Duffy's Tavern feels like one of those places where everyone knows your name.

Many of the restaurants around town have a bar in them. Usually, the bar is separate from the dining room, either in another room or, more often, far enough away from the dining room to keep from influencing the dinner ambiance. But in a great restaurant, there is a lively, hip type of energy that emanates from the bar area and flows over the whole joint, helping maintain an upbeat rhythm that makes a place dance.

In most places, the bar area is too small or too far removed to affect the dining room. In those types of joints the bar is mostly a support tool and becomes, in effect, strictly a service bar. In some places-and here on the Peninsula there are a few of them-the dining room is so small that the bar area overwhelms it, blurring the line between dining room and bar, making the dining area secondary to the style of the bar.

One such place was the recently closed Cypress Grill, on Lighthouse in PG. The owner, a talented chef, tried to have a quiet, quality dining area-but the bar was so close that no matter where you sat, you got the feeling you were in a bar, with the TV playing and folks enjoying a less restrained form of fun. Consequently, the restaurant fought with itself, struggling to establish one identity or the other. The conflict was never quite resolved.

Duffy''s Tavern and Family Restaurant

282 High St., Monterey, 372-2565

Cost: The usual for a hamburger and a beer or two. More if you go in really thirsty.

Duffy''s, another restaurant/bar with a small dining room area that is inexorably tied to the bar area, fights no such battles with its identity. Long known as a great place for burgers and casual fare, Duffy''s, under the new stewardship of Dan Farr and Lissa Kane, have carried on the tradition by retaining most of the menu, while maintaining the fun, upbeat, neighborhood feel of the joint.

The minute you walk through the door (which is one of those old style, split in the middle, top and bottom types) you are greeted by the bartender, as well as a couple of the regulars. Immediately to the left is the dining room, which is mostly square and houses a large screen television right smack dab in the center of the action. The place used to be a virtual museum of 49er and Giants sports memorabilia but the former owners took most of it with them. Now, after a new carpet and floor, some refurbished booths and a new coat of paint, the new and improved Duffy''s is beginning to express the flavor of its current proprietors.

Duffy''s is located just outside the gate to the Defense Language Institute. Obviously, DLI students and faculty provide a steady clientele, as do the surrounding neighborhoods. So far off the beaten track, Duffy''s might be one of the only restaurants in the area that relies solely on locals. I''m not sure there was ever a tourist in the place. That''s too bad for them. This is one spot that always delivers the goods: good drinks, good beer, good burgers and sandwiches, and a fun, casual, slightly boisterous good time.

We''re not talking haute cuisine (although the nightly specials wear decidedly more gourmet garments under the new owners), but we are talking about a spot where you go regularly when you just want to indulge in a down-home burger-and-a-beer kind of meal. Or maybe a French Dip and a beer, followed by a nice sipping tequila from their remarkably deep tequila selection. I like to order the French Dip, but instead of the regular roll, I like it on Rye Bread. With the option to have salad instead of fries, I can occasionally pretend to be watching my caloric intake. (Like my good friend, Big Ed would say, "I''ll skip the potato, that''ll allow me two more martinis." But he''s another story altogether.)

Chickie Boom insists that Duffy''s garden burger is the best one around. She orders it without the bun, with Caesar salad on the plate and enjoys a healthy, fulfilling meal that doesn''t leave her feeling guilty. Every time she has it, she crows about the quality of that garden burger. So far, I''ve never even taken a bite of one... go figure.

Duffy''s also does a nice job with Philly Cheese Steak and, as a nice twist, offers a Chicken Philly Cheese when you''re in the mood for something lighter. I always get them to work in some jalapeños to spice up my life (no wisecracks). Larry, of Three Stooges fame, seems to lean toward the Chicken Caesar Salad.

Sometimes, when we''re more in the mood for drinking than for eating, we''ll (The Three Stooges frequent this joint often) sit with cocktails and eventually share a plate of good calamari rings and tentacles with two dipping sauces until we''ve reached that point where dinner is necessary. Once in a while, when the night is right, we''ll retire to the back patio and gaze up at the stars or the moon through the tall pines out there, just digging the fact that we live in a place with such beautifully clean air and perfect climate. Duffy''s helps to put you in that mood.

There are different nightly specials on Monday through Friday (some involve reduced price drinks, others some type of food) but, frankly, we''re not terribly interested in specially priced restaurant promotions--although there was the night I had the all-you-can-eat spaghetti and meatballs, and Larry got all excited about the $3 Margarita night.

Give this joint a try. For an easy-to-like, fun experience, you could do a lot worse than spending some time with the good neighborhood folks at Duffy''s.