A way station for the after-work crowd

J.A. Stats shows signs of life after the offices go dark in the Financial District. (David Kamerman/Globe Staff)

An early taste of what's new on the restaurant scene

The Financial District is a ghost town after work on a recent Monday night. A couple pushes a sleeping baby in a stroller, a hotel doorman smiles at a passerby, but the businessmen who run rampant in the area during the day are nowhere to be found on the street. There are a few of them seeking refuge inside J.A. Stats, though, the bar and restaurant that replaced Tiernan's pub on Broad Street.

Two men, one in a pinstriped suit jacket and another in a pink tie who has shed his jacket and draped it on the back of his chair, sit at the bar and gesture at sports on TV. When the former gets up, the latter whips out his cellphone in a matter of seconds. Nearby, another blazer-clad man strokes his chin while he listens to a casual-Friday type in an orange and white striped polo shirt; when blazer leaves, orange stripes starts texting. Two polished young women - one very blonde, one very brunette - talk animatedly; the brunette's BlackBerry is on the bar, but the blonde's seems to be surgically attached to her hand. Before long a couple arrives and sits in the dining area. At least they won't be addicted to technol - wait a minute, he's texting. Now she's texting!

Those of us who aren't glued to a PDA are glued to the seven TVs in the room - all tuned to sports: Olympics, Red Sox, Packers. A man and woman near the window sit side by side, staring blankly ahead at a television. The dining dead. I find myself trying to catch glimpses of the beach volleyball game going on behind my dining companion's head. He's talking, but I'm not sure about what.

The arrival of drinks - a refreshing but pulpy mojito and a too sharp, too sweet Perfect Storm, the bar's version of a Dark and Stormy with vodka instead of rum - jolts me back into reality.

The menu is mainly standard fare - burgers, wraps, steak tips - with the welcome addition of spanakopita and stuffed grape leaves.

The restaurant is owned by Jim and Andrew Statires, brothers of Greek origin who had the good sense to use mom's recipes. The hamburger inside the grape leaves is nicely seasoned, and it comes with saucy, lemony rice; the spanakopita has a satisfying feta and spinach filling, although the phyllo dough could be less overcooked.

Sliders are always tempting but often disappointing, and the plain, dry mini cheeseburgers here are no exception. But they do have an unexpected saving grace: au jus. A spinach-apple salad comes loaded for bear with dried cranberries, feta, candied pecans, red peppers, lettuce, cucumber, and carrots.

The Bruschi panini - roast beef, grilled onions, cheddar, and horseradish - sounds promising (and is at the top of the "most popular dishes" page on the website), but one of the first words out of my companion's mouth after he takes a bite is "Steakum."

Sadly, the brownie cheesecake is neither brownie nor cheesecake but more of a chocolate cake with the thinnest possible layer of cheesecake-like filling running through the center. The warm chocolate sauce helps, though, and somehow the waitress shames us into eating every bite.

The soundtrack is bland '90s pop - Goo Goo Dolls, U2, Green Day, with a little Eddie Money and Tom Petty thrown in - but when the music goes off for a few minutes, the sparsely populated room feels even more empty. It's a relief when the power pop chords come rushing back in to fill the silence.

Just down the street, Mr. Dooley's and the Caliterra restaurant at the Hilton are still buzzing around 9:30 p.m. But at J.A. Stats, only a family and a few couples remain. The after-work crowd has moved on, but it will be back. They have to be at work in the morning, and they'll definitely need a drink, and maybe a chicken Caesar wrap and a decent cellphone signal, when the day is over.

J.A. Stats, 99 Broad St., Boston. 617-357-8287. www.jastats.com Entrees: $7.95-$14.95. Wine by the glass: $7-$10.