Wendy Logan Photo

Eggs Benedict with the requisite home fries

Dunville's Restaurant
41 Saugatuck Ave., Westport. (203) 227-0511

Dunville's has become something of a Westport landmark over the nearly three decades it's been in business. To a large community of regulars, it's a second home. But you're only a stranger to Dunville's until the first time you walk through the door. The homey roadside pub offers a sturdy and tasty meal; a stiff drink (or several); great value; and a lively, friendly, no-frills vibe for all ages.

While the impressively diverse menu doesn't pretend to offer any highbrow culinary odyssey, it goes well beyond the ordinary. The chef makes all his own sauces, soups and salad dressings, and all the meat — roast beef, turkey, ham — is roasted and baked in-house.

Even with all the formidable brunch alternatives in the area, you'd be hard-pressed to find better eggs Benedict than the exceptional, straightforward version served here. Unfailingly, the eggs are perfectly poached, cooked enough to be ever so slightly firm on the outside but with a lovely, oozy yolk. The Canadian bacon is lean and not overly salty, and the hollandaise sauce is absolutely sublime, with a creamy, drizzle-worthy consistency and a lemony overtone. It arrives on its English muffin bed hot and comes with the requisite home fries, savory and seasoned and dotted with caramelized onion. (I like to ask for them well done.) After 12 years of sampling, I'd stack this version against any in Fairfield County. You can go heartier with the "Montana" version, which substitutes the Dunville's specialty London broil for the bacon, or go green with the Florentine version, which features spinach and a creamy Mornay sauce.

Best of all is you don't have to wait until Sunday to try any of them. Dunville's serves its entire menu of salads, sandwiches, pastas and entrees every day from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. — later on weekends. On Sundays, a brunch menu is offered until 4 p.m. with additional items, and you can try the Dunville's Sunday Special cocktail, a blend of orange vodka, cointreau, champagne and orange juice.

If you love ribs, get out the wet naps. Dunville's slow-roasted, sticky glazed baby backs are a heavenly, finger-sucking slurp-fest. The brown sugar–scented sauce is laced with bourbon (sweet, but not cloying) and the meat falls right off the bone. The rack comes with crunchy, tangy and lightly creamy coleslaw that adds the perfect counterpoint to the meat. We opted for a half rack as an appetizer and were left desperate for more.

Another great starter (and a Dunville's classic since 1982) is the clams casino. The six little necks are thankfully left whole, baked with an herby, red pepper–studded bread crumb topping with white wine, lemon and butter, and finished with a whole, crispy bacon square.

On a recent outing, we also tried the Gulf shrimp Sausalito, available as an entrée served with rice or as an appetizer over toast points (our choice). Six fresh shrimp are sautéed in butter and lemon with scallions, chopped tomato, and fresh, aromatic rosemary leaves, a surprising pairing with the seafood that actually works quite well. The full bite of seafood, vegetables and bread is texturally odd for my taste, but I'd order this again in a heartbeat and ask for bread on the side.

Moving on to entrees, we went for the chicken Jacqueline, boneless chicken breast chunks with artichoke hearts and mushrooms served in a vermouth sauce fragrant with tarragon. The tangy sauce was a bit thick and in need of salt.

Next, we dug into the house favorite, London broil, with zeal. Though the steak's temperature was just slightly beyond what we had ordered, after the first bite we forgot all about it. Marinated in a top-secret, soy-based bath of herbs and spices, the meat is so tender and savory that the Bearnaise sauce it's served with is almost overkill. Ask for it on the side and dip at will.

The house-made key lime pie, swirled with whipped cream and studded with bittersweet chocolate chunks, offers a sweet finish for dessert.

From Memorial to Labor Day, Dunville's offers a lobster bake on Mondays and Tuesdays — single or twin lobsters baked with clams, corn and the works for $19.95 or $26.95 for twins.

So when your mother wants seafood, your toddler wants chicken fingers, your teen wants a burger, your partner wants pasta and all you want is a martini, don't forget about Dunville's. Or, you could leave the family home and join the regulars at the bar for a shot and a beer.