Restaurant reviewed 03/19/98 by Brian McGrory

MORE INFORMATION Anthony's Pier 4 Restaurant Type: Seafood Prices: Appetizers and chowders, $4-$12; entrees, $15-$30; desserts, $3.50-$7. Good choices: Appetizers: escargots bourguignonne, crabmeat cocktail. Entrees: grilled halibut, bouillabaisse a la Marseillaise. Desserts: hot fudge sundae, chocolate cake. Hours: Lunch, Mon.-Fri. 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m., Sat. noon-3 p.m.; dinner, Mon.-Sat. 3-11 p.m., Sunday dinner noon-10 p.m. Credit cards: All major credit cards. Access: Fully accessible. Jimmy Harborside's Restaurant Type: Seafood Prices: Appetizers, chowders and salads, $3-$14; entrees, $14-$27; desserts, $2.50-$5. Good choices: Appetizers: broiled sea scallops wrapped in bacon, melange of cold and hot seafood. Entrees: swordfish steak, scallops Casablanca. Hours: Mon.-Sat. noon-9:30 p.m., Sun. 4 p.m.-9 p.m. Credit cards: All major credit cards. Access: Fully accessible.

ANTHONY'S PIER 4 RESTAURANT
140 Northern Avenue, Boston
(617) 482-6262

Back before there were restaurants called Clio and Anago, or even Olives and Hamersley's, back before salmon was served in medallions and chickens were given free range, back before the Red Sox nearly realized their impossible dream, a fishhouse opened up called Anthony's Pier 4. And back then, in 1963, it was destined to be all the rage.

It had an air of big city elegance, an acre of parking, a crystalline view of Boston's magnificent harbor. Soon enough, it also had a pugnacious competitor, Jimmy's Harborside Restaurant, which opened just a few doors down Northern Avenue.

Together, they were giants of the industry, gathering spots for presidents and Beacon Hill powerbrokers, for Hollywood megastars and Boston's moneyed Brahmins. For years, Anthony's ranked among the top grossing restaurants in all of America. Jimmy's was widely regarded as serving the best hunk of fish in town.

Those were the days. The pretty popover girls swept through the dining room plucking their steaming goods from a wicker basket. Frank Sinatra crooned from the sound system, before it occurred to anyone he would ever actually grow old. Who knew fish was healthy, and who even cared? Certainly not the chain-smoking diners. These restaurants were simply the place to be.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the 1990s: Times changed, though Anthony's and Jimmy's never did. The popover girls still roam the tables, though they are not actually girls anymore, and they don't move as fast. The once magnificent dining rooms have thinning carpets and ancient furniture. The menus appear to have been frozen in time. In life, there is the finest of lines between antique and old, between what is charming and what is worn, and these two restaurants stagger along that line with uninvited abandon.

Still, who are we to take exception with stability, to look askance at tradition? More important, who are we to turn our noses up at the complimentary Cheez Whiz-like spread and Ritz crackers served at both establishments. Truth is, there is something charming about these places, even in those moments when they're not particularly good. So we arrived on the waterfront last month wondering who goes here anymore, and why.

JIMMY'S HARBORSIDE RESTAURANT
242 Northern Avenue, Boston
(617)423-1000

Yes, Anthony Athanas, at 87 years old, was there to greet us, as he is there to greet everyone. So was Geroge Bush, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, Julio Iglesias, John Havlicek, Wayne Newton and Margaret Heckler, all staring at us from their photographs on the wall.

The color scheme is an uneasy shade of burnt orange, from the lines to the carpet. Shamefully, the windows, which open up to the increasingly clean harbor, were badly smudged, burdening the room with a feeling of dirtiness.

Still, you want to like this place, not just for what it was and what it stands for, but for what it is. And when the crisp waiters and waitresses deliver the food, beginning with the light and lemony Caesar salads that come with each meal, there is an immediate sense that everything will be fine - not great, but just fine.

That's not to say there's no foolishness here. First, we found their telephone manners to be lacking when we called for reservations. Once there, the host ignored our pleas for a round table for our large group, though such tables sat empty. And on the menu, the $8 oysters Rockefeller were served with cheese, which brought some scoffs. The adventurous Thai basil shrimp ($16) was an adventure on which a fellow diner wished she had not embarked. But the $19 grilled halibut was deemed excellent. The $20 oven-roasted seafood plate was generous and inviting.

All around, on a Saturday night crowded with a cross of tourists, some locals and many suburbanites, there was a sense of festivity. Anthony remained on patrol at the front of the room. And the wine list, from which we chose a $31 1994 Chalk Hill chardonnay, ranks as one of the best in the city.

I'll leave the ultimate commendation to a friend, a gentleman of discriminating tastes who, as we walked from the restaurant, turned back to survey the dining room and said, ``I'd come back.''