CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF GARY BRIC'S RAMP SERVES A MEAN SURF AND TURF TO THE MOVERS AND SHAKERS IN BURBANK.

Byline: Larry Lipson Restaurant Critic

NORTH OF THE AIRPORT in Burbank, Gary Bric's Ramp sits adjacent to the Interstate 5 on-ramp on Hollywood Way. It's a deceptively narrow-looking place, at first glance a nondescript local bar.

Previously known merely as The Ramp, it has emerged, under Bric's tutelage, as a pretty good steak and seafood house and the perfect rendezvous for informal lunch and dinner meetings held by people driving from different directions.

And yes, it has an up-to-date bar dispensing all the faddish new cocktails as well as the old classics.

It may not be everybody's idea of a power meal spot, but with Bric, who recently ran for a Burbank council seat this year and did fairly well (finishing third out of 10 candidates for two spots), at its helm, it draws local politicos and business leaders. Plus it has its share of entertainment people from nearby studios and a strong neighborhood clientele. They evidently appreciate its reasonably priced, old-fashioned comfort fare, primarily consisting of broiled steaks, sauteed or broiled fish and shellfish, and heaping bowls of pasta.

It's the kind of place that keeps a few bottles of Caymus cabernet on hand for those who want a good red wine with their meat and don't mind paying $99 for it.

It also sports a woody, boothed, clubby interior that seems just the right environment for its best steaks, the New Yorks and filet mignons, accompanied by a generous bowl of soup or a pile of salad for no extra charge.

The steak plate tab, as low as $13.95 for a tender, juicy, 6-ounce filet mignon, also includes rice or potato (fries, baked or cheese stuffed) and probably some fresh vegetables.

But as satisfying as either the 3/4-pound New York ($17.50) or same-size filet mignon ($19.95) can be, a hungry diner can go meatless and dig into a well-filled bowl of al dente linguini with sweet sauteed scallops ($14.95) preceded by a large salad of tomatoes, onions and capers ($4.95) and be happily well-stuffed for $20.

Splurgers can try the stack of Alaskan king crab legs at market price (one night they cost us $27) or attack the 25-ounce porterhouse ($24.95).

The Ramp even has the onetime heavily favored frog legs, here $16.95 for a pound of them as an entree platter.

If you add a basket of garlic cheese bread ($2.95 or $4.95) - sourdough rolls come up automatically - you may feel like I did, so full I didn't have room for a dish of apple crepes ($3.95) I'd been eyeing earlier.

So who needs those extra calories, anyway?

Larry Lipson, [phone]

larry.lipson(at)dailynews.com

GARY BRIC'S RAMP

Food: Three stars Wine: Two stars Service: Three stars

Where: 7730 N. Hollywood Way, Burbank.

Hours: Open for lunch from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, for dinner from 5 to 10 p.m. nightly.

Recommended items: New York filet mignon, petite filet mignon, soup du jour, green salad, tomato and onion salad, Caesar salad, linguini with scallops.

How much: Starters and salads from $3.75 to $9.95, pastas and entrees from $11.95 to $24.95, desserts $3.95 each. Full bar. AE, MC, V, D.

Wine list: Two-page list of 20 bottles priced from $14 (Beringer white zinfandel) to $175 (Dom Perignon). Nine wines go for under $20. No vintage dates mentioned. Nine wines by the glass range from $3.50 to $6 each. Corkage: $8.50.

Reservations: Helpful. Call [phone].

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 2) Gary Bric, top left, owner of Gary Bric's Ramp in Burbank, offers the 15-ounce lobster-tail dish, with wife Shelly Bric and chef Guadalupe Santana, who holds the 25-ounce Porterhouse steak, above.

John Lazar/Staff Photographer