In the middle of a non-commercial district in Kearny Mesa the sun reflects brightly off Studio Diner, an unexpected, chrome-wrapped eatery with fishbowl windows and a 24-hour welcome mat for insomniacs who might crave a patty melt at 4:00 a.m.

The retro-style eatery is also a novel sight for the rest of us seeking a diversion from the beaten path, not to mention for the hundreds of office-park employees in the area and film crews working next door at Stu Segall Productions, which owns the diner. The 11-acre studio lot is where television shows such as “Silk Stalkings” and “The Renegade” were shot along with dozens of feature films and teleseries that attract large casting calls. Both the menu and motif at the diner tell you that you’re a little bit closer to a Hollywood griddle than you thought.

Tables are set with movie reels that serve as lazy Susans for various condiments. Clapboards list the daily specials at dinnertime. And at the mouth of each booth rises movie light stands for hanging your hat or jacket. A nostalgic 1940s feel is achieved with a tin-stamped ceiling, an old-fashioned lunch counter and Wainscoting in the main dining room.

My first visit during evening hours left the four of us swooning over things like Crew Sliders – mini cheeseburgers with grilled onions tucked into cute white buns with flour-dusted tops – and accurately prepared Buffalo Wings, which drew fast, unanimous approval. The bright-red drumettes were traditionally cloaked in butter and cayenne hot sauce and had firm, crisp skins and sweet bleu cheese dressing for dipping. Only two sticks of accompanying celery seemed measly, though, so we asked for more.

“East Coast fare with West Coast flair” was the slogan on our coupon that gave us 10 percent off the total bill (downloadable from the Web site www.studiocafe.com). Certainly the “back East” nuances include said wings, as well as the triple-decker BLT club made with that extra slice of bread normally eschewed at diners throughout So Cal. A peppy Italian chopped salad diced with pepperoni was similar to what you’ll find at many mom-and-pop joints in Northeast cities. You’ll also find Chocolate Egg Crème on the beverage list – that classic Brooklyn fountain drink concocted with chocolate syrup, milk and seltzer water and blended to a foamy consistency resembling beaten eggs.

There’s also a takeoff on sloppy Joes. Here it’s called the Sloppy Bob, which effectively brought back memories of “Joe” with its sweet, tomatoey ground beef plunking out from all sides of a plain hamburger roll.

The diner’s version of Fish & Chips is where an English pub meets a back-East tavern serving Friday-night fish fry. A single filet of battered, fried haddock hangs deliciously off the plate and comes with thin Studio Fries, fresh coleslaw, lemon wedges and a small cup of good old-fashioned tartar sauce. The filet was huge and wonderfully greaseless.

Another in our group opted for the Black & Blue Salad adorned generously with blackened strips of sirloin steak that tasted under-seasoned. That was just as well because the composition of the salad beneath presented a flavor battle between Gorgonzola crumbles and the Caesar dressing (too much Southern California fusion going on there). A mild vinaigrette would have worked much better.

A mondo-sized Banana Split made with Dreyer’s Ice Cream teased out the kid spirits in us as we vigorously poked our long spoons into the mound of whipped cream that concealed a fresh banana and three flavors of ice cream oozing with strawberry, pineapple and chocolate sauces.

So satisfying was this first visit that I returned a few days later in the morning with a breakfast cohort. We entered into a more clamorous scene that deflated my enthusiasm somewhat because of lousy service and mediocre food. Our waitress, of the snotty and disengaged ilk, had overlooked the missing Ranchero sauce on my friend’s Huevos Gringos and the hash-brown potatoes with my Corned Beef Hash. She also failed to refill our ice teas and pulled a prolonged disappearing act when it came time to pay our bill.

Perhaps I was still too charged up with excitement about my evening visit, but the breakfast fare just didn’t sparkle with me. Canned hash, dense and chewy pancakes and flavorless hash browns (once they arrived later) prompted my friend to say that we would’ve been better off eating at Denny’s.

I nonetheless left a believer in the diner’s lunch and dinner items, and must soon return for such comfort picks as the Tuna Melt on an English muffin, the Renegade Pot Roast with root veggies and mushrooms, and the towering pulled pork sandwich I saw fly by.

And because all sections of the menu are available any time of the day, I can even come for whole-belly Ipswich fried clams from New England at the crack of dawn should the urge strike.