Howard's In Mount Vernon Gets Happy

Restaurant Review

It was so sad when Howard's Delly closed last year. Through multiple ownership changes, some of which seemed to take place mid-shift, Howard's remained true to the very end to its unpretentious, inexpensive and oddball self. It was a little pocket of melancholy in Mount Vernon, the kind of place where every diner seemed like a lonely guy or gal, even when they were eating in groups. It was always a little disheveled, it opened and closed early each day, and it was closed on Sundays.

Then, a few months ago, Howard's reopened with new owners. We heard it got a little fancy. That could have meant anything in Mount Vernon, from "they put in an oxygen bar" to "they emptied the grease trap." Actually, what they did was lovely - they released the sweet little neighborhood cafe that had been hiding here all along.

Besides a wholesale cleaning and freshening up, the most welcome additions are the little coffee counter up front, right on the cook line, where lonely folks won't look or feel so lonesome, and outdoor courtyard seating, in a shady space that blends into the entrance court of an apartment complex. It's now one of the neighborhood's few non-sidewalk outdoor seating options. The other biggest change is in the hours of operation. Howard's of Mount Vernon is now open until 9 o'clock each night, and it's open on Sunday, too.

After some tweaking, the menu is more or less a streamlined version of the old one. The main parts of it are devoted to all-hours breakfast and to lunchtime sandwiches, standard things like shrimp salad, BLTs and Reubens. The biggest new things on the menu are the pasta bowls, three variations on a simple theme - a big bowl of noodles with good ingredients.

There's angel's hair in rose-cream sauce, with sauteed shrimp and chicken, and a similar version but with vegetables. The one we tried was very satisfying, nothing more than well-cooked penne with a spicy homemade marinara, roma tomatoes, basil, Italian sausage and freshly shaved Parmesan cheese. At dinner, the pasta bowls come with a garden salad, and at lunch with garlic bread.

This seems as good a time to note that Howard's went into full, comic meltdown when we visited for lunch, at the end of what was probably a long weekend for a restaurant that's still working out some kinks. The details aren't too important, and the worst thing that happened was that we never got a Reuben sandwich we were too full for anyway. It was also funny, at least to me, because the new place, with its courtyard seating, matching plates and cheerful tomato-colored walls, was suddenly weird old Howard's. Because the people here are so nice, you're willing to roll with it.