THE CORNER BAR : Darkness in the Center of Town

Dillman’s is a noble place, dedicated to the notion that serious bar-goers should suffer a minimum of distractions.

At the corner of Main Street and Balboa Boulevard in Newport Beach, just a stone’s throw from the Balboa Pier, it offers dark, quiet escape, even on the busiest nights of summer, from the beach bedlam outside.

Kids don’t like the place (it’s too quiet), but at the circular bar that nearly fills the front room you can find retired developers and their third wives, yuppie couples out for a quiet night and a barfly or two, all cheek-by-jowl, and it usually isn’t long before you’re debating slow growth, or where to get the freshest fish, with the couple two stools over.

The bartenders are swift, efficient and exhibit just the right amount of crankiness--in short, they’re close to perfect. You can get a burger at the bar and even some of the fine au gratin potatoes from the restaurant in back. There’s no music, live or canned. A television in the corner usually has sports on.

Resolutely unfashionable, Dillman’s satisfies those most important requirements of the serious bar-goer: Keep it dark, keep it quiet and keep ‘em coming.

Dillman’s, 801 E. Balboa Blvd., Newport Beach. Open daily, 9 a.m. to 2 a.m. (714) 673-7726.