Into its third decade, Versailles -- the Cuban emporium with the French name -- reigns as the place to take visitors for a sampling of local flavor. It isn't the best Cuban restaurant in town, but it's always good; solid and dependable, like black beans and rice and sticky-sweet, scalding cafe.

Redone after 21 years in a tasteful green, with marble tiles in the restrooms and etched, backlighted mirrors, Versailles gives you a lot more atmosphere than you're paying for. It gives you a lot more food than you're paying for, too -- prepare to walk out stuffed like a corn tamale.

Versailles' corn tamale ($1.95), a golden tube of husk filled with buttery cornmeal flecked with ham, stands up well against any. It's hot and moist, naturally sweet but pungent, too, with garlic sprinkled on top.

Soups are a must-try here. Plantain soup ($1.85 for cup, $2.65 for bowl) is rich and rib-sticking, a golden puree of plantain with chunks of cooked plantain and a garnish of -- you guessed it -- plantain chips. Mildly seasoned and delicious.

A standard favorite is the Galician white bean soup ($1.95/ $2.75), with chunks of soft ham and ham fat, white potatoes and bits of greens afloat in the thick bean puree. Hammier and richer than most.

You might find Versailles' black bean soup ($1.65/$1.95) underspiced, but it's majestically silken in texture, creamy without the cream. Raw onion served alongside, shoveled in with impunity, adds needed sparkle.

Soups arrive just after crisp Cuban toast, heaping baskets of warm bread drizzled though, not drenched, with butter. Good start.

The entree menu is massive, much like the entrees themselves. Any hankering is served, save for that of the vegetarian. Practically nothing is more than $10.

A special of the day was ham shank ($6.95), served with a grand chorizo, white potatoes and a cup of Galician white bean soup. This shank, a club Fred Flintstone might wield in pursuit of a dinosaur, leaves nothing to the imagination as to where it came from. You have a big leg on your plate, and you know it. Once you've gotten over this, you find that the ham just flakes off the bone, rosy pink and juicy. The chorizo, spicy and tender, is twice the customary size. This is just unfinishable.

Beef favorites abound. We tried picadillo ($4.95), the standard dish of tender ground beef, simmered with bits of green olive, red pepper and peas, which seem to find their way into everything at Versailles. You ladle the mixture over sticky white rice. Admirably lacking in grease, though not a shining example of the dish because of underspicing. Served with black beans and plantains, in addition to the rice.

Boliche ($6.95), Cuban pot roast, was wonderfully tender. Two thick slices, deftly slow-cooked and served in a lightly beefy gravy, melted succulently in the mouth. Moros (mixed black beans and rice), though tasty, were dry. Not so the plantains, which were fat and sweet, moist yet not terribly greasy. This is hard to pull off.

Ropa vieja ($6.45) might be Versailles' finest hour. The tender shredded beef rests in a robust Creole sauce, hearty, yet crackling with sweet tomato. Served with white rice and sweet plantains.

Two chicken dishes boggle the mind for the volume of food you get. Chicken Versailles ($6.95) offers a whole boneless breast, lightly breaded and then grilled with lemon butter and bits of onion. The chicken is thick and moist and -- of course -- unfinishable. Separate mountains of moros and plantains contribute to the gorge-fest.

Polynesian chicken ($7.95) offers a fat, breaded chicken breast. If that weren't enough, it's layered with salty ham and melted cheese, topped with rings of pineapple (the Polynesian touch). This is so rich you'll be tempted to mine it for gold, and you get a pile of white rice and plantains, too. The chicken is adroitly handled here, too, oozing juicy flavor.

Should you need still more food, check out the separate dessert menu, most priced at $2 to $3. We tried tres leches, a pretty good version of the spongy cake soaked in milk. Mamey flan, though, was dismal, with any tropical fruit flavor overpowered by sugar and then brutalized again with syrup.

Service at Versailles is excellent. Waitresses nurture you through the menu, and an army of busboys stand and deliver. The food comes fast, properly spaced and in the right order, and dishes are cleared with alacrity.