It was somebody touting the Jake’s Burger that finally got me back. The thing is stuffed with bleu cheese — not a novel preparation, but one I’ve enjoyed elsewhere and it always gets my teeth a-tinglin’. Slathering it on the bun just doesn’t cut the mustard.

Jake’s is a hangout near the Phoenix office, but it certainly draws its clientele from a wider circle, especially with live music on weekends. Its draft beers alone are enough to win loyalists: not just the usual Guinness and Bass, but Magic Hat #9, Woodchuck Cider, and a remarkable floral and citrus-tasting Hoegaarden, from Belgium. If you want Bud, you’ll have to settle for a bottle.

A half-dozen tables are outside, some with parasols for those not working on their tans. There is an official Garden Burger ($5.75) for those whose teeth don’t so much tingle as project a virtuous gleam. Jake’s has nine sandwiches, but they cover the gamut in price ($5.25-$7.95) and in the vegetarian-carnivore spectrum — from hummus wrap and grilled sirloin to the best of both worlds — a BLT.

My Jake’s Burger ($6.75) was the best of breed. On a bulkie roll, medium-rare sirloin oozed tangy cheese and was topped with a towering tangle of perfectly crisp bacon broiled to render it almost greaseless. Although the menu promised scallions, for onion flavor that wouldn’t compete with the bleu cheese; the substituted cooked-down onions were similarly low-key, just not as flavorful. The French fries were skin-on, as you’d expect in a place that takes care of little things. My friend had the BBQ chicken wrap ($6.95), and he found the mildly spicy sauce "very tasty," and the coincidental bleu cheese a zippy lagniappe. The grill-marked chicken wasn’t overcooked. We appreciated the half-sour pickle spears, my friend with more authority, he being a Brooklyn boy.

A return with Johnnie for dinner was something to look forward to, casually but with a smile of fond recollection. We sat inside, across from the long bar in the upper alcove. Judging by the paintings of deceased rap and rock stars, it is clear that Jake’s has reincarnated the ambience, if not the spirit, of the late, great Leo’s, the happening place on nearby Clifford Street in the pre-restaurant-boom ’80s. Columbian artist Mario Ahumeda celebrates such unusual suspects as a bowler-topped Shane MacGowan of the Pogues and an antic Joe Strummer of the Clash.

For appetizers, Jake’s offers, along with the usual nachos and buffalo wings, a few off-the-beaten-menu items, such as spinach and artichoke dip ($6.95), and fried chicken and vegetable dumplings ($5.95) with Thai peanut sauce. We wanted to remind ourselves about the pizza here, and we chose the "Caprice" ($7.95) instead of the BBQ chicken pizza ($8.95), since I’d sampled that in sandwich form. Good choice: crust medium-thin and tasty, though a bit underdone, heaped with plenty of buffalo mozzarella, fresh Roma tomatoes, and strips of basil, and for additional flavor, drizzles of balsamic vinegar and roasted-garlic oil.

There are only a few regular entrees, and while there is nothing for a vegetarian, the seven choices run the gamut from steak alla Mama ($14.95) to charbroiled Norwegian salmon fillet ($12.95), and a simple three-cheese baked penne with chicken ($11.95). The least expensive main dish isn’t pasta, as on most menus, but Cajun meatloaf ($10.95). It may be their best offering as well. Not reduced to hamburger loaf by too much beef, the two thick slices are leavened with enough pork, and probably veal, and the right amount of breadcrumbs to keep it moist and flavorful under the — unusual touch — finishing on the grill. All atop mashed potatoes, of course; red bliss, light on the garlic.

Less successful was Johnnie’s dish, blackened chicken ($11.95), another Cajun inspiration. Too greasy for her; too salty for me, a boneless chicken breast looked to be sautéed after dredging in flour and spices. Not overcooked, though, which can be a danger (Cajun-blackened toast, anyone?).

The three desserts on the menu (crème brûlée, raisin-bread pudding, and bittersweet chocolate mousse, $4.95 or $4.50) are hard to mess up and can be made special with some little song or dance. We had the last one and liked it. Although not dark chocolate, the mousse itself was flecked with bits of the heftier stuff and heaped with lots of whipped cream, making a pleasant end to a meal at an amiable rendezvous.

Bill Rodriguez can be reached at bill@billrod.com.