"I've heard people say they come here because we still have white tablecloths," staff member Debra Villasenor says, adding that customers also frequent Three Flames for the generous servings. "People have been coming here since we opened in 1980--even if they've moved out of the area--because they love our New York pepper steak," she says. "It's our signature dish that brings people back.

"Other people say they really like the portions. At other places, prices go up as portions go down," Villasenor says.

The Three Flames restaurant offers a meat-and-potatoes menu, with a selection of beef, chicken and seafood dishes as well as pastas and salads. Besides the pepper steak, other popular items are the prime rib, the seafood sauté and the scampi.

"In that sense it's traditional as well because in the '80s, restaurants had a lot of big menus with a lot of choices," Villasenor says. "Our cuisine's not the kind with ingredients piled up to the ceiling and little ziggy-zags on top."

Like the food, the music at Three Flames is tried, true and popular. Live acts perform in the cocktail lounge Thursday-Saturday nights (Thursday is country music night); the rest of the week, patrons can entertain themselves by singing karaoke.

Some regulars at Three Flames been dining there since the restaurant opened 26 years ago, and some servers and other staff members have been employed there almost as long. Villasenor says these old-timers have developed such a rapport the staff will call regular customers to check up on them when they haven't come in to eat for awhile.

Banquet coordinator Toni Ann Saiz is one such staff member; she's been working at Three Flames since 1984.

"We have a lot of return customers," Saiz says. "They've been coming in forever. They've had their weddings and anniversaries here. It's kind of like a family around here."

Three Flames, 1547 Meridian Ave., San Jose, 408.269.3133. Lunch is served Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Dinner hours are Sunday-Thursday, 4-10 p.m., and Friday-Saturday, 4-11 p.m.