Remember the diner scene in Pulp Fiction, where Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta talk miracles and pork products in the middle of an armed robbery? Vera’s feels like that diner, minus the gunplay. Like a Tarantino film, Ballard’s best greasy spoon has a timeless quality, an ambience amplified by dim lighting, yellowed wallpaper, and waitresses who call you “Hon” when they refill your mug with black coffee strong as rocket fuel. The food is classic, affordable, no-frills American breakfast fare, served in huge portions usually accompanied by an entire Idaho farm’s worth of shredded hash browns. There’s typically no waiting for a booth, and best of all for bleary-eyed binge drinkers on the mend, Vera’s serves Bloody Marys and mimosas made with fresh-squeezed, unpasteurized OJ. KEEGAN HAMILTON 5417 22nd Ave., 782-9966