Having breakfast at a diner is a multi-layered experience. You might go for the atmosphere – the smell of frying bacon, griddling pancakes and thick coffee odors spun through with wisps of cigarette smoke.

Perhaps you have a weekly get-together with friends who go back so far that you hardly remember a time when you didn’t know them. Every diner has a specific “crowd.” If you’ve lived in Bowling Green long enough, you probably know the diner as much by the name of the place as by its clientele.

A certain group goes to Donita’s, another to Nell’s and yet another to the Lunch Box.

Country Mill Buffet attracts a decent after-church brunch crowd. Next to church attendance, the choice of a diner for the weekly breakfast out is serious business. In fact, it may be more important than which church, if any, you attend.

Me, I go for the food. Diner food is a unique experience, and each diner has a characteristic plate.

Judy’s Castle makes pies. From Waffle House, it’s the hash browns, scattered, smothered and covered. I love greasy home fries and hash browns, and few things are as delightful as over-easy eggs broken on top of a plate of griddle-fried hash browns, with some toast to mop up the extra yolk.

Just looking at the dish makes your arteries gird themselves for an assault. I’d been to the old Murray’s Restaurant a few times and enjoyed the food, so I was looking forward to eating at the Barnyard Cafe, which is a new incarnation of Murray’s in the same building.

It was a great disappointment. Even though the place wasn’t that busy, many of the empty tables were bussed but not clean. As with the old Murray’s, the “nonsmoking section” is nonsmoking in name only, with smoke from one side filling the entire diner.

Old school, to be sure, but annoying.

Luckily it wasn’t that crowded. I ordered the breakfast special – two eggs over easy, hash browns, ham, biscuit and gravy. The eggs came out overcooked, with solid yolks. The biscuit was hard and dry, and instead of the more traditional ham or sausage base, the thick gravy seems to have nothing more complex than black pepper as a flavor. The hash browns were decent but unremarkable, and did nothing to redeem the rest of the plate. The slice of ham was similarly fair.

The country omelet came with home fries that were highly recommended by the waitress. But the inside of the omelet was filed with a slice of American cheese instead of a more flavorful cheddar, or even jack cheese, and a few scraps of ham.

The home fries turned out to be sliced, boiled and deep fried potatoes with little seasoning. A healthy addition of salt, pepper and hot pepper sauce gave them some flavor, but it was like eating soggy, thick-cut potato chips.

The one bright spot in the meal was the pancakes. Light, fluffy and slathered in butter and syrup, they tasted great and were filling. The sweet butter and syrup served as a perfect finish to the thick cakes. I wish I had ordered that instead.

The Barnyard Cafe has a full range of country breakfast offerings, from chops and steaks, eggs prepared in a variety of ways and pancakes. There are no waffles, which require extra equipment outside of the griddles on which most things at Barnyard are cooked.

Nothing on the menu is more than $10, with most of the entrees in the $4 to $7 range. The diner is open through lunch, until 2 p.m., and has a “breakfast anytime” menu. Some of the breakfast prices go up a bit if you order breakfast during lunch.

The lunch menu consists of burgers, sandwiches and country fried steaks – traditional diner fare.

For years, Murray’s Restaurant served crowds of people who came for good food and the family’s legendary personal touch. If Barnyard Cafe is to survive, it will have to trade on more than its location in the home of a once-great diner. The food will need better flavor, better preparation and they’ll need some dishes that stand out. Until or unless this happens, I’ll get my breakfast at one of the many excellent diners scattered around Bowling Green.

— Our anonymous food reviewer gives new restaurants a six-week grace period before reviewing. To comment, contact Managing Editor Mike Alexieff at 783-3235 or via e-mail at malexieff@bgdailynews.com.

BARNYARD CAFE

1313 U.S. 31-W BY-PASS

• 842-1444

Hours: 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., daily

Cuisine: Diner food

Price range: Less than $10. Most meals range between $4 and $7.

Specialties: Breakfast, sandwiches

Libation situation: None

Smoking: Yes