Decor accents at The Maple Tree add charm reminiscent of a New England sugarhouse and help expand the small room. Photo by ISAAC BREKKEN/REVIEW-JOURNAL

Please, for both of our sakes (that would be you and me), don't go to The Maple Tree on Saturday morning. Or Sunday morning. Or maybe even next weekend.

You'd be doing us both a favor. Me, because I feel for the great little spots that get inundated with new customers immediately after a good review. (Many such customers subsequently complain that the service was bad because it was too crowded.) You, because it'll no doubt be crowded.

But be sure to get to The Maple Tree. Miss it, and you're missing one of the valley's mom-and-pop gems.

I would've overlooked The Maple Tree myself were it not for a few loyal readers who e-mailed shortly after a review of another breakfast place ran. As I said, it's a fairly small spot, tucked into a strip shopping center. The sign doesn't scream out as you're whizzing by on Spring Mountain Road, and such small places rarely have budgets for much advertising. But -- bless those readers -- I found it, and so should you.

The Maple Tree bills itself as a "countryside kitchen" with "old-time rural country cooking in the tradition of a New England-style sugarhouse restaurant." Redundancies aside, that's just what it is -- a charming little spot, such as used to dot rural areas of the Northeast (and still do, in some places).

We were there for breakfast. As you'd imagine, maple's got a prominent place on this menu, including real maple syrup served with the pancakes. We'd have been remiss to pass that by, and so decided on a Sugarhouse Sampler ($7.99), which included not only pancakes but also two eggs, two links of sausage, two strips of bacon and maple-baked ham. Yes, the ham did taste of maple -- but just pleasantly, not overpoweringly so -- and the pancakes were high and light, gently browned and nicely fluffy, and just right with that syrup.

A maple muffin that was offered on the side (toast or fried bread are other options) was much more subtly flavored -- too subtly, I thought. Yes, maple is easy to overdo, and we don't want that. But while this was a perfectly nice muffin, the maple flavor was so subtle that I wouldn't have detected it without a hint from the menu.

There was, however, nothing subtle about the crab cakes that were the centerpiece of the crab cakes and eggs plate ($7.99). They were just the right size for breakfast, and nice and meaty, with just enough filler to hold things together. The country potatoes served on the side were fine.

Service throughout was great. When we entered at late morning, a man started to point us to a table for two, but then (and without any indication from us), noted the newspaper in my hand and apparently considered that things were slowing down, so quickly cleared a table for four so we could spread out a bit. Consideration like that is often lacking in the big places, who are more concerned about their floor plans than their customers.

Our waitress was great, too, frequently refilling our fresh, hot coffee (but asking first, lest she upset a delicate cream-or-sugar balance) and checking back now and then. Who said New Englanders were unfriendly?

The Maple Tree serves lunch as well (closing at 2:30 p.m. daily), including maple-glazed ham and such other regional delights as Yankee pot roast, maple baked beans, brown bread -- even maple-caramelized onions on the Maple-Swiss Burger.

Oh, and the breakfast menu includes a Monte Cristo sandwich, for all of you who are forever seeking one.

Maybe the Monte Cristo crowd should go right away, for a fix. As for the rest of you: I think The Maple Tree will be around for quite a while.

Las Vegas Review-Journal reviews are done anonymously at Review-Journal expense. Contact Heidi Knapp Rinella at 383-0474 or e-mail her at hrinella@ reviewjournal.com.