RESTAURANT REVIEW : Classics Worth the Wait : Daily Grill’s newest branch serves high-quality American food in a bright room modeled after a ‘30s-era diner.

The newest Daily Grill is the chain’s fifth and the San Fernando Valley’s second. At each one, including the latest in the new Laurel Promenade, you can almost always count on running into an overflow crowd.

Business is good. The no-reservations policy (except for groups of six or more) means that parties are seated on a first-come, first-served basis, and it probably won’t do any good wandering over to Louise’s Trattoria, the complex’s other major restaurant, to try cadging a table there. People are hanging over the mezzanine railing all around this shopping center, waiting with a sort of resigned impatience for tables to clear at either restaurant.

We waited 40 minutes for our Daily Grill seats. But I’ve long been a fan of this concept--high-quality American classics priced somewhere between a coffee shop and a high-tone steakhouse. The new branch has essentially the same dining room as the other locations--a bright, ‘30s-era diner modeled after its progenitor, The Grill in Beverly Hills. The room is full of big mirrors, undersized booths better suited to triathlon competitors than to two-fisted eaters--and a good deal of noise.

Tables are covered with butcher paper, and the floor is a Hopperesque grid of black and white tiles. Most of the food is familiar and comfy.

I almost always begin with the terrific house Caesar, a creamy, cheesy version in which the greens are completely coated with a pungent, anchovy-scented dressing. Cobb salad, piled up in an imposing, pyramid-shaped mound, is denser than the Caesar; the finely chopped bacon, turkey, avocado, blue cheese and other components make it infernally rich.

I’m not a fan of chili anyway, but this thick chicken chili strikes me as being a bit long on cumin. Steak tartar is slightly bland. The chopped meat is great and so are the rye toast points it goes on, but I’d like this dish better with more of the kick that makes the Caesar dressing such a treat.

In the menu section called Daily Grill Specials, you’ll find homey stuff such as chicken pot pie, tender calves liver with bacon and onions, even Joe’s special, the unreasonably popular San Francisco hash of ground beef, egg, spinach and onion.

Sandwiches are just great. I may make a lot of enemies for saying this, but I think that the Daily Grill’s original beef dip beats the one at Philippe’s all to pieces. (OK, it’s more than twice the price.) The tender roll is stacked with perfectly lean roast beef, thinly sliced and dipped in wonderful au jus. I like the hamburgers, too, but the B.L.T. is the best one I’ve ever had--about half a pound of thick slab bacon, great sourdough, fresh vegetables. No wonder they line up for this place.

Chicken comes golden brown and pan fried, or boneless with a beefy mushroom sauce. My favorite is the broiled half chicken, studded with the remnants of what were once entire cloves of garlic. The best seafoods are the ahi tuna with a black-pepper crust, delicate sand dabs with a lemon beurre blanc and, when it’s available, a very sweet-fleshed baked Chilean sea bass.

Sides not to miss are the feathery light fried onions, fine steamed vegetables or terrific garlic-cheese bread. Sides to definitely miss are mashed potatoes (dampened by a watery, tasteless gravy) and the tepid, snapless French fried potatoes.

Desserts are mostly fine. There’s a good, fudgy brownie with vanilla ice cream, a flaky fruit cobbler made with peaches and blueberries, and something called tapioca pie, a rich, starchy sweet served with a bowl of whipped cream. I usually top off a dinner here with an iced cappuccino, which comes in a huge tumbler.

WHERE AND WHEN

Location: Daily Grill, 12050 Ventura Blvd., Studio City.

Suggested Dishes: Caesar salad, $6.50 (with entree, $4.75); original beef dip, $6.95; ahi tuna with black pepper, $14.95; broiled half garlic chicken, $10.95; fruit cobbler, $3.95.

Hours: Lunch and dinner 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to midnight Fridays and Saturdays. Full bar. Validated parking in Laurel Promenade.

Price: American Express, MasterCard and Visa accepted. Dinner for two, $22 to $39.

Call: (818) 769-6336.