Much of Main Street in Security has changed for the worse since the 1980s, when I was a kid riding a BMX around the neighborhood. The hardware store, the stationery store, the bicycle store and the grocery store are all gone now, gobbled up by the Super Wal-Mart across the highway in Fountain. They’ve been replaced by check-cashing joints and shabby discount stores.

But one place remains lively and vibrant: Dad’s Kwik Inn (although the name seems to change depending on who you’re talking to).

The vintage 1956 diner with swivel stools at the counter and a drive-through in the back opened as the Kwik Shake, selling hamburger steaks, fried chicken, fried shrimp and other slices of Americana. It has always been one of those comfortable, inexpensive family restaurants where the waitress calls you “hon” or “sweety” or “sweetheart” (I got all three at a recent lunch) and the most exotic thing on the menu is a chocolate malt.

Very little has changed since my last visit about 20 years ago. You can slide into one of the red, pleather booths, order a burger and a Coke, and — as long as you ignore the lack of cigarette smoke — it can feel like time paused 50 years ago.

Recently, though, the Kwik Inn got a welcoming update. Larry “Dad” Neuhalfen, who for years ran Dad’s Smokewagon barbecue in Fountain, and his son of the same name, bought the restaurant and reworked the menu, fusing diner classics like patty melts and hash and eggs with good old barbecue.

“The new owners are wonderful,” said a woman in the next booth when she turned around to chat. “And I should know, I moved here in 1957 and have been eating here, good or bad, ever since.”

Take a seat and you’ll soon understand why the place has such an allegiance. It’s easy. It’s well-priced. You can get any breakfast, such as a mountainous pile of homemade corned beef hash with grilled onions and eggs under country gravy ($7), any time of the day.

While none of the food is worth crossing town for, any neighborhood would be lucky to have the Kwik Inn as a local grub hub.

The barbecue isn’t bad, either.

Clouds drift from the big smoker out back, where the family cakes pork butts and briskets with a mild, dry rub and slow-smokes them over ash wood.

A pulled-pork sandwich on Texas toast ($8) was moist, not mealy or overcooked, and brightened by a zesty, sweet homemade barbecue sauce. You had to hunt for hints of smoke. I like to have bits of fire-ambered, ash-flavored meat in my pulled pork, but this was a little tame. Those who like it a little lighter will be right at home.

The Smokewagon sandwich ($9) combines dry-rubbed, slow-cooked brisket with slices of smoked hot links. Again, the kiss of smoke is fleeting, but the meat is moist and fairly good. The hot barbecue sauce I had ladled over the top did not pack so much heat as to incinerate the flavor of the beef, but sauce is laid on lightly here. If you like it sloppy, ask for extra.

Smoke lovers should gravitate to the pork ribs (three for $8). The juicy, meaty ribs are so crusted in smoky flavor that they almost crackle when you bite them.

Neuhalfen uses ash wood, which is not quite as aromatic as apple or pecan, and tends to be a tad acrid. You can taste it on the ribs. In other cuts, it goes unnoticed.

Sides here, as at most barbecue joints, play second fiddle — not just Robin to the meat’s Batman, but Igor to its Dr. Frankenstein. The mashed potatoes are gluey and the baked beans are mushy, thick and heavy — more like refried beans.

In other places, Dad’s goes beyond the expected. Beef for the giant burgers ($5-$10) is hand-formed in irregular patties and tortured on the hot grill until they have a satisfying ebony char. This is a real burger — juicy and flavorful.

The food here will not knock your socks off. It is solidly good but in no way the type of meal you will think of much past when the check is paid. But in a neighborhood where very few mom and pop places survive, it has the value and quality to connect with the neighborhood.

That’s something that never goes out of style.

DAD’S KWIK INN & BBQ3 STARS out of 5(A neighborhood standby)Address: 385 Main St., SecurityPhone: 392-5945Hours: 6 a.m.-8 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays, 6 a.m.-9 p.m. Fridays; 6 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturdays and 6 a.m.-2 p.m. Sundays.Entrees: $5-$20Vegetarian: Salads and sidesAlcohol: NoCredit cards: Yes

Dave West on the summit of Wetterhorn Photo by