Grampa’s

Grampa’s is for diner lovers – not lovers of vintage chrome and mahogany diners, for it has none of their beauty. It’s for people who like the big, one-menu-fits-all diners that have a coffee-shop personality. By that I mean portions are large, service is brisk and efficient, hours stretch from dawn past dusk, and there’s nothing precious on a vast menu of blue-plate standards and vaguely international dishes.

Three meals a day are served; breakfast is what this style of eatery does best. After all, bacon and eggs do not require a cordon bleu diploma. The 2+2+2 special, which begins with a complementary plate of four (yes, four) Danish pastries, is 2 eggs, 2 strips of bacon or 2 sausages, and 2 pancakes. The pancakes are a surprise. They are the size of a dinner plate and they look heavy, but they are surprisingly light. Two would be a nice meal, without the bacon and eggs and Danishes.

As for lunch and supper, you name it and this kitchen likely makes it. There are char-broiled burgers (and turkey burgers), sandwiches and subs and wraps, fried fish and fried chicken, spaghetti and meatballs, lamb shank, stuffed cabbage, a dozen different salads from tossed, Greek, and Caesar to tropical fruit, and a rotating glass case full of baked-on-premises pies and cakes.

Like everything else, dessert is presented in outlandishly large portions. When I visited, I couldn’t resist asking for a slice of the banana cream pie on display in the case. I wish I had resisted. Banana flavor is elusive, it’s overweight, and whatever that white stuff is on top, it’s not whipped cream.