5 places to get all-American favorite: meatloaf.

5 places to find great plates of the down-home dish

Note: The Express-News is suspending traditional restaurant reviews until restaurant dining rooms fully reopen.

During my brief tenure as a stay-at-home dad between jobs, meatloaf was one of five things I cycled through the weeknight dinner lineup. I could whip up lasagna, breakfast-for-dinner, tacos and burgers no problem — but I was the most proud of my meatloaf.

Full of onions, bell peppers, chopped tomatoes and breadcrumbs, that meatloaf ’s secret weapon was a sauce I made with mustard, ketchup and brown sugar, all nice and glazed out of the oven.

I was Father of the Year.

Until the family staged an intervention. “Dad, we love that you’re trying,” my oldest daughter said, ever the diplomat. “But your meatloaf sucks.”

So now when I need meatloaf to comfort me during these discomforting times, I let these five San Antonio restaurants do the cooking. No intervention needed.

Candlelight Coffeehouse

At once a lounge with deep velvet sofas, a bar with coffee or booze to suit your mood, and a full-service restaurant, Candlelight Coffeehouse is an alternative to the party life of the St. Mary’s Strip. With a streamlined staff, it took a while to get lunch. No worries. I passed the time with a hot horchata latte.

The meatloaf was worth the wait, a loose and juicy rendition with Angus beef and a tangy red sauce, served with a Caesar salad, sauteed spinach sporting crispy edges and rich, creamy mashed potatoes teeming with green onions for $12.95.

3011 N. St. Mary’s St., 210-7380099, candlelightsatx.com

Max & Louie’s

New York Diner

Even with its capacity cut back, Max & Louie’s is full of the sound and fury you expect from a busy diner. Clanking, laughing, commands in the kitchen.

If a toasted bagel with lox or a chocolate egg cream isn’t comforting enough, the meatloaf, with thick and salty brown gravy, mushrooms and onions, will put you in a happy place. It’s $16.95, and it’s not one big loaf, but a couple of slices seared on the outside, served with mashed potatoes and some nice green broccoli for color and because

it’s good for you.

226 W. Bitters Road, Suite 126, 210-483-7600,

Mr. A Ok’s Kitchen

The husband-and-wife team of Steven and Cindy Harris named their soul food restaurant Mr. A Ok’s Kitchen as a tribute to Cindy’s late father, Alvis Kirk.

In the two years they’ve been open, the Harrises have cultivated a following for meatloaf served like a strip steak that stretches from one end of the platter to the other, densely packed with herbs, onions and torn bread, made from a recipe Steven Harris got from his mother.

He wouldn’t tell me a thing about the gravy, but it’s thick and brown and spiked with black pepper to both moisten and flavor the meat beneath. Sides are a big deal here, especially the earthy black-eyed peas, tangy collard greens and sweet potatoes spiced up like a pumpkin pie. You get two with the $12 meatloaf plate, and I added a third for $3.50. Because I’m worth it.

4403 Rittiman Road, 210-6424181, Facebook: @Mraokskitchen

Schilo’s

One of the city’s most enduring restaurants, Schilo’s is an old-school German beer hall and cafe, all warm and woodsy and astonishingly inexpensive for being on the River Walk.

You’ve made this kind of meatloaf at home, in a big loafy slice that’s juicy without being greasy, topped with a tomato sauce not that far from ketchup — in a good way. For $8.75, the plate comes with classic Old World sides like warm German potato salad and sauteed red cabbage.

Not in the mood for beer? Go for a frosty mug of housemade root beer.

424 E. Commerce St., 210-2236692, schilos.com

Tutti’s A Place for Foodies

Tutti’s opened late last month. The worst of times, you might say. But it’s the best of times for meatloaf on the patio of this charming cottage with an ambitious breakfast, lunch, dinner and coffee shop menu that leans heavily toward the South.

Starting at 4 p.m., the lineup includes meatloaf, a block the size of a cobblestone with tall edges showing off a payload of beef and veggies in perfect balance, topped with a rich red sauce flavored with beer. For $20, the plate comes with whipped potatoes and a stylish side of broccolini.

318 E. Cevallos St., 210-530-1313, Facebook: @tuttisforfoodies

Photos by Mike Sutter / Staff Meatloaf comes with mashed potatoes and broccolini at Tutti's A Place for Foodies, one of five great places to get meatloaf that satisfies during the pandemic.

The meatloaf at Mr. A Ok's Kitchen is from a family recipe. It comes with two sides, but order a third — they're that good. Black-eyed peas, sweet potatoes and greens are among the options.

The juicy meatloaf at Candlelight Coffeehouse is served with Caesar salad, sauteed spinach and rich, creamy mashed potatoes.

Brown gravy, mushrooms and onions top the comforting meatloaf at Max & Louie's New York Diner. It comes with mashed potatoes and broccoli.

German sides — in this case, German potato salad and red cabbage — complement the homey meatloaf at Schilo's.