When my foodie friend Melissa Chang (@melissa808) tells me to eat somewhere, I make a mental note.

But when she invites to eat with her, well, I clear my schedule!

Urban Bistro (@urbanbistro808) is the first of a slew of new restaurants to open in The 808 Center, a three-story, 23,000-square-foot retail and restaurant complex just behind Walmart, on the corner of Rycroft and Sheridan streets. (Others include a French pastry and coffee shop by JJ Bistro, a trendy pancake cafe, a Sichuan sizzling hot stone noodle eatery, a wedding cake and custom-made dessert shop and an upscale French restaurant.)

Outside Urban Bistro in the new 808 Center.

Inside the restaurant.

Owned by Margaret Lin, who owns other restaurants in Waikīkī, Urban Bistro has the feel of an American diner with a hip urban decor featuring elements from the New York City subway and Beacon Hill in Boston. The menu offers grilled pizzas, tapas, sliders, burgers and salads — all with Chef Greg Chun Jr.’s twist.

Here’s how it works: You grab a table, check out the menu, then jot down the number of the item you want on a piece of paper and give that to the waiter. (See below)

It’s also a no-tip restaurant because, as Melissa wrote in her blog, “it’s our pleasure to serve you.” Nice!

This is how you order your food.

We stopped by for lunch — the restaurant is open for dinner, too — and decided to overeat. Like usual.

Here’s what we had:

We started with some drinks. We ordered the Urban Punch ($5, left) with mango, pineapple, orange and grenadine, and the Lavender Cooler ($6), a craft soda with vanilla, lemon and lavender that tastes like a vanilla Sprite. The restaurant right now is BYOB — and no corkage fee! — but is hoping to secure a liquor license soon.

There’s several apps on the menu, but we opted for the #4 housemade hummus served with warm pita bread. ($8) The secret to this hummus: a special blend of nine different spices.

#20 Urban Cowboy, a grilled pizza with pulled pork, cilantro, red onion, mozzarella and barbecue sauce. Completely addictive. ($13)

#30 Steak Sliders with arugula, sliced steak, caramelized onions and feta arugula cream cheese ($15 for three). These might look small, but these sliders were super filling. The restaurant also has barbecue chicken, caprese and fresh fish sliders.

Here’s a dinner entree: grilled opah belly with corn pilaf — so good! — and a tomato-mushroom-bacon sauce with capers.

And for dessert, we sampled the roasted garlic creme brûlée. Yes, roasted garlic. The flavor is subtle, so it’s not as crazy as it sounds. The brûlée, itself, was smooth and creamy. Impressively creative dish!

But honestly, if you only come for one thing, it’s THIS SAUCE. This is the special Ranch sauce with nine (or maybe 12) different spices that accompanies a few dishes. But order it on the side. Trust me, it’s magical.

I love a restaurant that lets me sit and talk for hours — which we did — and serves up easy-to-eat grub that’s shareable (or not). It’s a great place to bring friends, to hold meetings, for date night. And the menu keeps evolving, so there’s always a reason to come back again!

Urban Bistro, 808 Sheridan St., #109. Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m.-midnight Friday and Saturday. Phone: (808) 396-7000