Trina's Starlite Lounge may be hard to spot from afar. Walking up from Inman Square in Cambridge, at first all you see is a nondescript three-story building with a ground floor of dark brown stucco and a bright "Miller High Life" light-up sign. But when you get closer, expecting to see perhaps a seedy, run-down dive through the two corner windows, you see a bar in front of a tall, irregular stack of box shelves lit up and filled with bottles of brightly colored liquors and a vibrant crowd packed into booths and tables. Next to the window, a small bulletin board spells out in multicolored plastic letters, "Wednesday: sloppy joes. See twitter for dog of the day."Open every day for dinner and drinks from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m., Trina's serves food late enough for night owls and cooks getting off work; Trina's Monday "Industry" brunch, from noon to 4 p.m., is specifically for the cooks and servers (and the general public) who miss weekend brunches because they have to work them. The theme of both the dinner and brunch menus is clear: selections of simple American comfort food done well, with appetizers like hot wings and blue cheese, chili topped with aged cheddar and sour cream and housemade barbecue sweet potato chips with dip. The entrées include macaroni and cheese, grilled skirt steak and fries and a daily blue-plate special ('50s diner style). For the more indulgent, some of the sides include hand-cut fries covered in gravy, sweet potato and bacon hash and broccoli with cheese sauce. And, of course, Trina's has burgers and hot dogs.

About the hot dogs: you can indeed check Twitter for updates and listings of the daily specials, but you may prefer to check the restaurant's Facebook page instead for (several hundred!) pictures of both dogs and blue-plate specials. The dogs listed on the menu are standard enough: plain griddled, topped with chili and cheese or a corn dog. But the specials take the simple dog in all kinds of directions from the simple to the bizarre, and all of them are irresistible. Many are homages to the cuisines of the world: dogs wrapped in burritos, served as tostadas, topped with kimchi and wasabi or served in poutine (the incredible and simple Canadian dish of fries slathered in cheese and gravy). The rest are inspired decadence, like the Monte Cristo, which is served on a cinnamon French toast bun, topped with smoked ham, Swiss cheese and maple syrup or the "All Dogs Go to Heaven," with melted port wine cheese, pecans, mushrooms and truffle oil. One of the comments on the picture of the last sums it up: "OMG."

I wasn't quite in the mood for the dog of the day when I went (a dog topped with lettuce, tomato, cheese and a burger patty), so I decided instead to start with a couple of sides-sweet potato and bacon hash and "ol' school" macaroni salad. The macaroni salad was simple and brilliant with only tiny bits of celery among the noodles dressed in fresh mayonnaise; it brought back memories, somehow, of all of the best macaroni salads I'd ever had at past summer picnics and barbecues. And the hash had been grated into tiny shoestring thinness and had been flash-fried perfectly so that it was cooked but still firm, with the bacon adding great flavor and crunch.

One of Trina's signature dishes is its fried chicken and buttermilk waffle served with hot pepper syrup. I'd known for a while that I was going to get this here, having had a craving for chicken and waffles lately. It was good, not great-there were two large pieces of chicken, a thigh and a breast, which is always disappointing when deep-fried; shouldn't it be mainly about the skin and the breading? More pieces of smaller chicken would have been great. And the seasoning on the breading was nothing exciting-probably nothing more than salt and pepper. But the meat was properly cooked, to the right doneness and texture. The waffle was similar to the chicken: good but not exciting. The syrup, infused with red chili peppers, made the dish enjoyable and interesting, and I finished satisfied because any plate of chicken and waffles that isn't cooked terribly will hit the spot.

A slice of chocolate strawberry pie rounded out the meal, and like the dishes before it, it was simple, homey and satisfying. The dollop of very fresh, unsweetened whipped cream on top was just right.

Make a visit to Trina's, then, for both indulgent and challenging new flavors and for casual, comforting homestyle food done well.

You can find Trina's Starlite Lounge at 3 Beacon St. in Somerville, walking up Hampshire Street from Inman Square. Twitter handle: @trinastarlite, or visit trinastarlitelounge.com.