The first time Munch ever stepped foot into a Max & Erma's was many years ago during Munch's first month at the Post-Gazette.

It was election night, and Munch was assigned to cover some race that was very important to the candidates, but which Munch has long since forgotten.

So here was Munch, all ready for a big night at the Post-Gazette. Munch gathered with the others in the newsroom for a meeting at 5:30 to discuss the night's assignments and how the copy was going to flow. Munch was soaking in the whole journalism thing when the meeting broke and everyone left the newsroom bound, not for the polls to interview eager voters, but for Max & Erma's for dinner.

"What a great job?" Munch thought. "A 15-minute meeting followed by dinner -- can drinks be far behind?" Since that night, Max & Erma's has taken a spot in Munch's heart as comfort food. It's an easy place to go, good for Mother of Munch (MOM), good for Friends of Munch, and even a good place to take munchkins.

And so it was, with this association, on a cold evening partially spent wandering the sidewalks of Shadyside, Munch and Dear One of Munch (DOOM) walked up to the second story Max & Erma's and were seated at a table overlooking Walnut Street, or at least an alley connecting to Walnut Street.

This was the night that Munch decided the place had gone way too kid friendly. It wasn't the night of the week that the clown arrives. Munch expects some kid frolicking then. No, it was just a weeknight, but near Munch and DOOM the host had seated two tables with children. One table had children Munch never minds being near. They sat like humans, were easy with their parents and, quite frankly, never gave us a moment's distraction.

Then there was the other table, or really two tables. One had two women, out for a night drinking what looked like margaritas. Their children, three girls ranging in age from about 5 to 9-ish, were at a table nearby. The girls did not know, for instance, that children should not roll on the floor of a restaurant. They wandered around in a scene that was reminiscent of the first part of "The Miracle Worker," without the charm Patty Duke brought to the role.

While Munch has had Max & Erma's mushroom and swiss burger and loved every bite of it, during Munch's most recent visit the Santa Fe Salad ($8.99) was the entree for which Munch had a longing. The salad has Romaine lettuce and tomatoes with shredded Monterey Jack and cheddar cheeses, tortilla strips and grilled chicken. To Munch the salad and the breadstick that accompanies it are really just platforms on which to load Max & Erma's ranch dressing. It's a favorite for Munch. There are days when Munch asks for a extra little cup of ranch dressing and another breadstick because dipping the bread in the dressing is so yummy.

DOOM went for the soup and salad combo ($7.59). The soup was a tortilla soup that, despite its south-of-the-border heritage, was perfect for a cold winter day. DOOM said the combination of hot (temperature) and hot (spicy) in the thick chicken and cheese soup took away the winter chill. It's served with tortilla strips on top.

DOOM's salad was made with baby greens and roasted tomatoes that seemed to have been soaked in balsamic vinegar that was lightly sweet.

We were both feeling so virtuous about having salad for dinner (despite the fact that nothing we had eaten, considering the ranch dressing and cheese, had been particularly slimming) we also ordered the chocolate chunk cookies ($5.49) to eat with coffee ($1.99) for dessert.

The cookies have to be ordered when the meal order is placed because they are baked to order. After we finished our main course, six good-sized chocolate chip cookies on about a 12-by-6-inch cookie sheet were placed in front of us with a spatula to get them off the tray. DOOM and MUNCH each had a cookie and a half and took the rest home to enjoy later.

Once we paid the bill, it was back to Walnut Street to keep the consumer economy going.

Max & Erma's, 5533 Walnut St., Shadyside. 412-471-1140