From The New Orleans Menu Daily By Tom Fitzmorris Revised August 2009 Beck 'n' Call Cafe Sandwiches. Neighborhood Cafe. Breakfast. Covington: 534 N. New Hampshire. 985-875-9390 . Map. Lunch and dinner Monday-Saturday. Casual. AE DC DS MC V www.beckncallcafe.com   WHY IT'S NOTEWORTHY   Beck 'n' Call is across the street from the St. Tammany Parish Courthouse, a place so busy that it keeps a substantial number of restaurants in consistent cash flow. This is one of the best of them. After a busy breakfast, Beck 'n' Call serves a menu of typical New Orleans lunch platters and sandwiches, with enough offbeat items to make the place stand out.   WHY IT'S GOOD   In a time when it's tempting for restaurants like this to buy everything already cooked and ready to go from wholesalers, Beck 'n' Call still does its own cooking. The roast beef for the poor boys, the red beans, the brisket, and the desserts are all prepared in site. The seafood is likely to have been fried to order. It takes a few minutes to be served, but the wait pays off.   BACKSTORY   Eddie Gaden and his wife opened Beck 'n' Call in 2002, with the idea of spinning off a catering business and ultimately phasing out al la carte service. But the cafe was such a hit that they've kept going, while also doing the catering. The building is in the oldest part of Covington, across from the old train depot, and is itself over a hundred years old. It served as a grocery and cafe for a lot of that history. Eddie and I were in the same class at Jesuit High School.   DINING ROOM   The front room has what looks like a cafeteria line, but you place your order at the counter, sit down, and are served when the food's ready. The rear room looks like something out of Mayberry RFD. At breakfast, even the customers look as if they'll still be there playing checkers at lunchtime.   ESSENTIAL DISHES   Standard breakfast combos. Omelettes. Poor boy sandwiches. Barbecue brisket. Red or white beans with pork chops. Lasagna (the Tuesday special). Fried seafood. Catfish Eddie (blackened with crawfish etouffee). Bread pudding. Cobblers.   FOR BEST RESULTS   When juries in the many courtrooms across the street break for lunch, the restaurant fills up and a line forms out the door. The noon hour is to be avoided.   OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT   Any restaurant where you order at the counter would be better with table service.   FACTORS OTHER THAN FOOD   Up to three points, positive or negative, for these characteristics. Absence of points denotes average performance in the matter. Dining Environment +1 Consistency +1 Service Value +2 Attitude +2 Wine and Bar Hipness Local Color +3   SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES    Open Monday lunch Historic Unusually large servings Quick, good meal Good for children Easy, nearby parking Click here for an index to current reviews of the 200 Essential Restaurants, and others. Click here for an index of all restaurant reviews. © 2009 Tom Fitzmorris. All rights reserved. news@nomenu.com.