Issue date: 4/25/08 Section: ARTS & LIFE

While the Mavs and Stars hunted for championships this week, we ventured to Pourhouse Sports Grill to quench our playoff appetites.

This new restaurant at 3550 Unicorn Lake Blvd. boasts comfortable booths, leather armchairs and a legion of HDTVs, making it a sports-lover's fantasy.

After being dazzled by the expensive-looking atmosphere, we decided to sit on the outside patio, overlooking a quaint "lake."

After being seated, it was about ten minutes before our waitress came to take our drink orders. We asked for the $5 chips and queso, which also came with salsa.

Upon the first taste of this pretty standard appetizer, we couldn't decide whether we liked it or not. The queso contained diced tomatoes and other vegetables, but it had a mystery flavor we couldn't identify. The house salsa was refreshing, but we would have preferred it to be cold, not lukewarm.

At the waitress' recommendation, Brooke ordered the barbeque chicken pizza. While this thin-crust entrée contained yummy Gouda and mozzarella cheeses, it lacked a sufficient amount of barbeque sauce and was less flavorful than she expected.

For Shaina, the bacon-wrapped salmon sounded like a fresh, somewhat healthier alternative to the rack of ribs or Pourhouse burgers available.

She ordered her salmon with rice and onion rings, which came out to be quite an awkward choice of foods (her fault, not the restaurant's).

Once the rice was brought out with the meal, it was partially hardened as if it had been reheated in a microwave.

The fish was smothered in a choron sauce and paired with the choice of two sides. The salmon itself was delicious but was masked by the strange flavor of the choron sauce. Luckily, the onion rings were on the plate to rid her tongue of that odd aftertaste.

Guest food snobber Sean Brown elected to try the "Homerun" Grilled Club, a sandwich layered with turkey, ham, bacon and cheddar cheese melted between two slices of sourdough bread.

He enjoyed it more than a traditional club sandwich with its panini-like qualities and special sauce that spiced up this standard sandwich.

He was tempted with three sides: waffle fries, sweet potato fries or coleslaw. He was glad he chose the seasoned waffle fries, which were an improvement on a Chick-fil-A staple.

For dessert, we decided to split a slice of key lime pie, which was served with a fresh strawberry and a raspberry drizzle.

This tart treat received mix reviews from the table; while its flavor was fine, it didn't taste fresh and therefore didn't impress us.

After reminding our waitress for the third time about a to-go box, we were finally ready to leave.

Even though we weren't impressed by the food or service, we took one last stroll through the restaurant and stumbled on the best part of all - the media room.

If it weren't enough to have a huge projection screen showing the Mavs game, there were four large HDTVs on the left and right showing other sporting events as well.

This restaurant would be the perfect place to have a drink with the guys and watch the game, but we suggest you eat dinner before you go.

To get a taste of what this sports grill has to offer, Pourhouse is open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Saturday.

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