Tuesday?s

****

215 N. East Ave.

Fayetteville

Drive Time:

5-minute walk from the downtown square

Turnaround Time:

10 minutes for appetizers and 10 minutes for dessert

Tuesday’s reputation as a restaurant with a distinctly feminine-taste kind of menu is unfortunate because men who pass it up for that reason are missing delicious – and filling – food.

The dishes feature light fare, that’s true, but the portions are generous.

The angel hair pasta is a bi-i-i-g dish, and it takes a hearty appetite to finish the serving. It’s served with diced tomatoes, garlic, herbs, tossed with Parmesan cheese and olive oil, ($4.75) or add sauteed chicken breast ($5.25). Either way, it makes for a good meal.

If pasta’s not your dish, there are sandwiches, too: The pita salad sandwich ($5) comes with cucumber, red onions, feta cheese, bell pepper, olives, humus with lettuce and lemon vinaigrette). Or there’s the cheese steak sub ($6), which is grilled steak, provolone cheese, fired onions, lettuce and tomato on an Italian roll. Or try the Work Class hero ? ham and cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, olive oil and oregano, all on an Italian roll. If shittake mushrooms are appealing, try the Shittake grill ($4.50), which is mushrooms, cheddar cheese and tomatoes on grilled bread.

Then there are the house specialities, including the quiche of the day ($5.25), the blue plate special (price varies with the special) or lentil stew $4.50.

Don’t skip dessert, the baked fudge with vanilla ice cream ($2.50) comes piping hot.

Although the food is” good, no review of Tuesday’s would be complete without talking about the setting. It’s an in older house that’s been remodeled (prior to housing Tuesday’s, it was home to Emma’s, another restaurant) and, although the inside is attractive, guests seem to prefer the outdoor seats during pleasant weather – there were guests waiting for front-yard tables the day we were there, although indoor tables were vacant. Eat at Tuesday’s front-yard tables or on the porch and enjoy the warm breeze and the outdoor ambiance ? the street’s not far away but the traffic isn’t noticeable.

Tuesday’s opens at 8 a.m. for breakfast. Lunch is served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.