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Hungry? You'll Like The Wolf

By MARY PATRICK

Tribune correspondent

Published: March 19, 2009

WESLEY CHAPEL - Sometimes, it just has to be breakfast food, no matter the time of day. Sometimes you have a robust appetite but a thin wallet. That's where a place like the Wolf's Den comes in.

Located just a bit west of the Wiregrass shopping center on State Road 56 in Wesley Chapel, the Wolf's Den is a rare family owned and operated business in the exurb land of retail and restaurant chains. The menu is just as counter-intuitive, filled with the sort of home-cooked, heavy fare that is supposed to be a no-no in our diet-conscious society.

You won't care about that after taking your first bite of The Big Cheese omelet or one of the many "eggs with excitement" dishes. Comfort food is still comforting, it turns out. And how many places can you go where you can get a two-egg breakfast with hash browns and grits or toast for $3 - anytime, day or night? Not many.

Now, a word about decor: The Wolf's Den has taken its theme to the extreme. Framed wolf prints blanket the walls. There are wolf statues, and every table has wolf salt and pepper sets. Otherwise, it's a modern diner, with a take-out counter and room for about two dozen tables and booths.

We started, of course, with breakfast. The Big Cheese omelet came cooked to that perfect point where the three cheeses (Jack, Swiss and Cheddar) have melded into a seamless whole. The Dances with Wolves omelet adds bacon, sausage, ham, mushrooms, onions and tomatoes. You can also create your own three-egg omelet.

There are also Belgian waffles, pancakes (with additions such as strawberries, blueberries and fresh fruit) and too many egg combinations to list, but the sides include hash browns (which we tried and found excellent), grits, and biscuits with sausage gravy.

It's like being in a small-town diner, down to the wonderfully friendly staff, who kept our drinks full and were attentive to every request.

This would all be noteworthy in and of itself, but the Wolf's Den also offers a wide variety of food other than breakfast.

We tried the hamburger, which was fine but had a bit too much lettuce, onion and tomato compared to the size of the burger patty. Better was the patty melt, a thick slab of beef covered in cheese and grilled onions and served on rye bread. The Buffalo wings from the appetizer menu came with generously sized pieces of chicken deep fried and doused in a spicy hot sauce.

We also ordered a side of onion rings that was the bargain of the night: a heaping plate of rings that could have fed three people, for only $1.50.

The country-fried steak with cream gravy was wickedly delicious, deep-fried in cracker crumb breading and served fork-tender. The Wolf's Den also surprised us with what might be its best-kept secret, a tasty Wild West pizza that came laden with pepperoni and sausage, mushrooms and black olives. The restaurant offers a wide variety of pizzas, from a "meat eaters" to the Little Green Riding Hood (tomatoes, green peppers, onions, black olives, mushrooms).

In all, the Wolf's Den stands out in its chain-store neighborhood, offering the sort of affordable diner fare that's unusual so close to a shopping mall.

Tribune reviewers dine anonymously. Mary Patrick can be reached at marypatrick@

DINING REVIEW

Wolf's Den Restaurant

BOTTOM LINE: Friendly family diner serves up affordable comfort food.

WHERE: Seven Oaks Plaza, 27607 S.R. 56, Suite 110, Wesley Chapel

HOURS: 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday

CREDIT CARDS: All major

RESERVATIONS: No

CHILDREN'S MENU: Yes

ALCOHOL: No

WHEELCHAIR ACCESS: Yes

PRICE RANGE: $8 to $9 a dinner entree