Maple City Restaurant is a small, unpretentious, old-fashioned coffee shop which is usually busy. It must be the food. Most coffee shops and diners tout "homemade" in their offerings, from soup to nut pies, but Maple City's food is somehow a homier style of homemade, a cozier form of comfort food. A conveniently located landmark on Honesdale's Main Street, it probably feels like home to the regulars from the many nearby shops and offices.

During my most recent visit, on a mission to review, I scrutinized the menu as fieldwork, but, as usual, ended with a choice from the board of specials. The day's selections included cream of broccoli soup, chili, stuffed chicken breast or honey dipped chicken (a house favorite), an open steak sandwich and a chicken or haddock sandwich. Prices of entrees ranged from $3.95 to $6.50.

The meaty, spicy chili arrived in a generous portion with a chewy hard roll, handy for dipping in the liquid. The sauce here is on the thin side, which I prefer to globular. Based on sauce alone, the chili could have been a successful soup, but the abundance of meat and beans made it a main dish for me, and an emphatic one at that. I also had a side of cole slaw, made here with bits of pineapple, just as my mother used to make it.

My lunch companion, Maureen, opted for the open steak sandwich, served with french fries and some of the slaw. It appeared to be a serviceable little lunch steak, but Maureen found it to be surprisingly tender. Maureen exclaimed more than once on the crispness of the fries. I felt forced to verify her findings. Motivated purely by a quest for truth, I sampled. The fries required several samples. In the end, Maureen was right all along. The steak was tender and the fries were crisp. (It's a good thing I was there to support her.)

Maple City has a reputation, at least in my family, for good desserts. The piecrust is just lovely. If it's not the best you've had in a restaurant, it will at least remind you of it. We ordered slices of the apple and lemon meringue pies and shared. Both were just right - the apple not too sweet, with the fruit a pleasing consistency, and the lemon an even balance of pudding and meringue with not even a trace of the objectionable aftertaste that sometimes haunts lemon pie.

Large glasses of iced tea completed a comfy late summer lunch.

The restaurant serves breakfast until 11:00 a.m. from an extensive listing of omelets, egg dishes and griddle cakes. A pancake and coffee special is offered for $2.25, and several varieties of muffin dot the counter. Daily specials are always available. The regular lunch menu starts with an egg sandwich for $1.75 and the most expensive item on the regular dinner menu is the honey dipped chicken at $9.95.

Maybe it's the friendly atmosphere and service, maybe it's the homey collection of porcelain figurines from Red Rose tea boxes, maybe it's that cole slaw and piecrust - I always feel well cared for at Maple City. I bet you will, too. If you haven't discovered it already, try it and discover why it's been popular for generations.

Hours:
6:30 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday
6:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Sunday

Metered parking.