The back patio at Harry's Roadhouse, with ample shade trees, terraced table settings and a gently running waterworks, is about as peaceful and satisfying as restaurant eating gets. True, the patio is only open seasonally, but except for the coldest, frostiest months it's the ideal place to relax and ponder the big questions: What is the nature of existence? How does a roadhouse on the edge of the city manage to be a neighborhood joint for the whole town? Which will most influence my ***image1***soul on a molecular level-the cheesecake or the chocolate éclair? These are deep questions indeed, and the answers are mostly unknowable, but have, without doubt, something to do with quirk, personality and the most kick-ass blue corn turkey enchiladas on earth. What is not satisfying and contemplative about Harry's is, of course, the long line of others jostling for a table at every hour of the day and night. There's a line for breakfast. A line for lunch. A line and a half for dinner. But with predictably brilliant specials that never lose a touch of hominess, and a daylong menu of New Mexican and classic American meals that just won't quit, we wait and we're glad we have the chance to. But we still wish they'd bring back yesteryear's eggplant burrito with Mexican barbecue sauce.

96-B Old Las Vegas Hwy., 989-4629. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$