sour variation. The top of the pasta line is capellini with lobster, peapods, and sun-dried tomatoes in a lemon-butter sauce.

Ben was longing for a lobster ravioli dish that he remembered from past visits, but there was only a spinach/ricotta ravioli entree with Gulf shrimp. I was considering the yellowtail sole with a fresh tomato relish and pesto gratinée, but the weather didn’t seem quite summery enough for those two tastes yet, so I chose a special, the sole stuffed with a mushroom duxelle ($14.95).

Similarly, Ben’s yen for lobster led him to another special, linguine with pan-seared scallops and an impressive lobster tail on top ($18.95). His pasta was in a yummy pink vodka sauce, and it was a generous portion, served with an equally generous salad, both especially appropriate to a teenager’s appetite.

My "stuffed" sole was two fillets overflowing with a buttery-rich mushroom filling. It was accompanied by delicious broccoli rabe, plus a side of Yukon gold mashed potatoes, and sauteed sweet red peppers and onions. The sole had a lemony sauce beneath it, and the whole presentation seemed like something the chef himself would like to eat for supper, as if he’d taken special care with it.

That was, unfortunately, in stark contrast to the grilled pizza margherita ($7.95), with which Ben and I began our Tyler Point meal. The crust seemed over-grilled, more like a cracker than a pizza, with too little of the tomato sauce or cheese to moisten the whole.

Desserts at Tyler Point run to cheesecake and chocolate, with a crème caramel and a tiramisu made at the restaurant itself. Urged on by Ben, I indulged in my chocolate craving and ordered the warm chocolate bread pudding with vanilla ice cream ($4.95), which we both found dry and unchocolatey. Ben fared better with his biscotti trio: cranberry-orange, hazelnut, and chocolate versions, accompanied by a fudgy dipping sauce.

Tyler Point has an excellent wine list and a full bar. The service was a bit spotty, with a long wait between our pizza and entrees and a blip in bringing our root beers (once again, a plea for filtered water, please). The latter glitch was quickly rectified with a smile, however, and I tend to think that the restaurant’s unexpected busyness might have been throwing things off.

Tyler Point Grille is definitely reliable with its signature grilled items and I’d trust the kitchen with almost any of their nouvelle or traditional preparations, particularly with the seafood. The lengthening days and warmer temperatures will definitely beckon city-dwellers as much as neighborhood devotees to this tucked-away spot on the water. Just don’t get lost among the boats, and take note that the restaurant is on Barton Road, not Tyler Point Road. The latter dead-ends at a cemetery (groan), a meditative, but altogether different experience.