If I could, I would eat at Danny's Cafe & Deli four times a week. And on the other three days, I would definitely need to fast on water and vitamins. Seriously, the food here is so good, and the prices so reasonable, why cook or go anywhere else? It amazes me how they do it, and Danny's does it well.

This is down-home Italian cooking at its best. Even though the portions are extra-large, you never know when you might need the leftovers you take home. What if your car broke down? What if you got caught in a snowstorm? What if your wife called and told you to pick up something for dinner? You're covered.

Choose from raw clams, baked clams, polenta with sausage, eggplant Parmesan, chicken Parmesan. Pork chops Vesuvio, giambotta. The linguine aglio e olio gets an escort of four jumbo shrimp, and this meal-and-a-half is just $15.95. There's also muffaletta, Italian sub, meatball sandwich, pepper and eggs. Whew! And the eats go on, like the neckbones and pasta special on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The sides: pasta, spinach and Vesuvio potatoes (smashed or whole).

Speaking of potatoes, there's a little number named "Cubbie" cottage fries that you don't want to miss. Cartwheels of tender roasted potatoes were splashed with a Buffalo-wing sauce over which was scattered crumbles of blue cheese. Creativity meets unique flavor head on, and the results were exceptional.

The dish of all dishes at Danny's, though, is the neckbones. Pork neckbones. A rubble of meaty bones arrived on a big oval platter (actually a platter on a platter to handle the weight). Dark, mysterious, decadent. The aroma was intoxicating. The waitress brought extra napkins, wet wipes, another big dish for the picked-over bones and a bib. This was serious eating. Most of the meat fell off the bones into the sprinkling of sauce around them. It was a splendid meal until the last bone was picked clean. Scrape some bread through the sauce to get the full effect. The pasta on the side was fine, too. But, oh, dem bones.

Danny's also is the "Home of the Fried Meatball Sandwich." It's spelled out on the back of the black T-shirts worn by the waitresses (who are so good at customer care, they could double as nurses). This was not really a meatball as we know a meatball, rather a meat patty that was hand-formed (oval-shape), grilled (not fried) and tucked into a sub bun. Ask for it with a little sauce and cheese to up the enjoyment.

Wines by the glass -- jug and no-jug -- go no higher than $3.50. Peroni beer is just four bucks.

Pat Bruno is a free-lance writer, critic and author. E-mail brunoeats@aol.com.

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