The House of Gee is gone, and a brand new restaurant has taken its place just off Public Square in downtown Watertown. It's called First National Beef & Brew.

The location has undergone a makeover, with beautiful burgundy carpet throughout and soft colors on the walls. There's a small, comfortable dining area as you enter, intimate booth-like seating halfway back, and a large bar area in the rear with tall tables and a good-looking fake fireplace.

We started at the bar, which has more than a half-dozen beers and ales on tap. The bartender was the first employee we encountered on our exploratory walk through the restaurant. We didn't see any wait staff or even a host or hostess.

That's because there aren't any.

It's a new concept introduced by owners Michael J. Hennegan, former Watertown police chief, and veteran restaurant and hospitality guru Gordon D. Silverthorne. Keeping payroll costs down helps the restaurant keep its menu prices in check. It also benefits the customers — no wait staff means no added expense of tipping.

The bartender handed us the one-page menu. It's simple and to the point. I'd call it upscale pub food, with classic deli sandwiches, trendy panini sandwiches, homemade soups, a good variety of salads and a Western New York favorite, "beef on weck."

Deli-style corned beef Reubens with sauerkraut, Swiss and Thousand Island dressing are on the menu, plus the hot version they call "the Wall Street beef," served on deli rye with a side of mustard.

This is the menu from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. In the evening, prime rib is added, and beef on weck is available at the bar until closing.

OK, what's this beef on weck thing? you're asking. According to Linda Stradley's "history of sandwiches" Web page, it's a roast beef sandwich on a kummelweck roll that's a staple of Buffalo bars and taverns. It's the roll that makes the sandwich unique; basically a kaiser roll topped with lots of pretzel salt and caraway seeds. Kummelweck is simply shortened to "weck."

The sandwich is usually served with sinus-clearing horseradish, kosher dill pickle spears on the side and extra beef juice straight from the roast.

The Beef & Brew's version ($5.95) came pretty close. Thinly sliced, slightly salty seasoned beef was served on a kummelweck roll made for the restaurant by Mr. Rick's Bakery in Watertown. It had the salt on top, but I don't think it had caraway seeds. The "jus" was a little salty, too. We didn't try the horseradish to see if it was in the "sinus clearing" category, but it usually is anyway. Quite a neat little creation.

But let's back up. Here's how you order your food.

Pick up a "withdrawal slip," which has all the menu items listed. Check off your preferences and walk it over to the "teller window," which, if you look inside, is really the kitchen window. Rob, the congenial manager, takes your order, hands it to the cook and takes your money.

In exchange, he hands you one of those vibrating pagers that you see in some busy chain restaurants. You head back to your table and when the pager starts vibrating you go back to the teller/kitchen window and pick up your food.

It was a little slow the night we were there, so Rob said he'd bring our soups out to us. And great soups they were! Large portions, too.

The house soup, English beef tea and onion ($2.95), reminded us of beef au jus. And maybe it's because there's "tea" in the title, but we could have sworn there was a tea flavor in the soup, too.

Crab bisque ($2.95) was also amazing, rich and creamy and crabby with lots of real crabmeat — even some shells, so be careful. Roasted red pepper soup was also excellent.

For salads, you can get traditional tossed, classic Caesar, or Caesar with chicken, beef or ham, or the one we chose, Mediterranean mix ($5.95), their version of an antipasto salad. It was a gem of a concoction with fresh field greens, deli ham and turkey, sun-dried tomatoes, pickled banana peppers, red onion, roasted red peppers, shredded parm and a simple oil and vinegar dressing.

There are 13 panini on the menu. A panino is a focaccia-like flatbread, sliced and filled with creative ingredients usually dictating creative names, then grilled in a panini grill, similar to a waffle iron.

Here are a few examples. The Chase Manhattan: crab cakes, Havarti cheese, roasted peppers. The J.P. Morgan: Genoa salami, cappicola, red peppers, mozzarella, romaine, herbed mayo. Veggie medley: breaded eggplant, sun-dried tomatoes, basil, red onion, roasted red pepper sauce.

We tried the Patrician chicken panino ($6.50): seasoned chicken breast, tomato, colby jack cheese, bacon, romaine and herb mayo. Nice combination.

We also sampled a sopressata and Brie ($6.50). The thinly sliced cured meat, a type of salami, was paired with Brie cheese and banana peppers. They used herbed Brie, similar to Boursin. I would have preferred the creamy, buttery taste of plain Brie. And for some reason, the panino did not have the customary grill marks.

The prime rib was a big 16-ounce slab of juicy red medium-rare cow on a plate.

Comments around the table: "Nicely seasoned." "You could cut it with a butter knife." "Best prime rib I've had in a long time." Served with baked potato and veggies, all for an ultra-reasonable $10.95. How can you beat that?

Here's another neat thing. You know how sometimes you just want a taste of something sweet for dessert, not necessarily a plateful? The Steak & Brew has introduced "sugashooters" to Watertown. A sugashooter is an oversized shot glass filled with two or three spoonfuls of sweet stuff — for just $1.

We had tiramisu, cheesecake and lemon meringue. There was also a nifty little tart, not in a shot glass, called "Gramma Tina's tart." It had that old-time flavor, like something your grandmother would make. Again, just enough to satisfy the sweet tooth.

How can you go wrong for an evening of eating for four costing $47? We did leave a tip for Rob, however, even though he said it wasn't necessary. He was very accommodating and very excited about the restaurant, genuinely enthusiastic about his job.

TIDBITS

Two seasonal restaurants in St. Lawrence County are now open.

Restaurateur John Ward's Erin's Isle in Brasher Falls began serving its full menu May 1. There are a few menu additions like Wiener schnitzel and veal piccata, and expanded entertainment on the large outdoor patio by the river.

The Cecot sisters have reopened the Village Inn in Massena, which was closed most of the winter. They plan to operate the restaurant eight months out of the year.

You can contact Walter E. Seibel via e-mail: wsiebel@wdt.net.

First National Beef & Brew

108 Court St.

Watertown

755-BEEF (2333)

A bright, new downtown Watertown restaurant featuring excellent soups, a large variety of panini, fresh salads and some of the best prime rib around.

Check out the "sugashooters," oversized shot glasses filled with just enough dessert to satisfy the sweet tooth.

HOURS: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday

4 to 9 p.m. Saturdays

Closed Sundays

RATING: 4 forks