Two a.m. diners offer a break from chains

John Lehndorff, News Dining Critic

Published June 21, 2002 at midnight

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I've had my fill of new old-fashioned restaurants lodged in 3-year-old strip malls. I'm tired of the fake nostalgia marketed by the chain eateries - the casual family places whose names usually end in s. I especially loathe the new pseudo-diners with their gum-snapping servers. I came of age in central Massachusetts, where many of the gleaming eateries were originally crafted. I started my lifelong love affair with breakfast at these shiny roadside attractions.

Davies Chuck Wagon Diner in Lakewood is not a diner-themed eatery. The owners did not have to search for authentic kitsch to make it look like an old diner. The stools, worn Formica counters and streamlined sheet-metal exterior were original equipment on the 46-ton unit shipped by rail from New Jersey in 1957.

Generations of travelers who headed West on transcontinental U.S. 40 know this landmark for the giant neon cowboy cook who towers into the sky. He wears a white cowboy hat, boots with spurs, and a white apron; standing nearby on the roof is his giant palomino pony.

This signature melding of slick Eastern design and a wide-open Western sensibility earned Davies Chuck Wagon a spot on the National Register of Historic Places.

The menu is a museum of breakfast items, from the Belgian waffle ($3.50) to the steak special ($2.99) that includes two eggs, hash browns and toast. The two-egg breakfast with bacon ($5.05) or smoked pork chop ($5.35) includes a choice of toast or pancakes.

One recent morning I opted for the Wednesday breakfast special ($4.95). This great deal included two steamy eggs over easy, a flat, but not-too-chewy sausage patty, and barely golden grated hash browns. The pancake ''side'' is three good-sized cakes griddled hot, brown and spongelike to suck up butter and nonmaple syrup.

It comes with coffee, regular coffee. It's brown and it works and it keeps on coming until you say ''stop.'' Keep your requests for fresh-roasted, shade tree-grown, organic cappuccinos to yourself.

Where else but here would you have a Denver omelette ($4.95), the ham, onion and pepper mixed into the eggs? I recommend it with the white biscuits ($1.99)in mild, ham-dotted white gravy.

Lunch is just as down-to-earth, including the hamburger ($4.85) and hot turkey sandwich. Only at a Western diner would you find chicken-fried steak ($8.95) and beef and bean burrito ($4.95).

The waitresses here are wonderful people. We're talking personable, fast ''How' ya doin', Hon?'' service. The diner may be a a little faded and worn around the edges, but it's still a modest feast for the mouth and the eyes.

Hot Cakes is an equally satisfying Denver morning destination because the owners take breakfast as seriously as I do. Quiet, cool, and comfortably furnished, the modest breakfast and lunchery is located near St. Joseph's Hospital.

The sunny eatery's namesake dish is worth writing home about. Whether buttermilk or whole wheat, Hot Cakes' huge pancakes ($4 for two, $5 for three) arrive steaming and dense in your choice of flavors, including banana, chocolate chip and strawberry. My plate-sized blueberry cakes were great with extra wild blueberries on top. The Nurse special ($6.25) features cakes plus two eggs and meat.

I like the quality of the other options at Hot Cakes. The egg dishes come with a choice of real griddled hash browns or home fries, and toast or inflated ''dollar'' flapjacks only slightly smaller than the full-priced version. The accompanying meats - smoky bacon, thick-cut ham steak and pork sausage - are all top-notch. My new favorite is small link Italian sausage that adds some savory heat to balance all that sweet.

You don't have to wait until weekend brunch to enjoy eggs Benedict ($7.25) with an espresso or two. Other a.m. choices range from huevos rancheros ($5.50), French toast ($4 for two slices), and the Too Much Meat Skillet ($6.50) loaded with bacon, ham, sausage and eggs. Hot Cakes also scores extra points for dark, tasty coffee and quick and attentive service.

In an adventurous mood on my next visit, I dug into the Philosophical Qu-omelet ($6.75), creamy eggs wrapped around sauteed chicken, fresh spinach, mushrooms and cream cheese with Hollandaise. We also enjoyed biscuits ($4) drenched in thick, creamy gravy dotted with Italian sausage.

For lunch, try grilled chicken salad ($6.50) or the Julie Q sandwich ($6.50), an ideal combination of turkey breast, smoked gouda, cranberry relish and mayo on marbled rye.

Davies Chuck Wagon Diner and Hot Cakes are distinctive, locally owned destinations, not cookie-cutter franchises. They both serve a good breakfast at a good price and for folks like me, and that makes all the difference.

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