Andy’s Diner is easy to miss, especially for frazzled shoppers speeding away from parking entanglements at the nearby Porter Square shopping center and toward the safe harbor of Arlington. But location must not be everything, because this low-key eatery, situated in a row of nondescript storefronts on Mass Ave, has been at this spot since 1958.

No nouveau-diner pretensions here: Andy’s décor probably hasn’t changed since its inception nearly six decades ago. Take your great-aunt’s basement, throw in some hanging plants, replace the teary clowns with Boston sports prints, and you have a good idea of the ambiance.

But the food is the thing, and one suspects that the students working to perfect accras de morue at the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts next door might occasionally sneak away from their bundt pans to sample Andy’s plain, chocolate-chip, strawberry, and blueberry pancakes and waffles ($3.95–$4.75) — or even the Lumber Jack Special ($5.95), which provides a Bunyan-size feast of three eggs served your way, with lightly browned home fries, your choice of ham, bacon, or sausage, toast, and juice or coffee. The six-ounce charbroiled burgers ($4.95–$6.75) are big and juicy, and the chunky sauce in the chicken-parmigiana sandwich ($6.25) holds its own, although more chicken and less breading would cut the competition down to size. The smoked turkey in the turkey club ($6.25) is surprisingly fresh and flavorful, and an accompanying Greek salad with heaps of feta ($4.95) would be big enough for even Babe to graze on.

Indulge your Gen-X nostalgia and order Jell-O ($1.25) from the dessert case. When the waitress brought over our bowl of quivering red cubes of joy topped with a mini–Machu Picchu tower of whipped cream, we couldn’t help but sing, "Watch it jig-gle ... ." Who knew dessert could be so much fun?

Andy’s Diner, located at 2030 Mass Ave, in Cambridge, is open Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m., on Saturday until 2:30 p.m., and on Sunday and holidays from 6:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. Call (617) 497-1444.