In San Francisco, you could go out to eat every night and try a new restaurant. You could experience that first-date combination of anticipation and apprehension: will it be as good as you’ve heard? Will you enjoy it enough to go back?

But sometimes you crave the tried and true. The neighborhood spot where you’ll get a good meal in a relaxing setting – to carry the analogy through – like a relationship well past the courtship stage. What it might be lacking in surprises is made up for in comfort and ease.

That place is Liverpool Lil’s.

According to legend, a man called Ralph Maher opened the restaurant back in 1973 and named it after a woman he fell in love with while traveling back and forth between San Francisco and Liverpool. Ralph is gone, but this restaurant and public house has long been popular among locals who come in to have a pint and watch the game or enjoy a hearty, tasty meal. Both the bar and dining room are warm and wood finished, and the walls are filled with photos and sports memorabilia. At Liverpool Lil’s you’ll see young families with strollers in tow, couples on dates, and gatherings of every kind – folks happy and well fed because there’s something for everyone on the classic pub menu.

For dinner, starters include several salads, house-made French onion soup, or the soup du jour. You can choose lighter fare, such as the sole meunière or a grilled balsamic portabella sandwich with red peppers and mozzarella. Seafood offerings include paella with scallops, chicken, white prawns, chorizo, Manila clams, and roasted red peppers; classic beer-battered fish and chips with wild-caught cod; or seafood stew. Meat eaters can dig into Manchester Wellington – ground Angus beef topped with black forest ham and baked in puff pastry with a béarnaise sauce – or braised-lamb shepherd’s pie, beef Bourguignon, pork chops, or veal liver with onions. And of course, the Liverpool burger –Angus beef with grilled onions and all the toppings, including a choice of cheese or applewood-smoked bacon.

After this kind of meal, who needs dessert? But let yourself be tempted by the mini hot fudge sundae (just right for sharing), crème brûlée, or chocolate fudge cake with berry compote, among other sweets.

At lunchtime you can order any of the dinner entrees or salads, plus a Cobb salad, or one of several sandwiches such as a BLTA (“a” is for avocado), a Rueben with house-cured corned beef, or a classic club. Brunch goers can choose from the sandwich menu or more traditional offerings including eggs or Dungeness crab Benedict; Joe’s scramble; eggs and breakfast meat; or even buttermilk fried chicken and a Belgian waffle. Add a mai tai, Ramos fizz, mimosa, or bloody Lil Mary for a real eye opener.

Liverpool Lil’s may not be the most chic, newest or trendiest tavern in town, but it will always be a hometown favorite.

Liverpool Lil’s: 2942 Lyon Street (at Lombard); Mon: 11 a.m.–11 p.m., Tuesday–Thursday 11 a.m.–midnight, Friday 11 a.m.–1 a.m., Saturday 10 a.m.–1 a.m., Sunday 10 a.m.–11 p.m.; 415-921-6664, www.liverpoollils.com