Nobody knows why L.C. Hodges decided to call his restaurant Humpty Dumpty Kitchen.

“I don't think anybody ever asked him,” said L.C.'s grandson, Robert Hodges, who now runs the family restaurant on Nevada City Highway in Grass Valley's Glenbrook Basin with brother Randy Hodges.

“It's a perfect name for a breakfast specialty house,” Robert said. “He was ahead of his time.”

What isn't a mystery is why the business — which started as a hamburger and ice cream stand in downtown Grass Valley 48 years ago — still thrives in a tough economy.

“It's good food, good prices and friendly staff, that's why people keep coming back,” Randy said. “Location is definitely part of it, too.”

The brothers' father and mother, Burney and Geanine Hodges, bought the downtown shop from L.C. in 1970, and moved it to the current location in 1976, when the boys took over.

Now-deceased brother Allyn Hodges ran it with Randy until Robert graduated from high school and joined them.

Randy has noticed an early morning drop in business because construction crews are out of work and not coming in as frequently. Other than that, regulars and others pack the place for breakfast and lunch seven days a week.

They also enjoy a drive-through service, something normally available only in fast-food places.

The big draw is the weekday specials, with a breakfast that features eggs, pancakes, hash browns and a side meat for $5 before 8 a.m.

It jumps to $5.85 after that, which is the same price as the lunch special, a deluxe cheeseburger with fries and a drink. Robert said they sell about 300 specials per day and sometimes more.

The cheeseburger special is what attracts customer Monique Bluvas and her family.

“It's just the right price,” Bluvas said. “A lot of places around here cater to the tourists with $10 burgers and we can't touch that.

“They also always have good service and they're really nice people.”

It's the regular customers that make the restaurant what it is, Randy said.

“We have people come in twice a day, every day of the week and they complain that we're not open for dinner,” he said.

“We're on a first-name basis,” Robert said. “We know their families and they know ours; they're friends as well as customers. It gets back to my dad — he always had great interaction with the customers.

“You see them pull into the parking lot and we have their drinks ready for them when they come in. It's almost like the Cheers atmosphere,” where everybody knows your name.

“A guy named Bill comes in every day and tips with a $2 dollar bill,” Robert said. “That's why we call him Two-Dollar Bill.”

The brothers make sure their food is consistently 15 to 20 percent below the competition's, Robert said.

“The people come in and say ‘Nobody has what you have for the prices. One guy who travels a lot says we have the best breakfast in the world.”

Another regular customer is Don Smith, who now lives in Idaho but grew up here and worked at Humpty Dumpty, along with his brother, Robert Smith Jr., and sister, Karen Platner.

“My sister still lives here, so I come in every time I come back,” Smith said. “It's great food and it's great to see Randy and Robby.”

For Smith and other patrons, the future will bring consistency, Robert said.

“It will be more of the same. We'll bring good value and good food.”

To contact Senior Staff Writer Dave Moller, e-mail dmoller@theunion.com or call 477-4237.

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