Meat and potatoes — this has been the open secret behind the success of Phil’s Restaurant over the decades. Through countless owners — some remained many years, while others came and went after a few seasons — good ol’ American high-protein breakfasts have made or broken loyalty to this Wakefield institution.

South Countyites are a simple people with simple needs. Whether Swamp Yankee old-timer or metropolitan New York-area escapee, the call has been for nothing more than properly cooked bacon, well-crisped home fries, eggs over easy, and a continual stream of coffee. Chevre-filled croissants and damson plum preserves are all well and good, but save them for the place up the street or across town when it goes chi-chi and changes from café to bistro.

Owner Ken Tetzner is no knuckle-dragger, though. Recent luncheon side dishes have included the increasingly omnipresent sweet potato fries, as well as Cajun fries and chicken fingers. Nowadays, you can also get some sandwiches as wraps or in pita bread. The place’s namesake, the late Phil Watson, who was run down by a car out front — sometime in the ’60s, I think — would likely be pleased that the eatery is still satisfying people with unpretentious chow.

The place has proved popular enough that Tetzner, who took over about eight years ago, has since added three other Phil’s around South County. He bought a similar breakfast and lunch place in Charlestown three years back, added Bonnet Shores last year, and then a second Narragansett restaurant, near Scarborough Beach, a few months ago. The last restaurant is still on its shakedown cruise, but I checked out the other places in recent weeks. Each has nondescript diner décor, running to scenic photos and American flags.

The flagship Wakefield restaurant on Main Street is packed on weekends. Breakfast bargains pull people in— get there before eight and a two-egg, home fries, and toast Early Bird Special is a ridiculous 99 cents. One homey touch is that most egg plates give you a choice of two or three eggs, just like mother did. Since these dishes run as little as $4.15 — with bacon or sausage — the third egg feels like a bonus.

The "Phil’s 2s" is my usual choice, with that many eggs, bacon and sausage, plus a pancake, as well as the usual home fries and toast. For the same $5.25, on a recent visit I had the "Phil’s Best" — ham and bacon with the eggs on top of an English muffin, cheese on top. Melting the cheese pushed my "over easy" eggs past their runny best, but the ham was thick, not the thin sandwich slices you might expect in such a combo. As usual, the bacon was magazine-ad perfect.

There is thick Texas French toast and Belgian waffles, as well as silver-dollar pancakes, which the menu says kids like. Accompanying me to the barn-board-walled Charlestown Phil’s, Johnnie had breakfast while I sampled the lunch menu. The three-egg omelets ($3.75-$5.75) offer single items, such as veggies or hash, and interesting combos, such as the ham-, bacon-, and sausage-stuffed "Caveman." Johnnie’s mushroom one was a bit watery from this ingredient — why don’t breakfast cooks learn to sauté them down a bit beforehand? — but otherwise satisfactory. Her chocolate-chip pancakes ($4.25) during another visit were a Hershey’s abuser’s delight, generous with the active little ingredients. By the way, this preparation looks remarkably like blueberry pancakes from any distance, if you want to appear health-conscious.

What separates the men from the boys, breakfast-cook-wise, is waiting until the home fries get crispy, no matter how many customers are clamoring. Nicely blackened on the grill at a couple of Wakefield visits, these were fried to brown-edged satisfaction in Charlestown.

My Phil’s Philly ($5.95) at the latter location was worthy of its signature, the shaved steak not gristly, the onions and peppers in proportion, and coming with choice of cheese. A grilled chicken Caesar salad wrap ($5.25) was dee-lish, not at all soggy, at the spot in Bonnet Shores. Likewise, a corned beef Reuben ($5.75), selected because it would be a challenge – requiring well-drained sauerkraut and plenty of melted Swiss. Sandwiches come with choice of fries, chips, potato salad, macaroni salad, or coleslaw. Those last two are both thumbs-up in my book, rich with mayonnaise.

The soups we tried ($2.50/$3.95) are the only thing I wouldn’t recommend. Both chicken-rice and beef-broth were served in a couple of the locations when we dropped by. Both were so scanty on liquid that they looked like respective heaped bowls of rice and elbow macaronis. The taste was nothing to write home about in either case.

Just as some of us are concerning our small children, luncheonette-type places can be unaccountably proud of the oddest things. Fortunately, most of what they amiably serve you at Phil’s — any of them — will prompt you to grin right back.

Bill Rodriguez can be reached at billrod@reporters.net.