700 S. Potomac St.
Baltimore, Md. 21224
410-342-0280

The Yellow Dog Tavern, which opened recently in Canton where Mike's Happy Hour bar used to be, is a place I want to love.

Nice folks working there, a fun atmosphere, a not-too-ambitious menu with some imaginative selections -- the kind of place you want in your neighborhood, especially when you're too tired to cook.

The owners are young, energetic and eager to please.

Somehow, though, the kitchen doesn't quite pull off the food part of the equation. Not to mention the fact that people are going to think this menu is expensive for a Canton bar/ restaurant -- $11 for a burger with one side? That puts a lot of pressure on the kitchen to come up with one fabulous burger.

We didn't order the burger, but what we did order didn't fall in the fabulous category. Grilled calamari with gremolata (the traditional parsley-and-lemon-zest garnish for osso buco) was so tough it was like chewing on latex. Even the superior red pepper aioli couldn't help it.

Fried oysters, a special that night, were juicy and fresh inside their crisp exterior, but so much heat had been added to the batter coating them that their delicate flavor was lost. Again, the aioli dipping sauce -- this time flavored with cilantro -- showed what the kitchen is capable of if more attention were paid to detail.

Both the beef medallions and the pork tenderloin had a mushy texture, although the flavor was fine, and both had noteworthy sides. The mushroom and asparagus risotto that came with the beef was exemplary, and the fruit compote and grilled asparagus with the pork complemented the meat nicely.

If cost is a consideration, you might decide that a better way to go would be to order one of the salads, to which you can add chicken or seafood for an extra $4 to $6. I think not.

A salad of red and yellow beets with Belgian endive and other greens, pecans and goat cheese would work very well with grilled chicken on top, but it would cost you $13. That isn't outrageous, but a better bet would be the half a roasted chicken, plump and well seasoned, fragrant with herbs and served with spinach and roasted cauliflower for $17.

There are several seafood dishes on the menu, and judging from the pan-roasted sea bass we had, you won't go wrong with them. The fillet rested on a crisply fried parmesan and couscous cake, which created an appealing interplay of textures. But the garlicky romesco sauce that came with it wasn't exactly the most subtle thing about the dish.

Of our starters, the most successful was the tomato toasts, which made good use of flavorful summer produce. The chopped red and yellow tomatoes, onions and fresh mozzarella perched cheerfully on grilled bread that soaked up the juices in an appealing way.

I liked the fact that dessert is kept simple. There were two choices made in house that night: a crumble-topped peach crisp pie and a chocolate bourbon cake, either of which will help you leave the Yellow Dog Tavern happy.

The best part of the evening was the service, which was attentive and caring. The fun atmosphere -- polished hardwood floors, yellow walls hung with the bright works of local artists -- also involves a lot of noise, which is not so fun. (Our excellent waitress did turn down the sound system when we asked.)

The wine list is remarkably short for a place that has dishes like "lemongrass encrusted tuna served rare with wilted arugula and beet tops, parmesan cheese and a puttanesca sauce." There are only five reds and five whites, and they were out of the bottle we ordered.

There is room for improvement here, obviously, but I wouldn't write off the Yellow Dog Tavern yet. I'm hoping the owners will get a fix on the things that went wrong; nothing major is broken.