At the front of the complex housing the ArcLight, Charcoal serves steaks, burgers, salads and funnel cake. The 24 Hour Fitness crowd just keeps walking, but theatergoers could do much worse for a pre-movie meal.

A more casual undertaking from the men behind trendy spots like The Lodge, Charcoal offers belly-bursting comfort food past the antler chandelier at the Sunset Boulevard entrance. To start, there's spinach and artichoke dip with a pool of cheese in the pot; standards like steaks and burgers are complemented by beef steak tomatoes with Maui onions and blue cheese, or a crab burger with caper mayonnaise. Prices seem a bit inflated but not exactly outrageous, and really rather in line, actually, with a $14 movie ticket across the courtyard at the ArcLight. The atmosphere is fine enough, with a masculine aesthetic (leather booths, bulky bar, the aforementioned antler chandelier) that won't alienate a T-shirt-and-jeans moviegoing crowd. After a long-delayed opening with some not-great internet buzz about its first days when it finally did open, Charcoal didn't set our expectations so high, but when we stopped in for a fairly quiet lunch, we were not at all horrified by the serviceable comfort food. After a large meal here, though, one may be inclined to use a bit less butter on the popcorn at the movie afterward. —Lonny Pugh