Would you like a little bump and grind with that?

It seemed like a dream, it was so out of character. On a recent evening I found myself sneaking past Nate ‘n Al’s to another place just down the block. Would I want the motherly waitresses there to know I was passing up matzo brei and pastrami for dinner at Larry Flynt’s Supper Cabaret?

I think not.

But there I was, a couple of all-too-willing guy friends in tow, heading down the steps to an underground space on Beverly Drive that’s more speak-easy than elegant. The site has been a number of places through the years, most of them vaguely sleazy. The last manifestation was a strip club called the Beverly Club. And now, Mr. Hustler himself is bent on bringing back burlesque, albeit a vetted-for-Beverly Hills version, with this new dining venue and show.

When I’d called to make a reservation, all I’d gotten was a tape-recorded message with the promise that someone would call me back. No one ever did, so I went anyway. I’d figured the place must be so hot they didn’t care about one reservation more.

Outside, a lone figure was enjoying a smoke. As we headed down the staircase, we were treated to a series of photographs celebrating the life of Mr. Flynt. There he was, a sunny grade-school kid, then a chunky teenager, later a prominent pornographer and civil rights advocate photographed with his famous friends. I could make out a bar to the left, the stage and the color red. Floating out of the darkness was a huge black-and-white photo mural of Mr. Flynt’s head, sort of the presiding spirit of the club.

As it turned out, our table of four were the only diners on that weekday night. It felt a little odd, but the maitre d’ and the micro-skirted waitresses worked hard to make us feel comfortable.

Food-wise, this is no cheesy operation. The chef is skilled and the management team comes from the Four Seasons, which helps to give a professional veneer to the service.

The food is nothing if not ambitious. Starters include a pleasant avocado salad with grapefruit segments, watercress and jicama in a fashionable chile-lime vinaigrette, and an elaborate dish of seared foie gras and a jumbo scallop on maple French toast. Main courses run the gamut from a roasted veal chop with spring vegetables to quail wrapped in apple-smoked bacon to your garden variety aged prime New York strip, which you can bet is the biggest seller here. For those intent on maintaining a vegetarian status, the chef will prepare a roesti potato-leek cake configured with basil oil.

There’s an actual wine list, too, though the bar seemed to be doing more business in various firewaters on the rocks when a handful of guests drifted in to catch the show, which begins at 9 every night. (If you’re having dinner, the $10 cover is waived.)

The drums rolled and the curtain lifted to reveal Frankie’s Gypsy Roses, a clutch of female dancers in scanty costumes energetically gyrating and grinding to the beat. It was more athletic than erotic, surprisingly tame for something associated with Mr. Flynt’s name. Each number lasted a few minutes, with 20 minutes’ pause between, which is handy if you have anything to say to your dinner guests.

Larry Flynt’s Supper Cabaret is something different, all right. Shocking it is not, and only mildly entertaining. But if you want a little glitz with your drink or your dinner, and the decor of a second-rate Las Vegas hotel is right up your alley, then this supper club/cabaret may be the ticket.

And presumably, on the weekend, you will not be the only table dining.

*

Larry Flynt’s Supper Cabaret

Where: 424 N. Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills

When: 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Full bar. Valet parking; public lot nearby.

Cost: Appetizers, $9 to $18; main dishes, $24 to $36.

Info: (310) 275-8511