It was cold outside. Even the office was chilly. We needed a vacation. The bosses, however, weren’t going to let us go far, so we had to settle for the next best thing: an hour away from the office pretending we were in some far-flung tropical locale. Kuba Kuba restaurante y bodega in the Fan District played along with our fantasies.

I walked into Coppola’s Deli in Carytown with the best of intentions: I would order a Mediterranean vegetarian sub, or maybe the eggplant parmigiana sandwich, or maybe . . . Well, so much for good intentions.

The thought of getting food—real food, not the kind in crinkly plastic—at the same place you pump your gas still makes many food snobs wrinkle their noses in disgust. Too bad, because they have no idea what they’re missing. Wawa, the convenience chain based in Pennsylvania, not only provides the usual low-cost selections for people in a hurry—need a doughnut? Yogurt? A bag of cheese curls? A banana?—but its deli area is the definition of handiness.

1:39 p.m. Arrived at Su Casa restaurant, 4013 W. Broad St. 1:40 p.m. Seated by hostess. Chips and salsa brought to table. 1:41 p.m. Placed order for the $4.75 quezadilla lunch special and a glass of unsweetened iced tea. 1:46 p.m. Food arrived at table. This was probably my fourth or fifth trip to Su Casa but the first time there for lunch. The one thing that struck me on previous visits for dinner was the quick service even when the place was full.

In a short time—just a couple of decades—Thai food has grown in this country from an exotic novelty to a comforting and familiar part of the national smorgasbord. Many small towns boast their own Thai restaurant—or two.

Among chicken-wing lovers, there is a subset—those seeking the hottest of all hot wings. I belong to this informal group. I have had a sweaty brows and a runny nose at wing joints throughout this great land. But no wings, not even the scalding habanero wings some places in Florida serve, have kept us out of the Clean Plate Club.