Elizabeth Keyser photo

The lobster roll, homemade potato chips and spicy chicken chilli

My Favorite Place
1 Strickland Ave., Greenwich, (203) 869-1500, www.myfavoriteplacect.com

After having the crab cake po'boy at My Favorite Place in Cos Cob, I craved it for a week. What made this sandwich so good is not completely distinct in my mind, because I was at a party and was distracted by conversation. I remember the way the crab cake, lettuce and tomato melded into the soft bun, and how the thinly-sliced onions added a sharp bite. Sweet potato fries, sprinkled with kosher salt, came on the side.

Earlier, we'd munched on chicken wings and crunchy homemade potato chips. The small, cheerful red-and-black storefront makes for a convivial gathering place. Around us, young children decorated cupcakes, and the adults sipped a juicy four-year-old wine made by the host's brother. (My Favorite Place doesn't sell alcohol.)

Its controlled color scheme — bright red walls, black café tables, black-and-white tile floors — makes even the humble plastic ketchup squeeze bottle look like a design statement. The walls, decorated with unframed black and white photos of children eating, offer just one hint of whose favorite place this is. The shop offers children's parties, cooking and etiquette classes, and cupcake decorating contests. But when I returned on a recent Saturday, My Favorite Place was filled with a range of ages — people in their 20s, middle-aged couples and families with young children.

That crab cake po'boy had been a special, and now it wasn't available. On "Seafood Fridays," chowders, fried clams and lobster rolls (butter-poached and served on a brioche roll) are on the menu. That Saturday, another special written on the red-rimmed chalkboard immediately caught my eye: Crispy batter-coated fried cod sandwich with banana peppers, purple slaw, lettuce and a touch of lemon tartar sauce ($8.95).

The sandwich more than lived up to its description. The ciabatta roll was toasted, the cod — a moist hunk of fish beneath a brown crust — was sweet, the peppers spicy, the slaw crunchy, the tartar sauce lemony and providing just the right amount of wetness to the bread. This was a really good sandwich.

New England clam chowder was also on the specials menu. It came slopped into a four-sided red plastic bowl. The clams were tender, if a bit gritty. The soup base was not floury, the downfall of many an ill-prepared chowder. The soup was thick with chunks of potatoes and flecked with parsley. The base tasted more of potato puree than of cream or clam. We wished for more clam broth flavor, but the soup was tasty nonetheless and we scooped up every last drop.

Most of the menu is retro, '50s homey food. Lots of stuff will appeal to children — grilled chicken nuggets, housemade spaghettiOs, mac'n'cheese — which is why I was so happy with the cod sandwich; it was for an adult.

Alas, the other sandwich on the specials menu, meatloaf "crunion" with cheddar and gravy, was disappointing. A meatloaf sandwich can and should be a comforting pleasure. This bland, all-beef meatloaf seemed more like a loose hamburger than meatloaf, and it was served on a big bun that overwhelmed the meat. The only flavor came from the crunchy "crunions."

The macaroni and cheese, another simple homey dish that can be wonderful, suffered a similar fate. Here it was little more than shells — though properly cooked, neither soggy nor too al dente — dressed with cheese and butter. It seemed assembled rather than baked. The beef chili didn't thrill. The spicy chicken chili, studded with corn kernels, white beans, was tangy with pickled jalapenos.

Who doesn't smile when they see a malt on the menu? It was thick and comforting, the flavor evoking an innocent era. The mango smoothie tasted more of ice than fruit, but it could have been the result of an errant hand rather than the restaurant's recipe.

Jennifer Scagliore-Morris, a Greenwich native, opened My Favorite Place in 2004. It is indeed popular, attracting a flow of people throughout the day: mothers with children, businesspeople grabbing lunch, the after-school crowd and families at dinner. They have a thriving take-out business and offer catering. The restaurant's Iron Chef competitions got the attention of The Food Network. The clip can be seen on My Favorite Place's Web site.

My Favorite Place has a strong concept that appeals to the public. It seems like a franchise in the making.