It's not just Jell-O and meatloaf any more

Long-maligned hospital cafeterias draw outsiders with low prices, almost-haute cuisine

Needham Fire Chief Paul F. Buckley and inspectors Robert Papetti (left) and Arthur Hopkins are among the visitors dining recently at their hometown hospital's Glover Cafe. (Bill Greene/Globe Staff)

While there's no such thing as a free lunch, how about a 6-ounce, pan-seared tuna steak atop a Caesar salad for $4.29?

And if that tab at the Leonard Morse Hospital cafeteria in Natick seems a little steep, try the Glover Café at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Needham, where you can get buttered toast for only pennies (40 to be exact) or the chef's clam chowder for $1.75.

As soaring costs have become the norm at the gas station and grocery checkout, there's at least one place where a few Washingtons still pack a punch: The hospital cafeteria, and, no joke, the food is made fresh, often from scratch.

So perhaps it shouldn't be surprising that good, cheap food has drawn "regulars."

"It's underground eating," said Brad Jackson, production manager at Leonard Morse, a campus of the MetroWest Medical Center. "You just don't think, 'Let's go to the hospital and have dinner.' "

The trick behind the appealing meals is to make smaller batches and to use as many fresh ingredients as the cafeteria budget allows, according to Jackson. With a meal of a protein, two sides, and a drink selling for less than $6, Jackson said, he notices people eating in his cafeteria who aren't a part of the hospital community.

Two years ago, he said, landscapers working on hospital grounds regularly ate in the cafeteria. They remain familiar faces at lunchtime, even though they have long since finished their work at the hospital.

"The guys come here all the time now," said Jackson.

Hospitals have long suffered the stereotype of serving "thick gravies with dried meatloaf and Jell-O," according to Jackson, so people who haven't needed to dine in a hospital setting might be surprised at the offerings.

"I think a lot of hospitals are trying to get more upscale . . . and customer-focused," said Kevin O'Connor, director of nutrition and food service at Newton-Wellesley Hospital. "You have to compete with restaurants and other places serving food in the area."

Amid a nationwide trend toward healthy greens and whole grains, O'Connor added, "people are more knowledgeable about what they're eating. They know the ingredients." And to keep pace, he said, hospital food "is more current with the times."

While hospitals don't track whether a customer is visiting a patient, on staff, or just dropping in for a meal, volunteers and administrators at three area hospitals estimate their lunchroom has anywhere from a dozen to 50 regular patrons from the outside.

"It's nominal. It's very, very affordable," said MaryLou Manzon, a Needham resident and retired hospital administrator who eats weekly at the Glover Café. "In this day and age as a retiree, you're looking for that."

Jeff Cohen, first cook at Newton-Wellesley's coffee shop, said customers are surprised by the quality of the food. "They don't expect homemade custard or homemade bread pudding," he said.

According to O'Connor, 90 percent of Newton-Wellesley's food is made from scratch by its executive chef and cooks, who work with dieticians on recipes. Crowd-pleasers include chicken piccata and chicken Marsala. Last month, the coffee shop featured London broil au jus, with scalloped potatoes and vegetables, for $4.95.

"What we try to do we try to do well - for a fair market price," said O'Connor, who added that his hospital eateries have kept pricing steady, even with rising costs.

Jackson, of Leonard Morse, said hospitals traditionally keep food prices low. After all, there's no overhead - cafeteria management doesn't pay rent or utilities - and higher prices translate into a surge in staffers bringing bag lunches, reducing cash flow.

Even as Wall Street takes a tumble, hospitals report cafeteria sales are steady, and surprisingly large. According to the Restaurant Industry Forecast, which is overseen by the National Restaurant Association, hospital cafeterias nationwide generated an estimated $13.45 billion in sales in 2007 and are projected to make $13.84 billion this year. (As a point of reference, bars and taverns nationwide were expected to generate $15.96 billion last year.

On a recent afternoon in Needham, Fire Chief Paul F. Buckley and two fire inspectors, Arthur Hopkins and Robert Papetti, took their lunch break at the Glover Café, where they dine twice weekly.

The café was the site of the maternity ward when the facility was Glover Memorial Hospital, before it was acquired by Beth Israel in 2002. For Papetti, that gives his hamburger and cup of beef barley particular significance.

"The way I see it . . . I was born in this room," said Papetti, born in 1945. "It brings me back."

Dick Oakes, a 76-year-old Needham native and retired accountant, volunteers at the Glover Café five days a week. It's a gig he began three years ago after becoming a regular breakfast customer. He estimates there are about 50 neighborhood residents who frequent the establishment.

"I'm going to give you one word why," said Oakes. "Prices."

As for the ambiance, Buckley said, the hospital's cafeteria doesn't feel all that different from a commercial eatery: "It's like being in a coffee shop, except you see a lot of people in scrubs."