MIDDLE OF NOWHERE DINER,

I suppose that the best way to appreciate this place is by driving up some frosty morn, showing off a tongue-lolling 10-point buck in the back of your pickup. Or, if you're a vegetarian, staggering in at 5 a.m., famished after being lost on a mushroom hunt in the wilds of Exeter. The Middle of Nowhere Diner is an oasis for the ravenous and is wasted on the modest of appetite. It's conveniently located on a state highway, but has no competition for miles, like a wolf that needs plenty of territory. If customers were prey, this restaurant would catch most of the county, or so it has usually looked when-I've walked in mid-day. There's a counter right ahead when you enter and a few tables and booths to your right. Another room had to be tacked onto the place past that -- this is where non-smokers are banished. From the wood veneer surfaces to the Route 66 sign, there's nothing to clash with all the flannel sported. The 10-page menu makes life difficult for head-scratchers, especially since breakfast is served all day, except Fridays. There's the usual collection of burgers and sandwiches, from clubs plates under six bucks and four Parmesan variations under five, to a half-pound rib eye for $6.10. The dinner offerings are the most voluminous, with separate pages for pastas, seafood, meat, and -- separately -- chicken. Quite a span, from items only a diner would offer, such as liver and onions ($6.40), to a dinner with five jumbo fried shrimp ($8.99), and a parmigiana platter with chicken, veal, eggplant, and meatballs over pasta for only $9.99.

Full review.