If a place has 22 televisions, a couple pool tables, some video games and interactive online trivia and poker games and team pennants hanging from the ceilings it must be a sports bar, right?

So, yeah, Rob's Good Times Grill is a sports bar.

But it also offers karaoke, country line and swing dancing, mellow happy hour music and a deejay nightclub atmosphere after 10 p.m.

"I like this bar for a lot of reasons," says Maureen "Mo" Bowman, assistant manager of the place. "Mostly because it's a big family, like 'Cheers.' The customer comes in and I have their drink on the bar before they sit down," Bowman says.

Welcome to owner Rob Silverman's world, one he and his wife, Lali, have been creating for the almost 20 years they've operated Rob's Good Times Grill.

It starts with the core crowd of local regulars, but includes many a visiting tourist looking for a sports bar, Silverman says.

The Silvermans moved to Kaua`i in 1987. By day they ran a Lappert's Ice Cream store in Puhi. By night they worked at Kay's Pub, a karaoke bar where Rob's is now in the Rice Shopping Center.

When the Kay's Pub operators decided to sell, the Silvermans were ready. Rob had managed a bar on the mainland and wanted his own place. So they let go of the ice cream and focused on the bar.

Besides the name change, Rob remodeled to the sports bar theme, started opening for lunch and expanded the menu.

Since then, things have "totally evolved, as we constantly upgrade with whatever's new and popular," Silverman says.

A recent addition: free interactive game terminals that up to 15 players can use to play interactive poker or trivia games with players all over the country.

Rob's Good Times Grill offers "something for everyone" with at least one special attraction every day of the week. That's in addition to the pitchers of beer and hot wings specials for football games and the daily happy hour.

Monday: A Texas Hold-em competition is so popular that each week's winner returns for a playoff every 15 weeks for prizes, Silverman says. Karaoke singing after 10 p.m.

Tuesday: A group of swing dancers gives brief lessons at 8 p.m., followed by open swing dancing for all who want to join. Karaoke singing after 10 p.m.

Wednesday: Country line dancers do the same. Some of these folks have been coming to Rob's eight or 10 years, Silverman said. Karaoke singing after 10 p.m.

Thursday: Crab leg dinner with rice or potato and salad costs $23.50 from 5 to 9 p.m. while Clyde Letreta entertains with Hawaiian music. Nightclub deejay after 10 p.m. with $5 cover.

Friday: Pono and Breeze offer local favorites with their happy hour guitar duo 6 to 8 p.m. Live music with varying bands after 10 p.m. with $5 cover.

Saturday: Nightclub deejay after 10 p.m. with $5 cover. Deejay Jason has ruled this night for nine years running a hip-hop dance scene that's big with the under-30 crowd, Silverman says.

Sunday: Bartender Cole's soon-to-be-famous Bloody Mary comes in a you-keep-it Rob's logo glass, decorated with celery, asparagus, crab claw and shrimp cocktail for $8.95. "We call it a meal in a glass," Silverman jokes.

Food is as important to Silverman as serving the drinks people want. He calls his menu "American and local" with grass-fed Kaua`i beef burgers, hot and cold sandwiches, salads and dinners and a wide range of pupus. "The goal is a great meal at a reasonable price."

Chef Nate Cantor, who came onboard a year ago, "makes everything from scratch" and has brought more people in to eat, Silverman says. Together they're pondering a steak night, also with grass-fed, local beef, and possibly a clambake night.

Regulars Kirby Keough and Randy Carnevali rave about the food. "I've been eating lunch here for years," says Carnevali. He said he loves the local beef burgers.

"I think I know everyone here. It's like the neighborhood hangout," Keough says, surveying the lunch crowd recently. "The grub's good, the drinks are good. There's always sports on TV and the prices are right up my alley."

Running a bar hasn't always been easy, given the late hours and the potential for humbug that comes with inebriated customers. Silverman praises his wife for contributing to the grill and also holding the home front down for their two daughters while he worked the night shift for many years.

The latest economic downturn has definitely affected business, Silverman says, but the place is holding its own. "To me in business it's all about highs and lows," and using the good times to tide you through the bad, he said.

And there really are good times here, Silverman insists. A number of couples who met in the bar have gotten married – and sometimes Silverman has even been in the wedding. Several of his staff of 20 have been on board eight or more years.

"We get people from all walks of life, all over the world," Silverman says. "I've even got people coming in now whose parents have been regulars here."

Rob's Good Times Grill is open 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily, with Sunday morning breakfast starting at 7 a.m. during football season. To get on Rob's email list for notification of specials and events, contact him at robsgrillkauai@msn.com or 246-0311.

Reach Diana Leone at dleone@honoluluadvertiser.com.