"Most of our regulars find a dish they like and eat it for years at a time," says Il Postale owner Joe Antuzzi. "When I suggest they try something else, they say, 'What if I don't like it?' "

For diners who know what they like and don't want to stray from it, restaurants such as Il Postale offer culinary comfort. Customers who want flavorful, familiar fare are never disappointed or surprised.

"We pride ourselves on consistency," Antuzzi says. "Every cook does it the same way."

Since much of Il Postale's staff has worked at the restaurant since it opened in 1996, it adds to customers' comfort levels.

"Part of our philosophy is to get to know our customers," Antuzzi says. "People like to get to know the owner and the employees so they feel comfortable."

Regulars at the Three Flames restaurant in Willow Glen also have a rapport with longtime restaurant employees. Staff member Debra Villasenor says the staff will call regular customers to check up on them when they haven't come in to eat for awhile.

When Jose Garcia bought Three Flames four years ago from founders Pete, Louie and Gus Tsigaris, the former banquet manager vowed not to alter the menu the three brothers had established more than 20 years before. Garcia has kept that promise.

"I've heard people say they come here because we still have white tablecloths," says Villasenor, adding that customers also frequent Three Flames for the plates of food that make their way onto these tablecloths.

"People have been coming here since we opened in 1980--even if they've moved out of the area--because they love our New York pepper steak," she says. "It's our signature dish that brings people back.

"Other people say they really like the portions. At other places, prices go up as portions go down."

The Three Flames restaurant offers a meat-and-potatoes menu, with a selection of beef, chicken and seafood dishes as well as pastas and salads.

"In that sense it's traditional as well because in the '80s, [restaurants had] a lot of big menus with a lot of choices," Villasenor says. "Our cuisine's not the kind with ingredients piled up to the ceiling and little ziggy-zags on top."

Some of the dishes at the California Café are served with sauce zigzagged over them, but Simon Hernandez is more concerned with the food underneath. Hernandez, executive chef at the café's Old Town location, frequents the Los Gatos farmers market for seasonal items to add to his menu.

While Hernandez uses these items to vary the café's standard menu, regular customers know they can count on the crab cakes and the mountainous Chinese chicken salad to satisfy. The chef says diners with spicier tastes favor the fettuccini jambalaya, with its andouille sausage, blackened chicken and Creole sauce.

"If we take it off the menu, we get lots of complaints," Hernandez adds.

General manager Keely Strong says California Café regulars like consistency.

"Our customers are comfortable when they can come back and have the crab cakes and know they'll be as good as the last time," Strong adds.

Regulars at Cupertino's Blue Pheasant Restaurant were stirred, if not shaken, from their comfort zones last year when owner Ole Rasmussen sold his establishment after 30-plus years. New owner Mike Tsachres found himself embroiled in a dispute with the city over the restaurant's closing time.

The issue was settled fairly quickly, and customers breathed a sigh of relief knowing that DJs would still be spinning dance music at the Blue Pheasant, if only until 11 p.m.

DJs play music from the '50s and '60s, which appeals to 35- to 55-year-olds who like to shake their booties.

"We want to maintain that kind of atmosphere," Tsachres says. "It's kind of a unique place."

While locals have flocked to the Blue Pheasant for years, Tsachres says diners come from all over the valley to sample the surf-and-turf menu and drink in the atmosphere. Some customer favorites are the Dungeness crab cakes and the beef Wellington.

The restaurant also attracts golfers from the adjacent Blackberry Farm Golf Course, who view the Blue Pheasant as their "10th hole."

"Most golfers hang out in the lounge area and order appetizers," Tsachres says.

All four restaurants lay claim to a large local customer base. Il Postale's Antuzzi says many diners are more comfortable eating out in their own neighborhoods, where everybody knows their name.

"It's more of a social thing, like going to a bar used to be," he adds. "People tend to stay closer to home these days."

Blue Pheasant Bar and Grill, 22100 Stevens Creek Blvd., Cupertino, 408.255.3300.

California Café, 50 University Ave., Los Gatos, 354.8118.

Il Postale, 127 W. Washington Ave., Sunnyvale, 408.733.5351.

Three Flames, 1547 Meridian Ave., San Jose, 408.269.3133.