Newbie restaurateur Eddie Lenhart is the toast of North Park. He recently graced a corner lot on 30th and Myrtle streets with Eddie’s Philadelphia Steaks/Hoagies Burgers, set within a former blight on the landscape that he refurbished with meticulous Craftsman-style charm. Surrounding inhabitants have since been chanting in celebration: “Ding dong, the old house is dead.”

The radical makeover gives way to cool-green siding and gleaming white trim, along with new windows and a patio decked with canvas umbrellas. The interior is equally as cute. Symbols and icons pertaining to Philadelphia hang on pastel walls, paying tribute to Lenhart’s roots and the undisputed birthplace of the almighty cheesesteak. Mahogany tables and natural light fill the tidy space, with the dining room and patio designed to each seat about 25 customers.

Home-style entrées, burgers, sandwiches and salads comprise the menu, which was under minor revision when a friend and I visited last week. The offerings nonetheless are largely American diner fare (sans the kitschy ’50s theme), although it is the classic Philly cheesesteaks that rule the day.

Lenhart defies the claim that chipped beef sandwiches can’t be duplicated successfully outside of Philadelphia, achieving authenticity with thin-crusted Amoroso torpedo bread imported from you know where. In The City of Brotherly Love, these soft, yet slightly chewy rolls are king. Anything less just doesn’t fly. Add to the lineup flash-grilled rib eye whittled from the slab, plus onions and melted white American cheese (or Cheese Whiz if you prefer) and the sandwich shows off its superior legacy in both taste and texture.

The cheesesteaks are also available with diced chicken breast in lieu of beef, which has gained partial acceptability in Philly over the past decade – and not surprisingly. After sampling the poultry version here, we gave it the same A+ rating as the beef.

From the appetizer list, the chili fries were tastier and less soggy than most – a piling of crinkle-cut spuds topped with manageable measures of cheese and ground beef clumped with finely diced stewed tomatoes. The chicken wings were less tantalizing. Their soft, pale skins failed to meet my native-Buffalo criteria for crunchiness. So did their uneven saucing. But then again, Philadelphia has never been associated with wings. Nor has any place 10 miles outside of Buffalo. And therein lies their downfall.

My companion’s “hand-dipped” fish and chips won us over, thanks to the fact that you get more cod than batter. The filets were thick, moist and flaky and, best of all, greaseless. Additional comfort extended to an order of meatloaf encased in ketchup and brown sugar glaze that I wish would have been applied more thickly. The meat is accompanied with homemade brown sauce, a beefy and mushroomy solution that thankfully doesn’t originate from powder.

We also tried the slow-roasted barbecued pork ribs. Apparently, I picked the only two in the stack that required jaw pressure as my companion wolfed down the remaining order with ease and gusto. Other entrées include pan-seared pork chops, roasted half-chicken, rib eye steak with au jus, spaghetti and meatballs and catch of the day.

A choice of two sides is included with full dinners. The macaroni salad was mediocre (neither of us big fans of the stuff), while the potato salad was flawlessly assembled with soft-boiled potatoes and bits of bacon coated judiciously in mayo and mustard. Somewhere along the line we acquired onion rings that were simply too big and fat to ingest with our piggish feast.

Lenhart, who is also a singer and recording artist scheduled to appear at the San Diego Pride festival in July, opened the restaurant in February as Eddie’s Place Homestyle Eatery. But he recently changed the name to avoid giving the impression of a full-service, family diner.

Customers place their orders at the counter and the food is then brought to the table. Silverware, napkins and condiments are for the picking from organized wall shelving, allowing for a smooth, self-service operation. There’s even a takeout window at one end of the kitchen should a hoagie craving strike while you’re strutting the ’hood.

And how about a nostalgic butterscotch Tastykake to go with it? In every American-style eatery, there’s always at least one retro food treat in the offing, and this is it. Desserts also include carrot cake, German chocolate cake, cheesecake and cookies, all homemade.

Eddie’s is an excellent replacement for the ailed Commonwealth Café across the street, which made an earnest attempt at providing local residents with all-American meals before it went dark. Lenhart though appears to have mapped out the concept in better detail (he’s a Virgo) while creating an inviting, homelike structure that restores dignity to the block. If my intuition serves me correctly, it’ll be just a matter of time before we must stand in line to gain entry.