Twenty Manning Grill

The last time this much good energy surged through Audrey Taichman's resto-lounge at the corner of 20th and Manning, it was 1999 and edamame was exotic, wheatgrass was the word in edible table arrangements, and chic was defined by late-night DJs, squared black leather couches, and shiny metal community tables.

After 11 years and a pretension-humbling recession, though, even Taichman concedes that trendy old Twenty Manning was getting tired. So she and her business partner, chef Kiong Banh, decided to go for a homey change. Out with the old Asian fusion. In with a more diverse menu and bistro warmth. The old monochrome grays and black Le Corbusier furniture has been swapped for creamy stamped tin ceilings, rattan cafe chairs, and the overstuffed tufted comfort of a 22-foot-long Chesterfield banquette the color of a mango smoothie.

"I wanted a happy place," says Taichman, "something for the neighborhood."

And that is exactly what she got. Rittenhouse guys now hang against the softer curves of the new mahogany bar, sipping from an expanded list of craft beers (as well as the inevitable organic cucumber lime caipiroska) and watching the Phillies on a flat-screen TV once reserved for muted black-and-white films. Families and couples with pets relax with thin-crusted pizzas and bowls of spicy mussels beneath sidewalk cafe awnings fringed with a heat-quenching mist. The longtime regulars, meanwhile, can be seen stopping their beloved chef Banh for a hug and a special request as he strolls the room in cook's clogs and grandpa glasses.

The makeover may not be entirely original - the folksy "Grill" tacked onto the name and the retro cook-it-all logo now hanging from a banner outside ("Fish Fowl Beef Pork") appear to have been borrowed verbatim from the facade of the hot Standard Grill in New York. But this is surely a warmer, more welcoming space than it was. The young servers are friendly and well-informed. But does that mean this happy place is also well-fed?

Unfortunately, ordering well here is not nearly as easy as it should be. A 50 percent bump up in food sales, according to Taichman, might indicate that the broader, more affordable new menu, now about $3 less an entree and ranging from pizzas to roast chicken, is resonating again. My plates, though, were frustratingly erratic, with meals that offered some bright flavors but were also the definition of hit-or-miss, especially when it came to entrees.