TEASERS: ALL IT NEEDS IS SOME TIME

I was in the mood for a relaxed, conversational dinner with some good friends I hadn’t seen in a while, and we decided to try Teasers, a new restaurant on the beginning-to-be-gentrified Santa Monica Mall.

Background music was in the foreground when we arrived. Aretha Franklin was belting “Respect” at the top of her golden lungs. “It’s just like Chicago,” one friend said. “It’s just like a party,” said the other. Greeted warmly and seated right away, we surveyed the long bar crowded with lively yupettes, the handsome exposed brick wall, the bright round lamps and glassed-in kitchen at the rear.

Just when Stevie Wonder was heating up in “Fingertips,” our perky waitress arrived with menus and crayons. Crayons? No more “my name is Buffie and . . .”; now names are written on the paper tablecloth, scribbled down along with the specials of the day and, thoughtfully, prices.

We were a hungry trio and swiftly worked our way through the multifaceted and physically large menu. Lots of appetizers (called “appeteasers” here) to choose from, from flaming kasseri cheese to baked oysters with cilantro pesto, numerous salads and sandwiches, pizzas, soup and chili, fish, steak, chicken and a choice of fresh pleasures from the oyster bar. “Save room for dessert,” I counseled. “I hear one of the owners was executive pastry chef at Trumps.”

The music was like a loud, great party tape and we friends caught up on post-holiday news in amplified tones, plunging into our basket of spicy chicken wings (carefully coated, spiced just right) as if we were starring in “The Big Chill.”

Another night I arrived with a friend who really would have preferred to have a quiet meal. “Do you think you might turn the music down?” she asked. “We actually like to induce this mood here,” our perky waitress of the night said. “It’s quieter at lunch,” she ventured, “when the businessmen are here.” Nighttime seems to attract an extroverted crowd of singles, young couples and families with kids.

The homemade tweed-textured Italian sausages wrapped with sweet roasted peppers in a forthright marinara was a wonderful “appeteaser.” We shared another high-spirited dish too, “Teasers Pasta,” a tangled angel hair concoction laden with mussels, clams, calamari, garlic, basil, Parmesan and cream. Mussels steamed with oranges, onions, wine and thyme came in an addictive broth, while crayfish were absolutely bland.

Service is extremely good natured but not quite professional just yet. A tender Delmonico steak arrived at the table cool. The deep dish pizza came with the wrong topping, the fresh spinach salad arrived without utensils or plates. And the bus boys might learn the signals diners give when finished with a course. We were asked “are you finished?” too many times throughout the meal.

But give Teasers some time. The young, avid and experienced owners (the other co-owner began working in restaurants when he was 13) are often on the premises and seem to be generally concerned that their patrons have a good time.

One can order cookies and milk but we opted for more adult pleasures from the on-premise bakery: an absolutely wicked more-mousse-than-cake chocolate mousse cake, an outrageous truffle, a chocolate caramel walnut torte that tastes like a deluxe candy bar. The shortbread is light, the Mexican wedding cakes excellent, the cheesecake and iced and layered carrot cake both too sweet. The bakery opens at 7:30 in the morning; there are fresh and fragrant muffins and croissants (and coffee!) at that time.

Teasers has a full bar, valet parking and is planning to have outdoor tables soon. Teasers is affordable and upbeat, if not quite the place for a quiet tete-a-tete. You should have seen the well-fed trio shimmying out the door to the sounds of Junior Walker’s liquid saxophone.

Teasers, 1351 3rd St . , Santa Monica (on the Mall, just north of Santa Monica Boulevard.). (213) 394-8728. Closed Sundays. Hours: Bakery: 7:30 a.m.-1:30 a.m. Restaurant: 11:30 a.m.-1:30 a.m. All major credit cards accepted. Valet parking. Dinner for two (food only): $18-$35.