Why do you go out to eat?

For exotic food you can't make at home? To celebrate a special occasion?

Maybe so, but if you're like me, more and more these days -- when I'm not working, of course -- it's because I'm tired, I don't feel like cooking and I want to be waited on. Give me a glass of wine, put a plate of food in front of me, don't annoy me, and don't charge me an arm and a leg.

I'm not the only one who feels this way, which is a major reason the Peppermill Restaurant & Lounge fills its tables night after night when trendier places are struggling to survive.

Generation Xers probably won't be happy here (two words: blue hair), but if you're not looking for excitement, you'll be happy with the traditional American food, soothing -- OK, somnolent -- surroundings, and reasonable prices.

To give you an idea of what I mean by reasonable, when a Sun reviewer (not me) visited the Peppermill in 1992, she had a blackened catfish dinner for $9.95. A decade later the price has leapt to $10.95.

This is how Baltimore-area restaurants used to be. The most exotic dish on the menu is coconut shrimp with an orange marmalade dipping sauce. Before you open the menu you know you'll find crab cakes, surf and turf, and salmon. They still charge extra for blue cheese dressing. Sauces are treated as gravies, ladled on with a generous hand. Most customers start their dinners with a mixed drink; about the only thing that's minimalist about the Peppermill is the wine list.

Somehow the two large dining rooms never manage to get loud, even when every table is taken, and even though everyone seems to be having a good time. The colors are soft, the wood is blond, and there's lots of fabric to absorb sound.

When we called to make a reservation on a weeknight we were told there were no tables available till 6:30 p.m. Excuse me? No, that's not a typo, and there isn't an early bird menu. It's just that the Peppermill's clientele eats early.

They also eat lightly, at least judging from the fact that almost half the menu is light fare. Not sandwiches and salads so much, but smaller portions of things like prime rib or grilled salmon served with one vegetable. This, of course, makes for lots of dinners for under $15.

It's hard to generalize about the food. The Peppermill's raw oysters and fat, lump-filled crab cakes will dazzle you. But clams casino were so small they were hard to find on the half shell, and the squares of bacon on top were fatty and underdone. Maryland crab soup seemed mundane, but -- surprise -- at the bottom of the cup were large lumps of snowy crab.

Veal marsala had nice pieces of tender meat, but they were lost in the lake of dark wine sauce. Salmon suffered from the same problem: a fat fillet with a lot of champagne sauce (more akin to a champagne gravy) poured on top. On the other hand, chicken Baltimore could have been dreadful with its boneless breast, mozzarella, cream sauce, mushrooms and crab lumps, but somehow it was a glorious, messy, indulgent delight.

Vegetables are treated with respect. Dinners come with large salads with romaine and lots of vegetables, not tired iceberg concoctions. Fresh broccoli isn't overcooked or undercooked. And there are choices, Old Baltimore ones like lima beans, stewed tomatoes, coleslaw and applesauce.

Desserts aren't an afterthought. There was an amaretto bread pudding, which I ripped from my husband's hands after he gave me a bite. There was homemade pumpkin pie, nicely spicy with a flaky crust. There was a mud pie with coffee ice cream and fudge sauce, and a rum cake. And, oh yes, did I mention the amaretto bread pudding?

The main thing about the Peppermill is that it will soothe and comfort you: by taking you back to an earlier era if you remember how things used to be in Baltimore; by being friendly and feeding you crab cakes and amaretto bread pudding even if you don't remember.

Peppermill Restaurant & Lounge

Food: ** 1/2

Service: *** 1/2

Atmosphere: ** 1/2

Where: 1301 York Road, Lutherville

Hours: Lunch and dinner daily

Prices: Appetizers, $2.25-$7.95; main courses, $9.95-$25.95

Call: 410-583-1107

Outstanding: ****; Good: ***; Fair or uneven: **; Poor: *