Basic, nonspecific restaurants that lack specialty are not of the minority in these parts. This is a fact I’ve recently come to accept.

For every exciting restaurant with an innovative, world-traveled chef passionately, expertly crafting his cuisine, there are four or five others merely galumphing through the motions, another day, another dollar, turn ’em and burn ’em, here’s your peppermint with the check, y’all come back now. But that’s where we live, and such places are not without charm, especially when the food is more or less made from scratch. As much as I’d like to see a Vietnamese Pho restaurant open here, it probably never will, as our community is small, and many of the people are timid and unlikely to try new things. Until the food-cart movement makes its way to the coast (weekend market setups notwithstanding), prospective owners would be taking a big risk to open up something new without enough fearless, adventurous people to patronize it.

Catering to almost every taste demographic local and otherwise is obviously the safe, practical, profitable choice, especially if you’re located on the Broadway strip in Seaside. Sam’s Seaside Cafe certainly falls into the category, offering a vast selection of burgers, sandwiches hot and cold, soups, salads, appetizers and just enough seafood. I’ve seen dozens of menus like Sam’s, and I’ve been known to either walk out, as there’s obviously not much of anything interesting to write about, stay and have a quiet meal and just not go back, or stick with it and expect some angry letters. But I ended up liking Sam’s from the get-go, liking it for what it is. No one’s trying to reinvent the wheel at Sam’s, and when they take on a dish outside their comfort zone, it is indeed obvious. Fairly solid, above-average food and friendly, attentive, informative service is what I found during my visits. The kitchen is open until midnight nightly, making it a good place to get a burger after seeing a movie. It’s got a full bar, making it a place you can have some after-work cocktails with the gang and still get decent food without leaving your barstool. And as mentioned before, it’s got a plethoric variety, complete with a 10-item children’s menu, so there’s something for everyone.

Appetizers were pleasing for the most part. A hummus plate ($6), complete with warm grilled pita wedges, feta cheese, red onion, baby carrots, tomato and cucumber, was a dish I didn’t expect to see. It was a great app, and would make a nice light lunch as well. Chips and salsa ($4) are housemade, but the chips weren’t warm or freshly fried, which makes all the difference. The hand-breaded, fried oysters ($8.50) were pleasing all around. A well-seasoned, crispy crumb coating, a delicate touch with regard to the frying time, and a sweet and chunky, slightly off-beat cocktail sauce came together to form a winning dish. Oyster shooters ($1.50 each) were equally delicious.

The steamer clams ($13) weren’t as impressive. Simmered in ale, the clams were a touch overcooked and rubbery, while the broth, flecked with bits of onion and tomato, suffered from a murky, unfocused taste, with little more than the ale’s bitterness coming through. The dish was sided with drawn butter, but I found the butter would have been more fittingly applied to the dish if whisked cold into the broth for balance. I found their house clam chowder ($3, $3.75, $6.75) to be overpopulated with potato, and of pasty texture, but was impressed by the housemade cheddar beer bread served alongside. House chili (same prices) was saucy and beany, but not too meaty, and the 3/4-inch cubes of white onion served atop inappropriately sized. I did rather enjoy the flavor of the chili once the onion was removed.

A Cobb salad ($8.50) nobly represented the classic combination of ingredients. The hard-boiled egg was just a little underdone in the yolk, precisely how I like it. This may have been a mistake on the kitchen’s part, but I prefer to think of it otherwise.

Sandwiches and burgers are mostly satisfying and offer a few less-usual options. The garlic-lovers burger ($7.25) comes topped with a sweet crushed garlic glaze, caramelized onions and Swiss, a fantastic combination I’d return for. A tropical burger ($8) with pineapple (canned ring), ham, pepperjack and thick teriyaki glaze was disgustingly sweet, as I suspected it might’ve been. Other sandwiches such as the tuna salad ($5.75), the chicken salad ($5.75), the hot roast beef ($7) and the hot roast turkey ($7) were satisfactory, deserving of neither derision nor praise. Just middle of the road fare. I can recommend the Cafe Turkey Sandwich ($7.50), with moist and tender roast turkey on a croissant with Swiss and avocado, and the Surf Burger ($7.25) with sauteed mushrooms and havarti cheese. You just don’t see havarti enough, I say.

Sides are mostly successful. Sam’s features hand-cut fries, but the thin, irregular strips fare much better than, say, last week’s subject (Sea Breeze Fish & Chips). If fries are cut thin enough, they may remain somewhat crisp for the time it takes to eat them. While not limp, I still found them greasy; luckily, the guest whose plate I sampled them from enjoys them that way. Potato chips are also fried in-house, but unfortunately, suffer the same lack of freshness and heat as the aforementioned tortilla chips. Still, better than a 1-oz. sack of Lay’s, something you still see now and then. The house coleslaw was bland and predictable, but fresh and crunchy all the same. A splash of malt vinegar and a little salt and pepper can usually cure that, and did so quite nicely.