Everyone loves a bargain, and at Twenty Water Street’s attached pub, Warehouse Tavern, this idea works on many levels. First, the pub itself is a downscale version of its parent restaurant. It’s a place where the menu is streamlined, with lots of appetizers, sandwiches, salads, and grilled pizzas. Thirteen entrees are supplemented by nightly specials, and some of these have prices that can send you into a time warp, such as a huge portion of meatloaf for $6.95.

Meatloaf happens every Monday night; other weeknights feature macaroni and cheese, chicken pot pie, corned beef and cabbage, shepherd’s pie and even prime rib (Saturdays after 5 p.m.). To accompany these comfort foods, there are five beers on draught (including Newport Storm’s Amber), a dozen in bottles, and 16 choices of wine by the glass (three of which cost more than the meatloaf).

Recently, friends from Princeton were in town, and we were seeking a spot to eat with a view of the water. This is another plus for Warehouse Tavern, with its ample deck right on Greenwich Cove. The salt air breezes whetted our appetites for the mussels sauté ($9.95), and I couldn’t resist a cup of the clam chowder ($4.25), touted as the "people’s choice." Both were excellent.

The chowder was chockfull of its prime ingredient and rich with butter and cream. The mussels, in their shells, were served in a broth of garlic, onions, tomatoes, and white wine. They came with two pieces of garlic toast, but we needed more bread to soak up the delicious broth. Unfortunately, by the time we got it, the broth was cold and our entrees had arrived.

In between chowder and mussels, we munched on the veggie grilled pizza ($8.95). The Tavern also has four-cheese, chicken, pesto and meat varieties, the latter with hamburger, sausage, and pepperoni topping the tomato sauce and cheese. Though the other three at the table enjoyed the pizza, I found the sauce and the crust unremarkable, and forfeited my portion.

Following on such substantial appetizers, our friends had the sense to choose blackened chicken Caesar salads ($10.95) for themselves, one with dressing on the side, one mixed in. Both of them commented that the chicken wasn’t spicy, as they had expected, merely blackened, and the salad dressing had no bite to it.

I continued to hold up the seafood banner in my corner, with baked yellowtail flounder, topped with cracker crumbs and lemon butter ($14.95). I opted for the mashed potatoes to accompany it, and the vegetable was a pleasant surprise of corn on the cob. The potatoes struck me as too lumpy, and the fish too salty, though others who tasted the potatoes thought they were fine. They did agree, however, that the flounder had more than its fair share of salt.

The real winner among the four entrees, even before we found out its price, was the meatloaf ($6.95). Bill could not get over the hearty portion (three large slabs) and the flavorful mix of herbs and meat without too many breadcrumbs for filler. He also dove into a baked potato and an ear of corn.

How, you might ask, could any of us possibly consider dessert? Ah, dear reader, it’s our professional responsibility to cover all the bases. Turns out that the Tavern’s desserts are all made in-house and include such favorites as ice cream pies (mud and chocolate chip) and fruit pies (blueberry and apple). The thought of warm blueberry pie ($3.95) with vanilla ice cream was irresistible to me, as was the brownie sundae ($3.95) to our friends. We managed to quarter each of these desserts and have a few bites apiece. It made for a glorious summer ending to our meals.

The only real detraction to this pleasant bayside dinner was the inattentive service. This is not to say that our waitress didn’t try her best to meet our requests, and she did so with a very friendly and upbeat attitude. It’s just that it was very hard to find her (and the restaurant didn’t seem to be that busy on a Monday night).

Maybe that’s another difference between Twenty Water Street, with its linen napkins and tablecloths, and Warehouse Tavern, where we were served wine in paper cups. Hey, something has to be done to keep the prices low on that meatloaf. And the view was worth every paper napkin.