RESTAURANT REVIEW : Slick Company Packaging : Houston’s looks classy and serves some fine food, including three great desserts, but it feels too corporate to be comfortable.

Houston, we have a problem.

Er, make that Houston’s, referring to the stunning restau rant that opened recently in Warner Center. Houston’s belongs to a national chain that stretches from the Southwest clear to Georgia, though this one doesn’t remotely resemble any chain restaurant I know of. The Woodland Hills Houston’s is a classy, clubby place done mostly in natural materials, such as stone and hardwood, in the earthy-elegant manner of a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed building. The design elements work harmoniously. White stone pillars and huge canvas umbrellas stand out against the dozens of black leather booths and several oddly shaped black acoustical panels, which effectively lower the restaurant’s duct ceiling. The polished hardwood surfaces of the tables suggest warmth, contrasting with the gleaming stainless steel that backs the enormous open kitchen. I don’t fancy the trio of mirrors on a rear wall, but I admit that they boost the light level during the day, when the room depends on natural light; it can get a little murky in there sometimes.

So what’s my problem with Houston’s? Simply this: Houston’s is yet another slick corporate package, the antithesis of a mom-and-pop restaurant. You get a distinct feeling that every Houston’s in the land serves the exact same portions under the same policies. It makes me uneasy because it gives such a forceful impression that this is where the restaurant business is heading.

For example: Houston’s has a firm policy about protecting the wooden tables from drink spillage, so waiters have been instructed to put napkins down when drinks are served. One of my friends didn’t like the idea, and constantly was picking them up, so the waiters had no choice but to put new ones down. When the meal was over, there was a thick stack of napkins in front of a by now somewhat irritated diner.

My friend is apparently part of a silent minority. Houston’s is doing a land-office business, and I’ve had to wait for a table twice. OK, I find the service a bit plastic, but I admit that it is efficient. Ultramodern kitchen procedures also mean you can count on some things. Houston’s has served me one of the few genuine medium-rare hamburgers I’ve had recently. They put too much dressing on the salads, but they don’t flinch if you ask for your dressing on the side. And the desserts, though there are only three to choose from, are truly great.

The menu’s “this and that” section mixes side dishes and appetizers: French fries, iron skillet beans, a citrus-flavored couscous salad and guacamole and chips, plus something called “Chicago style spinach and artichoke dip.” I’d certainly eat this last one as an appetizer . . . if I had at least two friends to share it with. It’s a rich sour-cream-based dip flecked green with spinach, delicately blended with chopped artichoke. It would be wonderful with homemade potato chips (you settle for corn chips here).

At least three waiters described the house Caesar salad in the same words. “It’s a traditional eggless Caesar,” the three informed me, “and it’s fantastic.” “Eggless” doesn’t jive with any Caesar tradition I’m familiar with, and the fact that all three used the same adjective may or may not bespeak a training manual. The thing is, this actually is a very good Caesar, a generous pile of fresh, crisp greens in dressing redolent of Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce and garlic, with plenty of shaved Parmesan on top, and served on an ice-cold plate to boot. But traditional it is not.

*

The good seared tuna salad is field greens, a cilantro-ginger vinaigrette, ripe avocado and slices of sushi-quality tuna. The penne (with “classic tomato sauce and goat cheese”) is mushy, but the menu’s only Asian pasta is a good one. Evil princess shrimp pasta has a silly name and is not nearly as spicy as the waiters suggest. It’s a spinoff of phad Thai: angel hair pasta, shrimp, cashews, mint, chile and sesame oil, slightly overcooked but delicious.

Good barbecued chicken and a whole slab of tender baby back ribs are smoked over oak embers and come out as oaky as a trendy Chardonnay. The filet mignon is certified Angus, hardwood grilled and served with fresh vegetables. A seared ahi tuna steak is solid and dependable, doused with an Asian vinaigrette and paired with the restaurant’s couscous salad.

Desserts are rich, caloric and delicious. Key lime pie comes in a huge wedge, an eggy, sharply flavored custard on a thick butter crumb crust, topped with a mound of dense, non-aerosol whipped cream. The “five-nut” brownie is as dark as the dining room walls, a chocolate-intense square encrusted with pecans, hazelnuts, peanuts, cashews and almonds. It is served a la mode, with a splash of Kahlua.

But I’m saving room for apple-walnut cobbler with French vanilla ice cream. Imagine a rich layer of piecrust topped with hot apples and halved walnuts in a buttery caramel sauce. It’s so good, I can’t even protest that a true cobbler has a short crust topping. I understand. They had to call it something in the boardroom.

WHERE AND WHEN

Location: Houston’s, 5921 Owensmouth Ave., Woodland Hills.

Suggested Dishes: “Chicago-style” spinach and artichoke dip, $6.50; eggless Caesar, $7.25; hickory burger, $7.50; evil princess shrimp pasta, $9.75; desserts, $5.25.

Hours: Lunch and dinner 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday to Tuesday, 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Wednesday to Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to midnight Friday to Saturday.

Price: Dinner for two, $24 to $42. Full bar. Valet parking. All major cards.

Call: (818) 348-1095.