Dishes at KP Grille in Rehoboth include chicken Caesar wrap and beef minestrone soup, above, and a bread pudding dessert, left.

The Providence Journal / Sandor Bodo

REHOBOTH — KP Grille started life as a diner and today it still cooks up big breakfasts and comforting dishes including meatloaf and stuffed peppers.

But after a name change and extensive renovations, this spot along busy Route 44 also reflects its new name and ambition, serving up a grilled menu including pizzas and veggie side dishes such as fresh broccoli or green beans plus offering a modestly priced wine and beer list. Indeed, everything is modestly priced.

Dave Messenger purchased the King Philip Diner housed in a little Quonset Hut back in 1988. He has been busy serving breakfast and lunch ever since. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, he struck out on his own after spending time working for Marriott. He started adding weekend breakfast and making his own cole slaw (which he now markets wholesale). Two years ago, his nephew Mike Messenger talked him into a remodel that basically doubled the space and they re-launched the KP Grille in September.

Messenger still serves that breakfast starting at 7 a.m. (specials are from $4.99-$7.99) and all the comfort food like meatball parm sandwiches, but now they stay open for dinner and have expanded the menu.

With golden walls and high-backed booths, the restaurant is all freshened up and looks new. Only a deli case, stocked with appetizing stuffed peppers and house-made desserts and a counter with six stools recall the humbler beginnings. And there’s the blackboard, calling attention to the day’s sides and specials. Home cooking is the order of the day.

Meatloaf ($7.99) on a blackboard special can mean something terrific and indeed it did here. Three slices of perfectly textured meat revealed that the KP Grille does indeed make a great diner meatloaf. There’s a hint of red pepper to make it distinctive, a rich brown gravy and just right accompanying mounds of red bliss garlic mashed potatoes.

But one doesn’t have to go old school at lunch. A chicken Caesar wrap ($6.99) is fresh and light and just one half of it makes a perfect lunch. The dressing was lightly added so as to virtually eliminate any drip from picking up the wrap to take a bite. The chicken was grilled nicely and there was plenty mixed among the greens. It too comes with a side and the choices are two different pasta salads and fresh hand cut fries.

Those fries tasted like the real potatoes they are and were fried with a light touch and no grease. They were crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. A tri-color spiral pasta salad was a bit heavy on the balsamic vinaigrette for my taste. But the bowtie pasta salad was perfection with an olive oil vinaigrette and roasted red peppers.

I tried the superior Reuben ($7.99) on marble rye. If you like your sandwiches chock full of meat and with a thin layer of sauerkraut, this would be the one for you. Messenger makes his own Russian dressing and buys artisan sauerkraut that is lighter than the usual version from a chef in Dighton.

Two soups were on the menu this day and both were homemade but the beef minestrone was far more interesting than the chicken and rice which was hearty but a bit bland. The minestrone had ground beef among orzo pasta, a rich broth, chunks of tomato and lots of flavorful mushrooms.

Grapenut pudding and rice pudding are among the mainstay desserts but don’t be surprised to find a cake on the counter, like the freshly baked maple walnut one on the day of my visit. Desserts are priced around $3.

At night, KP Grille is a place where you can still enjoy blackboard specials, a signature fish and chips ($8.99) that Messenger has made over the years. But there are also grilled pizzas (around $8) and steak (at $14.99, the most expensive item on the menu by far).

A flat screen television hangs on one wall suggesting there may be times that fans will gather for a beer choosing from a list that includes Magic Hat beers, Long Hammer IPA, Wild Blue, a blueberry lager, and Budweiser. Space in the back might also become a patio for al fresco dining next summer.

But for now, producing simple, fresh food, which is Messenger’s goal, is enough for the little diner that grew up to be a Grille.

KP Grille, 481 Winthrop St. (Route 44), Rehoboth, Mass, (508) 336-7773. Diner. Free parking lot. MC, V. Wheelchair accessible. Highchairs. Serving breakfast, lunch and dinner on Tuesday to Saturday 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.; breakfast on Sunday 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sandwiches $5.99-$8.99; entrees $6.99-$8.99; desserts $2.99. Wine by the glass ($3.95-$7.95) and bottle ($14.95-$28.95) and beer starting at $3.25.Bill of Fare

A meal at KP Grille for two might look like this:

2 fountain drinks…$3.98

2 cups soup…$4.58

Meatloaf…$7.99

Chicken Caesar Wrap…$6.99

Grapenut pudding…$2.99

Total food and drink…$26.53

5 percent Mass. tax…$1.33

Tip…$5.50

Total bill…$33.36

gciampa@projo.com