2 FOR $20

Chances are, you'll find cans of Vernor's Ginger Ale in lots of stores around here. Chances aren't, you'll stumble on it in a 12-ounce long-neck bottle, the kind you have to crack with an actual opener. Those go back 50 years (I know, because as a kid I used to totally scarf the stuff and pretend it was beer), or at least they did until a recent lunch at downtown's Brickyard Coffee & Tea, where a whole bunch of them turned up. That small trapping spoke chapter and verse on the food and amenities within.

First of all, Brickyard is open only eight hours a day every day, from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., and it's really, really tiny inside. There's a down-home feel to those short hours and all that compactness-and its location (675 West G St.) puts it on a trolley line. A little imagination, and you're in a small town, replete with a train station and the arrivals who've stopped for a bite with loved ones.

And the food. Nothing on the menu is over $8. One of those items, the Panini California sandwich, is the house specialty and takes about 15 minutes to prepare. It includes turkey, avocado, tomato and jack cheese and is served on sourdough bread. The soups, salads, quiche, kids menu and breakfast items are cheap and substantial (to boot, the breakfast bagel, with cream cheese, tomato, red onion and spices, is only $3.25). Call 619-696-7220 to find out more. If you're in a nostalgic frame of mind, the Vernor's alone is worth the stop.