Bundles of pre-cooked bacon, ham and hash browns line the perimeter of the sizzling, stainless steel grill. On the counter is a mountain of eggs cradled in protective layers of cardboard. The cook deftly picks several eggs up, cracks them open onto the hot grill, and throws the shells away with one swift arc of her wrist.

The grill faces the counter, open to the restaurant, and the cook carries on commentary with customers at the counter watching the presidential inauguration on the television in the corner.

"What do we need another inauguration for? He's already in office," she says.

Two men with graying hair and mustaches, sitting separately at the counter, grunt in agreement. Their round bellies tell of their affinity for the burgers and BLTs turning out before them. The scene at the Honey Bee Diner in Glen Burnie is typical of the ubiquitous American icon known as the roadside diner. Home-style food at reasonable prices - usually any hour of the day - coupled with a come-as-you-are dress code and a good chance for lively discussion on anything from political affairs to the state of the weather, help define this uniquely American entity.

City attorneys have gone to court in an attempt to collect more than $28,000 in back taxes that are owed on a former diner that made headlines last week when it was moved back to Willimantic.

The lawyers filed documents Wednesday in Waterbury Superior Court seeking to secure the city's claim, which includes the delinquent taxes, interest and fees.

Add shamrocks to the flag, change the language to Uzbeki, paint the White House red. But as long as there is still a diner in operation somewhere, the soul of America lives on.

Can there possibly be a red-blooded citizen whose heart doesn't swell at the familiar sight, sanctified by tradition, of Naugahyde booths attended by mom-like servers holding coffee pots? Of Formica counters just inches from where eggs sizzle? Of menus the size of genealogy records, and the sound of meat loaf-laden plates clattering onto Formica tables?

Queens and Long Island are great diner territories, and the appearance of the Pop Diner in Elmhurst only goes to prove it. It emerged full-blown last fall, a striking, orange and black tribute to the '50s diner of collective dreams, but with a menu expanded to reflect post-millennial cooking.

Those who are still awake at 3 a.m. and looking for an omelet will have a new place to gather when Goldroc II, a 24-hour diner, opens at 461 Queen St. later this month.

The 6,000-square-foot restaurant will serve breakfast at any time and will be an exact copy of the other Goldroc at 61 Kane St. in West Hartford. But unlike some other diners, it will serve alcohol when it opens in late March or early April.

"Our best dishes are the beef stew and the lasagna," said diner owner Guri "Goldy" Redzepi.

So, in 2002, she decided to run a factory that makes products with little chance of being outsourced: Saltwater taffy.

"You don't come to the Shore to get taffy that is made in China," said Saraceni, vice president of manufacturing for James' & Fralinger's Salt Water Taffy on the Boardwalk at Atlantic City. "You come to get the original taffy that has been made at the Shore since 1880."