Profile

Washington Square Diner offers the kind of food New Yorkers used to die for: fried, greasy, and fast. A not-so-promising vinyl-sided exterior appropriately foreshadows the aging Greek diner interior: booths with plastic seats, and a deli counter facing a display case filled with baked goods of suspicious origin and date of birth. The food, like the space, seems to be stuck in time, harking back to the days before the average Manhattanite had a more refined palate. Everything from pasta with veal Marsala to cottage cheese with Jell-O is available, but the Lumberjack, a Belgian waffle with two eggs, bacon, ham, and sausage, is most remarkable because its sheer abundances. There are nine other fried meats to choose from, such as corned beef hash, Canadian bacon, and for the health-conscious, low-cal bison burgers. French fries are crispy; eggs arrive as ordered with remarkable speed. So here’s to yesteryear. — Julian Brizzi

Two fried eggs with bacon, $6.95; Lumberjack, $10.95