CHEAP EATS: Hard working Homer’s satisfies in a big way

— In most ways, Homer’s is the same

It’s still a place where the customers - white-collar, blue-collar, no-collar, the majority of them men - come in droves, and you can’t hear yourself talk for the noise.

These days, those men can look forward to being served by a wait staff of comely women wearing “uniforms” of shorts and tanks. (The women customers can still look forward to friendly, smiling “server’s aids” - men who come and take beverage orders and therefore make things a bit easier for the waitresses.)

The food remains soughtafter. Homer’s has long been one of those places where lunch latecomers may not be afforded the full menu because some items have sold out. During a recent visit, the pinto beans, okra-and-tomatoes and creamed spinachside dishes were no more.

The menu format is unchanged: Plain photocopied and folded sheets at each table bear the plate-lunch specials, side vegetables and desserts of the day. Paper menus slipped underneath glass tabletops bear the restaurant’s permanent offerings.

But Homer’s has shifted a bit with the times - pricewise. Plate lunches (a featured meat, two side dishes and a choice of homemade yeast roll or regular or jalapeno corn bread muffin) cost between $6 and $7. Those who have not visited in a couple of years may be taken aback to find that a vegetable plate, at $6.49, is not much cheaper than a meat-and-two-vegetables plate.

But it’s not a case of paying more for less. Bread lovers, for instance, will be delighted to find that the rolls have gotten to be nearly the size of the renowned rolls at downtown plate-lunch eatery Your Mama’s Good Food.

Homer’s portions can be quite generous. One diner gave half, if not more, of her main dish, roll and dessert to her husband and dining companion. “Double any entree for an additional $3.69,” reads a note on the daily menu.

There’s no doubling needed for dinners headlined by such dishes as the Country Fried Steak. Baptized in cream-style gravy, the steak ($6.89 with two sides and a roll or corn bread) was satisfactorily crisp on the outside, tender on the inside, and more than enough.

Husband tried the fried shrimp platter ($6.59) - sixfried jumbo shrimp that, like the regular plate lunches, are served with two side items and a roll or corn bread. It’s hard to mess up fried shrimp - especially in the eyes of a fried-shrimp lover - and Homer’s delivered. These, too, were crisp and tender in the appropriate places, and pleasing to the taste buds.

Even better than the steak was the chosen side dish of mashed potatoes and brown gravy, tasting rich and buttery enough to take the place of dessert. The Italian green beans were big, shiny-buttery, not too bland, not overly spicy or salty. The smothered cabbage was enough to bring memories to any guy or gal who longs for the way Mom used to make it. The wholekernel corn, although nothing spectacular, always seems tobe just the side dish to round out a Homer’s dinner.

Desserts here are definitely worth considering, especially since they’re still cheaper than at most places. One diner tried the Homemade Fried Pie with ice cream ($2.99 for flavors including chocolate, cherry, peach, apricot and coconut). It was beat-yourfist-on-the-table good. The crispness, butteriness (yes, there’s that butter again) and overall sumptuousness of the crust was especially worthy of note.

For those who like their desserts richer than Bill Gates, the Brownie Bottom Pie with ice cream will suffice. The small-but-substantial brownie comes drenched in chocolate syrup. As with the fried pie, the accompanying scoop of vanilla ice cream was generous.

Minor service shortfalls may be overlooked because the restaurant is so busy; a hustling server may have to be asked for knives with which to eat that Country Fried Steak. And again, the no-frills facility is still no place to come for romantic, intimate conversation, unless you want to scream your love and desire for your partner.

Oh yes - come early or late to get a parking space. Not a decent parking space, but a parking space, period.

Homer’s Good Eats Address: 2001 E. Roosevelt Road, Little Rock Hours: 6:30-10:30 a.m. breakfast, 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m. lunch, Monday-Friday Cuisine: Southern/plate lunches, sandwiches Credit cards: V, MC, AE, D Wheelchair accessible: Yes Alcoholic beverages: No (501) 374-1400

Weekend, Pages 40 on 09/30/2010

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