BY LINDA SALISBURY

FOR THE FREE LANCE-STAR

So, you want meatloaf for breakfast, and an omelet for dinner? The Courthouse Cafe in Spotsylvania Courthouse is the place to go.

The down-home eatery is cozy, friendly, and offers what I consider "comfort food" all day.

Comfort food, in my definition, are those food things that make you feel good, whether they are liver and onions (on my list), meatloaf, french toast, or a grilled-cheese bacon-and-tomato sandwich. This cafe offers many of them.

On a late-morning visit, My Dining Partner and I figured that our choice might be between breakfast or lunch, but learned that dinner entrees were also an option.

Our friendly server told us that weekend breakfast specials often include salt fish, with home fries, tomato slices, and cornmeal bread ($5.25).

I wanted comfort food--homemade meatloaf, with homemade mashed potatoes, a hot dinner roll, and choice of vegetables ($8.25). I ordered the beautifully seasoned coleslaw for a vegetable.

The perfect meatloaf was thickly packed--the way family members of an earlier generation made it. I put the brown gravy to the side and slathered my meatloaf with ketchup. The mashed potatoes were freshly prepared. Entrees come with a house salad. I tried the homemade ranch dressing--adequate but nothing special.

MDP ordered country fried steak ($8.25), with the similar choices of sides. He selected homemade potato salad, pickled beets and the chunky blue-cheese dressing for his salad.

He was surprised that the country fried steak was topped with a white sausage gravy normally reserved for breakfast biscuits and grits, but liked the combination. His potato salad was topnotch.

The hot rolls were served open and buttered.

The specials board listed a number of desserts, including homemade bread pudding with raisin sauce ($2.75). It is one of MDP's favorite desserts. I decided to try the non-homemade coconut meringue pie ($2.75).

The bread pudding was unlike any we have seen or tasted. It was dense and dark, like spice cake. Our server assured us the cook used bread and added her special spices. I will say that the bite I had was quite good, and I liked the lemon sauce (without the raisins). MDP was impressed.

Less impressive was my coconut pie, which seemed to have more meringue than coconut flavor. It was a generous portion, however.

One drawback: Unfortunately, there are no nonsmoking areas, and the cafe lacks adequate exhaust fans to remove smoke. But for home-style and comfy, the cafe is hard to beat.