To the Editor:

The closing of the Main Street restaurant in the Princeton Shopping Center was a tremendous blow to so many Princeton residents who enjoy a good tasty meal of simple but well-prepared American food. Main Street’s cuisine was perfectly positioned between fast food and junk food on the one hand, and ultra-elaborate, ultra-expensive food on the other.

Because the shopping center is located in a pleasant residential part of town, Main Street was the ultimate example of a neighborhood restaurant where neighbors and wait-staff knew one another and could appreciate one another. Its food was fairly simple American food (chicken platters, salads, meatloafs, omelets), accented interestingly but never with tons of salt or spices. It was, in short, a very comfortable place for the whole family to dine. And of course, parking in the center’s spacious parking lots was never a problem and was always free.

So, come on, Princeton Shopping Center: with all the empty spaces at the center, including the space previously occupied by Main Street, please bring in a restaurant that can fill the gap that Main Street left. Don’t make it exotic or snooty or filled with platters that seem an incomprehensible mixture of obscure ingredients: just make it a comfortable neighborhood restaurant that all the patrons of the other shopping center stores can once again enjoy dining at. Give us a good neighborhood restaurant!

MARVIN CHEITEN

Meadowbrook Drive