Best Place to Eat After Midnight

If the little joint isn't too busy, grab a stool at the white Formica counter. Posted over an unbelievably narrow kitchen area, Town Topic's menu boards offer breakfast on one side, lunch and dinner stuff on the other. Fresh coffee brews and burgers sizzle on the grill. After midnight the place is straight out of Edward Hopper's "Nighthawks," with characters hunched over their cups of java, cigarettes between their teeth. Recently, a balding man in a T-shirt that read "With Prozac anything is possible" showed off his pink nail polish and costume jewelry to the guy sitting next to him, an uptight sort in a Brooks Brothers suit who was wolfing down a patty melt and fries as if he hadn't eaten for days. Everyone is accepted at this counter, regardless of race, creed, or social standing. But there is one rule: You have to pay with cash.