From November 2004

From the Cleveland Park original, Cafe Deluxe has sprouted branches in Tysons Corner and Bethesda. The original has lost none of its appeal. On a recent Saturday afternoon, Senator Joseph Biden was lunching on the sidewalk out front, and the inside was full of families and other neighborhood denizens drawn by the generously portioned sandwiches, moderately priced drinks, and dependable Modern American comfort food.

Starters range from a very good chicken-and-red-pepper quesadilla served with a black-bean-and-corn relish to seared rare ahi tuna with a frisée salad and deliciously salty sesame crisps. If you can resist the sandwiches and their piles of crisp fries, there’s a moist herb-roasted chicken with great mashed potatoes and asparagus, or a nostalgic but somewhat bland meatloaf with the same great mashed potatoes and undercooked green beans. A kids’ menu presents options including a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich with fries or a three-vegetable plate. What kind of choice is that?