No cooking the books here

Traveler Restaurant has fed body and soul every day for years, including hundreds of thousands of books given to patrons.

UNION, Conn. - Walk into this restaurant along Interstate 84 and all you see are books: stacked on shelves beside the tables, lining the tops of the walls, tucked into every corner. They are in no particular order; you might find Erica Jong resting between Danielle Steel and a primer on Spanish grammar.

The Traveler Restaurant, whose towering sign is familiar to every driver along I-84 just south of the Massachusetts border in Connecticut, gives away about 100,000 books each year. Until recently, diners were allowed to choose one free book to take home. Now, they can take away three as the fame of the restaurant's mission has spread, along with book donations.

It all started about 30 years ago, under the restaurant's previous owner, a bibliophile. When his library grew too large, he brought some extras in for customers to take. The practice became so popular it grew into a tradition.

The current owners used to scour flea markets and sales for their supply. But then the restaurant became so well known locally for its handouts that people with extra books began calling them. Now they get most of their books from library sales and estates. And they have so many that they decided to give more of them away.

"It's a constant job, trying to keep up with the books," said Mary Mitta, the restaurant's assistant manager and cook.

The restaurant serves three meals a day, every day, is family-friendly, and includes staples for children like macaroni and cheese. For adults, there are sandwiches and burgers, fish, steak, and pasta. Among its vegetarian dishes, the portobello burger is popular. Most of the patrons are travelers passing through, so the kitchen tries to keep the menu choices broad.

As we ate lunch recently, a middle-aged woman browsing the shelves paused in front of our table and leaned in toward the bookshelf above. "I feel bad looking across your head," she said. "But I guess that's what you get when you come here."

The books we saw ran through all genres and eras, including a 1957 version of "Teaching Nursery Children," a French translation of Truman Capote's "De Sang Froid," and F. Scott Fitzgerald's "Tender Is the Night." Mitta says the restaurant owners don't look for specific kinds of books; most volumes find someone who will adopt them.

It's hard to know what people will take. The restaurant's workers will see an old tome written in German and figure it will linger on the shelf forever. And then a diner will be thrilled to discover it.

"We know people that will come in and see a book, and they'll start screaming," Mitta said. "They've been looking for that book for 20 years."

There's little else in Union, population 693, the smallest town in the state. But if you have time, drive a little farther into the woods to the Bigelow Hollow State Park and Nipmuck State Forest, 9,000 acres of wilderness and hiking trails, and a few small ponds. The park includes a boat launch and although there are no official swimming areas, on a hot day, picnickers and hikers just might slip into one of the ponds.

This spring, there will be another reason to stop in Union: The restaurant is hoping to open an outdoor patio.

Kathleen Burge can be reached at kburge@globe.com