Vintage has been built on the lot of what was once Fontaine’s, almost in Dedham. I guess putting a steak house on the former site of a fried-chicken restaurant is a move up-market, if not actual yuppification. Despite the name, Vintage is probably best viewed as a steak house, their own term being "classic American grill." That implies a certain disdain for vegetables, which is not the case, and a simplicity of preparation, which generally is.

The rooms are full of dark-wood floors and tables and fake fires, and are dark and loud like many modern bistros. The kitchen isn’t really an open kitchen — it just has a very wide door opening and some high windows. The servers are dressed in black, but otherwise seem inexperienced. The food is generally foursquare and at its best with quantity and solid ingredients. This is not yet a finesse kitchen, and a young and somewhat raw staff would break the illusion if it were trying. But there are lots of good things to eat.

The bread is certainly excellent, crusty and served hot and still a little glutinous. Whipped salted butter suits it well. However, I know there is some terrific olive oil here because of the dressing on the baby arugula salad ($6.50): genuine lemon vinaigrette unmistakably employing extra-virgin olive oil and fresh lemon juice. There’s not much you can do about the state of greenhouse arugula in November, but good goat cheese, roasted nuts, and dried cranberries are good trimmings.

At the same time, the iceberg wedge ($6.50) is a bring-down because the diced tomatoes have no taste. There’s nothing wrong with bacon and blue-cheese dressing here, although the real trick to presenting a wedge of iceberg is a perfect dressing and nothing else.

Oysters Rockefeller ($12.99) are in no way related to the great New Orleans concoction, but a half-dozen local oysters baked under cheese and spinach are good eating. So was the soup of our day ($5.99), a tomato-basil bisque, despite a caramelized, tomato-pasty aftertaste and some service folderol with pouring the soup from a pitcher into a large bowl containing only the garnish of caramelized onions. This cuteness always ends with your getting lukewarm soup, but again, the food is good enough beneath the fancy verbiage.

Crab and artichoke dip ($10.99) had a good seafood flavor, and excellent toasts, apparently fried and peeled pita points. There’s sometimes a nice surprise in ordering something you can’t believe is on the menu.

The main dishes include a fine list of steaks, so we tested the filet mignon ($29.99) and found it almost fork-tender, yet quite flavorful, especially for a filet. You have a choice of sauces ("Béarnaise, Port-Fig Demi-Glaze, Merlot Demi-Glaze, Mushroom Demi-Glaze or Cajun Jalapeño Butter"), but vegetables are steak-house-style extras. The merlot demi-glaze was quite decent, and a plate of roast asparagus ($3.99) was more like steamed or sautéed, but generous and delicious. Green beans ($3.99) were underdone — green beans actually have more flavor overdone — but again generous.

Seafood might be best here when treated like steak, going by our tuna steak ($22.99), which was medium-rare as ordered. Again you have four sauces — "Béarnaise, Citrus Soy Ginger, Caribbean Fruit Salsa, Lemon Caper Beurre Blanc" — and the last was nicely made although not very caper-y. The broiled catch of the day ($24.99) is five kinds of seafood, all done up like scrod in buttered crumbs. On our platter, this suited the long, large shrimp the best, the salmon filet the least. Haddock and another white fish were fine, as was a single sea scallop.

Braised lamb shank ($24.99) was falling off the bone, which meant blander meat but wonderful gravy, enhanced by the braising carrots and celery as well. The only weakness here was mediocre mashed potatoes.

Perhaps our most successful entrée was a paillard of veal ($30.99), basically a bone-in Weiner schnitzel, lightly breaded and fried, and irresistible. This was served with a baby-arugula salad.

As you might expect, Vintage has a lengthy and expensive wine list, many wines by the glass, and wine-based drinks like a fine kir. Some of the cheaper bottles are actually quite good, such as our 2003 Broquel malbec ($26). This was rougher than some malbecs out there, and I might buy some to age, since it already has an intriguing aroma of violets like a young Margaux. The malbec showed well in the oversize wineglasses that any restaurant serious about wines uses these days for reds. The white-wine glass was only a little smaller, and a glass of Edna Valley chardonnay ($6.50) had a lot of tropical fruit and spice. Decaf ($2.25) and espresso ($3.25) are well-made.

Desserts are simple but effective. The chocolate cake ($5.25) is an enormous high slice, many layers and much filling. The carrot cake ($5.25) is a little smaller, and could be spicier. Crème brûlée ($5.25) was just that, no more, no less. The sorbet ($5.25) on our night was raspberry, served in a martini glass, and a large portion, which may not be the point with sorbet, but a romantic pair of dieters could share one. Cheesecake ($5.25) did not seem homemade, and perhaps was over-refrigerated. It wasn’t bad; it wasn’t special.

Service is good, but the young servers aren’t as knowledgeable as they want to sound. A plasma TV tuned to the hockey game over the bar is not part of the "steak house" atmosphere or pricing, but by the third period, most servers might as well check the score. This may change as a more sophisticated crowd finds this location, which isn’t amid much, but is at the crossroads of Route 1 and Washington Street. In fact, it’s much easier to get into the oddly designed parking lot coming north from Dedham than south from Boston or east from Needham or Route 128.

Robert Nadeau can be reached at RobtNadeau@aol.com.