Ted's is one of those places that offers more than food. Ted's offers an experience. While noshing at the counter was nothing odd for our parents' generation, we're raised to eat at a table, separated from the rest of the clientele, even if we're dining alone. No eye contact, please, and definitely no talking!

So, bellying up to the serpentine lino counter at Ted's Ice Cream & Restaurant, 6204 W. North Ave. in Wauwatosa, is an experience. And, if you're going to eat at Ted's -- which opened in 1942 and has been in the same family ever since -- it's nearly a foregone conclusion that you're sitting at the counter, since there are but three or four tables, and they're usually taken.

You can read it in many of the faces staring at you over the counter. People want to love sitting at the counter -- and many clearly do love it -- but most of us are a bit self-conscious about it ... at first. It's a social experience; one of the many that have been removed from our ever-more isolated lives, and we're not immediately sure how to cope.

Luckily, Ted's -- open for breakfast and lunch, but not dinner (except for the popular Friday fish fry) -- makes it worth getting used to. Prices are reasonable and the food is no-nonsense, home-style fare: bacon, eggs and waffles with coffee for breakfast, burgers and fries and Cokes for lunch. The menu is more extensive, of course, but that's the gist and it's all served fresh and hot and by a waitress who probably knows a lot of your fellow diners (and maybe you by now) by name. If not, she might just call you "hun."

Local high schoolers work as bus boys and dish washers and the décor is sort of retro diner meets Americana country style. The grill is out in the open for all to see. In essence, Ted's is a small town eatery in a big city.

People-watching is what makes Ted's the most fun of all the breakfast options in the Tosa area. It will just make diners more self-conscious to know we're watching, but that's OK. It takes all kinds. From the guy sitting alone reading the newspaper to the guy sitting alone but striking up conversation with everyone around him, Ted's is a relaxed -- if bustling -- place.

Families abound and kids have little trouble adjusting to hopping up on the spinning counter stools and having a good time. There are always young couples and clearly lots of regulars.

Sure, you can pop in for an ice cream and take it for a stroll around the neighborhood and certainly you can get food of equal quality at the same price elsewhere. But at Ted's you might make some new friends at the same time.

Ted's is closed Mondays and opens at 7 a.m. all other days. It closes at 3 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 2 p.m. on Saturdays and 1 p.m. on Sundays. It's open late for fish fry on Fridays, closing at 8 p.m.

Should you want to call ahead, the number is (414) 258-5610. If by some odd stroke you should have trouble finding parking on the street, Ted's has a small parking lot in back.