Knapp’s

Knapp’s is a place to eat a square meal: a platter of liver and onions or turkey with sage-flavored dressing and a pile of mashed potatoes with a ladle of gravy on top. Every Tuesday, Knapp’s served corned beef and cabbage, every Wednesday, roast pork loin. Begin your meal with a shrimp cocktail or an iceberg-lettuce salad topped with thick dressing, and top it off with homemade peach pie.

Breakfast is equally unsurprising, and equally excellent. Endless appetites will love the mammoth “Monster Omelet,” loaded with ham, sausage, bacon, onion, mushrooms, peppers, and hash brown potatoes, all smothered with country gravy and melted cheese. More modest eaters will enjoy the fine pancakes and cream waffles, or a luxuriously crispy butterhorn, hot from the oven.

The setting of Knapp’s in the Proctor district helps create an aura of small-town charm in the midst of big-city life. Walking into the old brick building is like going back half a century. The dining room is patrolled by teams of professional waitresses who refill coffee and replace needed silverware with the grace of a four-star sommelier.