I like getting reader suggestions for The Night Stuff.

All of 'em, too — from the brief, concise and demanding ones left on voicemail ("Eat at King Street Cafe this weekend!") to the occasional lengthy, emotional love letter (a reader who adored a drum-n-bass monthly once e-mailed me two pages of reasons I should go and a dozen d-n-b Web links for research).

Slammers Bar & Grill had a lot to live up to and contend with.

No less than a half-dozen readers who love the place have called or e-mailed asking that I check it out for this column. And a still-fresh-in-my-mind visit to Eastside Grill — with its great food, reasonable prices and exceptional service — two weeks earlier had set a high standard for neighborhood bars.

Thankfully, Slammers came through ... big-time.

Tucked almost anonymously behind its small, auto-filled lot between Makaloa Street and Kapi'olani Boulevard, Slammers first surprises with how popular it is. At 8:30 p.m., its dozen or so black high-back booths and low-back klatches of loungers were nearly filled with chatty twenty- and thirty-somethings imbibing and inhaling pupu. A couple dozen bar seats were taken by ESPN fanatics.

Perhaps matching up with the gathered demographic, a piped-in soundtrack spanning late-'80s synth-based dance pop to mid-'90s pop hip-hop and booty jams provided an eclectic oddball background for loud conversations.

Discreet spots, neon beer lights and the glow of several suspended televisions lent Slammers' low ceilings and indigo interior a casual-lounge-meets-sports-bar-type feel. Booths and lounger pods were wisely pulled close enough to allow an eyeful and whiff of neighboring pupu orders.

Slammers' food menu boasts a diversity of local-style bar grinds, fresh-made pizzas and selections from an actual in-house sushi bar. A selection of sashimi plates, assorted nigiri and 10 custom rolls made for some tough decisions.

Slammers' poke roll ($10) is a crazy delicious must for anyone intrigued with the idea of tender chunks of sweet-and-shoyu-salty marinated 'ahi, crunchy ogo, kaiware sprouts, Maui onion and green onion bits wrapped with rice and nori. Our order's six pieces — gone in 60 seconds — didn't exactly justify the price, but we'd spare the cash for it again in a heartbeat.

More generous, but no less rewarding, was an order of furikake garlic chicken ($8) — bite-sized pieces of fried chicken dipped in a brew of sweet-and-tangy garlic-shoyu and topped with lots of green onion and furikake. A large plate of salt-andpepper pan-fried pork chops ($10) — at least three thick-and-meaty chops, sliced bite-sized and topped with grilled onions — completed our order.

"You guys want some rice?" our server asked, surveying our chicken and pork chop feast. A minute later, two large (and gratis) chawan of steaming hot rice were ours. (You know a bar is truly local when servers are able to read customer need for sticky rice.)

Service at Slammers was beyond-attentive wonderful. At times, it seemed as if every server on staff was there to make sure we — and every table and booth full of regulars and nonregulars — wanted for nothing.

It wasn't difficult to see what kept the readers who recommended Slammers returning for more. I'll be joining them soon enough.