EVERETT — Folks have been happily scarfing the Majestic Cafe’s classic American comfort food for dinner since the place opened about five years ago. But there’s no law against having macaroni and cheese, meatloaf or fried chicken for the noon meal — although cardiologists might wish for one.

The Herald previously visited the Majestic for dinner, so a couple of friends and I recently dropped by the downtown Everett eatery to check out the lunch service.

By no means will the Majestic’s menu confound your meat-and-potatoes brother-in-law’s culinary sensibilities. The place serves ample portions of everyday fare such as burgers (starting at $8), a BLT ($7.50), a club sandwich ($8.50) and a Reuben ($9.50). Also offered are scaled-back dishes off the Majestic’s dinner menu, such as fried chicken ($9) and pan-roasted cod ($9).

As it does at dinner service, the cafe features a set list of daily specials, consisting of sandwiches on weekdays and a bacon, spinach and onion quiche on Saturdays. Prices range from $9 to $9.50.

I started with a cup of the soup of the day, a flavorful, satisfying turkey ($2.50), then moved on to macaroni and cheese ($8). The casserole was made of four cheeses, none of them yellow or named after the nation in which we live. The Majestic’s kitchen staff avoided three common mac-and-cheese flaws: stringy cheese, mushy pasta and general greasiness. You can add ham for $2.

The pasta dish came with a green salad. I sensed the greens might have been a bit past their prime, but my tablemates disagreed. We also parted company on the balsamic-hoisin vinaigrette that dressed the greens. I thought the addition of hoisin sauce made the vinaigrette disagreeably sweet, and what’s wrong with a standard vinaigrette, anyway? Here’s what my companions said: “Oh, boy! Best balsamic vinaigrette I’ve ever had.”

Different strokes, etc. You also can choose green goddess, thousand island, ranch, bleu cheese, sesame vinaigrette or Caesar. Four dinner-size salads are available as well.

Our table also ordered a grilled chicken Caesar wrap ($9), a generous amount of grilled white-meat chicken strips and romaine lettuce lightly tossed with Caesar dressing and a touch of Parmesan, and served in a warmed-on-the-grill tortilla alongside a sizeable pile of crisp fries, which, alas, aren’t house-made, according to our server.

Which brings us to one of my most-repeated dining-out rants: Why, oh, why don’t restaurants make their fries in-house? It seems to me that the big jump in customer-pleasing quality is worth the trouble in the kitchen. Just charge us a little extra for time spent prepping spuds, and serve us better fries.

To go with the fries, we ordered a side of a gorgonzola cream sauce ($1.30), which we’ll skip next time; it was greasy and heavy. I did enjoy the spicy ketchup that accompanied an order of onion rings, made with sweet red onions ($6).

We also tried a classic Reuben ($9.50): pastrami and Swiss on light rye with French dressing and cole slaw, perfectly balanced so the elements blend together in each bite. The sandwich as a whole was not greasy and the meat itself was lean. And the Majestic admirably resists the urge to make the sandwiches too big to eat and to manage.

A few blemishes notwithstanding, the Majestic’s well worth a visit if your ribs need sticking at lunchtime.

If you’re headed back to work, be warned: All that comfort food for lunch may mean nap time later on in the afternoon.

The Majestic Cafe

1409 Hewitt Ave., Everett; 425-339-2074; www.themajesticcafe.com.

Specialty: American food

Hours: Lunch, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; dinner, 4:30 to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

Price range: Moderate

Alcohol: Beer, wine, cocktails

Credit cards: Accepted