Hip. Hot. Glendale?

FORGET crawling down Sunset Boulevard on a weekend night and cruise on over to Glendale, where a new restaurant and lounge called Minx has opened where the Glendale and Ventura freeways converge. Look up, and you’ll see the name winking from a complex on the hill. Sail-like awnings span the sky, and behind, In-N-Out Burger’s familiar yellow arrow sizzles.

“Great!” enthused one of my more stubborn guests who tends to greet anything remotely trendy with skepticism. “If we leave hungry, we can always get a burger.”

Minx moved into the former Rusty Pelican but only after a major renovation transformed it into a party animal. The space is huge and encompasses indoor and outdoor dining rooms, a sprawling indoor bar, a smaller outdoor bar with a view and a lounge for drinking and dancing. Designed by Margaret “Peg” O’Brien -- who created the look, most notably, for Republic in West Hollywood -- Minx is a composition in river rock, wood and leather.

On a recent Friday, half the crowd was dressed up for a night at the hippest thing in Glendale. The other half could have been looking for the Rusty Pelican. But there we all were, seated at dark wood tabletops in front of glittery place mats, confronting a menu from former West Hollywood O-Bar chef Joseph Antonishek that roams the globe. It’s terribly au courant, starting off with a list of quirky sushi rolls and robata skewers that are real bargains compared with what you’d pay in West Hollywood or Beverly Hills.

We tried the Kobe-eel roll. That would be rice rolled up with a little Kobe beef and some unagi, or eel, two rich items from land and sea that surprisingly go very well together. Other rolls feature shrimp tempura with lobster, smoked salmon and asparagus or, for the minimalists, albacore and vegetables.

Shrimp robata, two sticks of two shrimp each flavored with coconut and lemon grass, are delicious little bites, great to order at the bar with a cocktail. The Indian-inspired tikka masala is a good choice too, or cubed filet mignon glazed with a Korean-style barbecue sauce.

Appetizers and main courses tend to lay on the ingredients, and the menu lists every one. Salad fans should zero in on the baby arugula salad with grilled Japanese pears, Belgian endive and toasted walnuts in a yuzu-Champagne vinaigrette embellished with a miniature Roquefort grilled cheese sandwich. Antonishek’s steak tartare isn’t just made with prime filet mignon, he slips some black truffles in too, and serves it with black tea marbled quail eggs and a roasted fingerling and gold beet salad. Coriander seared ahi gets away from him, though, with so many flavors piled on top of each other, your poor taste buds may go into shock.

Half a Maine lobster with basil mashed potatoes and a Thai-inspired tomato and lemon grass sauce makes a substantial enough appetizer to stand in for dinner for dainty appetites. In fact, a couple of the more inventive appetizers may be the way to go if you’re planning on dancing the night away in the lounge afterward.

But if you want a full-on dinner, try the braised short ribs with lobster mashed potatoes and a collection of heirloom beans, or Minx’s surf and turf, prime roasted sirloin with spiny lobster and a truffle bearnaise. Steak frites comes with herbed pommes frites. And, if you just can’t get enough truffles, you can order truffle fries dosed with truffle oil. Other “luxe sides” include those lobster mashed potatoes, the appeal of which I’ve never understood.

It’s an ambitious menu, and with only one main course topping the $30 mark, very well priced (most are under $25). There’s certainly nothing else like it in Glendale, and nothing like Minx either, with its multifaceted space. If enough Glendale hipsters decide to forgo the traffic on Sunset or Hollywood Boulevard and party locally, Minx may usher in a new genre: the global Glendale restaurant and lounge.

As for that burger afterward, I, for one, couldn’t have eaten another bite.

*

Minx Restaurant & Lounge

Where: 300 Harvey Drive, Glendale

When: Lunch, 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday; happy hour, 4 to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday; dinner, 5 to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 5 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Brunch, 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Minx Lounge is open 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Wednesday through Saturday, with a late-night menu served until 1 a.m.

Price: At dinner, sushi rolls, $7 to $14; robata, $2 to $4; appetizers, $8 to $16; main courses, $18 to $32; desserts, $8

Info: (818) 242-9191; www.minx-la.com