Kline’s Keeps Cumberland Comfort Food on the Table

A plate of eggs, home fries and an oversized sausage patty is a perfectly reasonable way to begin the day at Kline’s. So is French toast, an omelet made to order, or a helping of sausage gravy with coffee that keeps coming. This is the sort of Cumberland-area restaurant where breakfast is available all day, so the decision need not be made before noon.

Kline’s sits just outside Cumberland at the beginning of the Narrows, a convenient pause in a day spent around town or exploring the surrounding area. Its appeal is pleasantly direct: familiar food, generous plates, fair prices and a room where people settle in to talk rather than rush through a meal.

The breakfast menu covers the sturdy diner basics: eggs, omelets, home fries and French toast. The sausage patty has enough size to be a meal-defining detail rather than a small side item, and the home fries belong with nearly everything on the morning side of the menu.

Sausage gravy is one of those dishes that can turn an ordinary breakfast stop into a repeat destination. Kline’s version has built a following, and it suits the restaurant’s unfussy style—warm, filling and not trying to reinvent anything.

All-day breakfast also helps when a table has mixed ideas about lunch. One person can order eggs and toast while another moves on to a burger, soup or sandwich, without anyone having to negotiate the clock.

Daily and nightly specials give Kline’s the dependable rhythm of a long-running hometown diner. The menu is broad enough for regulars to have favorites, while the specials offer a reason to look up from the usual order.

Pork and sauerkraut comes with mashed potatoes and gravy, a plate built for somebody who wants a proper dinner rather than a quick bite. Ground steak with gravy and onions follows the same tradition, as do fried chicken, baked haddock with fries and baked potatoes.

The crab cake takes a Maryland-style approach, with little filler, and can arrive alongside coleslaw, butter beans or tartar sauce. It is a useful reminder that a casual local dining room can still have a few regionally rooted choices in the middle of all the classic comfort food.

Lunch can be as simple as a bowl of chili, bean soup or chicken-rice soup. On a cold day, those are the kinds of orders that invite a slower meal and a few extra minutes at the table.

The sandwich list ranges through chicken salad, steak subs, burgers, cheesesteaks and more straightforward handheld options. A requested change to make a chicken-salad sandwich with grilled chicken has also been accommodated, a small indication of a kitchen willing to work with a sensible request.

Fries earn their own mention here. They are thick, crisp and freshly cut, with sweet potato fries available for diners who prefer a little sweetness beside a sandwich or burger. It is hard to overstate the value of getting the fries right at a place like this.

Homemade pie is one of Kline’s enduring pleasures, and passing up dessert can be difficult after seeing the choices. Coconut cream pie, lemon pie and pumpkin pie are among the familiar varieties that have appeared on the dessert lineup.

The coconut cream pie comes with meringue, delivering the tall, old-school finish many diner pie cases promise but do not always provide. Lemon offers a brighter direction after a rich plate of gravy or fried chicken, while pumpkin is exactly the sort of dessert that suits the restaurant’s fall-friendly comfort-food spirit.

Near the register, homemade water-egg candies provide one more small temptation on the way out. Coconut and peanut-butter versions make an easy little add-on, especially for anyone who wants to bring a taste of the stop along for the ride.

Kline’s has booths, a counter, an indoor dining room, a bar area and outdoor patio or terrace seating. The range gives the place a flexible, lived-in quality: a booth for a family meal, a counter seat for somebody eating alone, or a table where a conversation can run longer than expected.

The counter is especially welcome for solo diners, who can have a full meal without feeling as if they have claimed too much table. Around the room, the mood is relaxed and conversational, with the steady hum of a neighborhood gathering place rather than a polished special-occasion restaurant.

Seasonal decorating has included Halloween and fall displays, a modest touch that fits a restaurant where the changing calendar still shows up in the dining room. Kline’s does not need much ceremony; the comfort is already in the coffee, the gravy, the pie and the familiar plates.

Kline’s works at breakfast, lunch or dinner, which is useful for travelers whose days do not always follow a neat schedule. A free parking lot with ample space keeps the stop simple, and the restaurant is generally an inexpensive choice for a full meal.

For a quick visit, a sandwich and fresh-cut fries will do nicely. For a longer one, take the daily-special route, add a bowl of soup if the weather calls for it, and leave enough room for a slice of coconut cream or lemon pie.