By Michelle Sathe

Part steakhouse, part seafood restaurant, part upscale nightspot, The Roast House is many things to many people. Now in its second year of business, the Saugus establishment continues to successfully define casual yet upscale dining.

Owned by 50s singing sensation Dick Lee and his sons Michael and Beau Beurer, there’s an old-school, Las Vegas charm to the proceedings. A mix of Motown classics and standards play overhead, while amber pendants cast a golden glow around the stunning wood, tile, leather and bronze-accented dining room.

You’re led to a table by the snazzily attired hostess. Servers, while young, have been taught well. They’re attentive, gracious, and knowledgeable, never overbearing. They’re happy, too - in a town where wait staff is mostly transient, many of The Roast House employees have been with the restaurant since it opened.

The menu is full of traditional steakhouse and seafood favorites, ranging from prime rib to New York strip steak with cherry port and blue cheese crumbles. Chef Erick McBeth acts as both buyer and chef, hand selecting the meat and cutting all the filets and other cuts himself . The meats are then marinated for days in a select blend of seasonings and slow roasted for the ultimate in flavor and texture.

Seafood gets the "Floribbean" treatment by McBeth, a South Carolina native who won awards while cooking in Tampa Bay. Crabmeat stuffed salmon with chipotle sauce. Caribbean sunshine snapper. The man has a way with fish. In 2006, the Roast House expanded to a complete seafood menu that includes tasty classics like Chilean sea bass, oysters and clams on the half shell, Oysters Rockefeller, Clams Casino, Alaskan King crab, and live Maine lobster.

Chicken lovers also fare well here. McBeth adds a bold touch to the bird, from the Cajun blackened to the chimmichuri-style chicken breast. Delicious, definitely, but not for the faint of heart or palate. If pastas are your passion, The Roast House offers new twists on old favorites, such as the Tequila Lime Chicken Scampi and Fire-Roasted Salmon & Penne. "Instead of just being known as a steakhouse, I think a restaurant should have a little bit of everything for everybody," McBeth said.

A recently renovated 1400 square foot covered patio offers a welcome al fresco option. With its drop-down shades, hanging heat lamps, and granite tables, weather almost becomes irrelevant. The patio really gets hopping on Thursday’s Cigar Night, with live blues and complimentary stogies. Margarita Madness on Mondays means $2.50 cocktails all day long. Come in on a Tuesday night, and you’ll find locals happily scarfing down $1 and $2 tacos, a holdover from the venue’s former incarnation as a Mexican restaurant.

Whatever time of day or night, if a Beurer is in the house, expect a visit to your table. "I always make sure our customers are happy, plus I enjoy getting to know who they are and what they like. We want to do everything that corporate restaurants don’t," Michael Beurer said.

Don’t miss this Santa Clarita restaurant. To find more, please visit the Santa Clarita Valley Restaurant Directory at http://www.food411scv.com.