I’ve never seen deviled eggs on a restaurant menu before today. I’ve eaten them, certainly. Made them myself, many times. I’ve compared recipes with gal pals (do you add paprika and sweet pickle relish? Me, too!) But Steuben’s restaurant on 17th Ave. offered the little comfort food nibbles as an appetizer. Cute, no? I had to have them, and they arrived six to a small plate, sprinkled with chives and paprika, for $5. Mmm…tasty.

Still, I found the overall menu a bit random, with their “American regional classics” running the gamut from mac & cheese and fried chicken to chili soy chicken wings, nicoise salad, and a mediterranean vegetable sandwich. I ordered a smothered breakfast burrito ($8) which was good but not great, with only a hint of spice and a sprinkling — rather than a smothering — of green chili. My lunch companion had the cayenne etouffee ($13), which offered lots of spice but little volume; he left our lunch meeting unsatisfied, if not starving. For me, a big part of eating at any restaurant that offers comfort food is the home-cookin’ feeling of being comfortably (or even uncomfortably) full at the end of the meal. Perhaps next time we’ll order dessert.

I must say, I was slightly disappointed. I have heard so much about this little hotspot that I felt obligated to finally check it out, and surely I must have been the last person in town to do so. And though the space is admittedly darling, with its chocolate brown and robin’s egg blue decor sporting a 60s-retro-meets-Lodo-loft vibe, I’m really just not feeling the love for this highly buzzed-about eatery.