IN THIS WIDE WORLD, objects are inside other objects. A right triangle is inside a square. Toys are inside your toybox. Information is occasionally inside this newspaper. And sometimes, objects are hidden inside each other.

Around our striving, growing little town, weird old cafes hide inside other establishments--minuscule, tentative, dusty jewels. They need some attention in the midst of a culture whose current ethos favors the large, slick, and chain-owned over the small and funky.

The Goodwill on Dearborn has, for example, past its richly odored racks of shirts and old suits, a little cafe. Oddly, the cafe itself is ensconced inside a Goodwill "museum" that displays Americana from the late 1800s onward, including models of stoves, toys, 78 records, clothes, boxes of Jell-O from the WWII era, and the like. The cacophonous, divey cafeteria offers good burgers ($2.69), sandwiches, hot dogs ($1.99), and "chicken tenders" (which I was afraid to try). The day I visited, the griping cook wore an apron reading "Seattle Children's Home Society," and a paper sign beside the menu stated with incommensurate formal aplomb: "As a 'short order' cafe, each order is treated individually. Please be patient." The glass sandwich case and tables of mismatched chairs here are as lost in time as the museum relics, a desiccated rib from the grimy, DIY culture of Seattle that's all but disappeared. See the Goodwill Museum Cafe before it succumbs to the present and turns into a Starbucks.

The AMF Imperial Bowling Lanes Restaurant and Bar on Rainier South is another eatery so far out of sync with Seattle's new moneyed aspect that it's a delight. Imperial's large menu is in part dictated by its AMF corporate owner, but part of the menu is left up to local management. On weekend nights, huge gaggles of teens hang at this spot; weekdays, truckers, police, and other working people stop in and scarf down good coffee and breakfasts with grits or rice. Other Imperial faves include thick burgers and Asian cuisine such as cha shu noodle soup, teriyaki, and yakisoba. Try the Imperial's trademark "Mix-Ups," or fried rice with shrimp, barbecue pork, Portuguese sausage, or other complements ($3.99). In this dim restaurant, four TVs blare out different programs simultaneously: all this, alongside the bowling alley's rowdy pull-tab counter and the echo-laden crash of pins.

The Western Grocery just south of Pike Place Market appears no different than any other brightly lit convenience store. But inside, someone knows how to make extremely adequate Ethiopian akilte alitcha (cabbage and carrot stew). This, served with berbere flavored red and green lentils, is dished up all day with injera to the tune of $3.99. You can sit down and eat healthy fare while staring at the store's rack of potato chips. Western also sells sandwiches, "mecoroni salad," orange-spice flavored Ethiopian tea, and coffee beans in bulk, including the pungent Sidamo variety ($4/lb.).

La Guadalupana in Lake City, a modest family-owned Latin grocery store, sports a counter with some of the coolest Mexican food in the north end. No pound of melted yellow cheese suffocates the dishes in the usual obnoxious style. Here you'll get sprinkles of Mexican white cheese in pretty proportions tossed over your homemade tostada ($1.75) or taco ($1.49), along with huge, cold, and fresh piles of shredded lettuce. A big bowl of lime and red radish slices comes with each order. Other features are tacos dorados (or fried tacos, $3.99) and tortas ($3.99); Guadalupana's fillings include traditional faves like beef, pork, tongue, chicken, expertly seasoned whole red beans, or vegetarian. There are Mexican pastries in the case for dessert, and if you go soon, you can cadge a free wall calendar full of saints. The night I went in to eat at the counter, the owner's little daughters were helping, eating together, watching TV, dancing, and generally having fun. We did too, because it's mighty fine to be inside a place that's inside a place.

Seattle Goodwill

Rainier and S Dearborn, 329-1000.

10 am-8 pm daily. $

AMF Imperial Lanes Restaurant and Bar

2101 22nd Ave S, 325-2525. Mon-Fri 7 am-11 pm; Sat 7 am-midnight; Sun 7 am-11 pm. $

Western Grocery

1418 Western Ave, 233-9068.

Mon-Fri 8 am-9 pm; closed weekends. $

La Guadalupana

8064 Lake City Way NE, 517-5660.

10 am-8 pm daily. $

Price Scale (per entrée)

$ = $10 and under; $$ = $10-$20; $$$ = $20 and up