A story in The Day about a new restaurant in New London, The Commoner, mentioned that dinner prices were in the $13.95 to $17.95 range, and contained some traditional fare such as meatloaf and chicken pot pie.

One of the commenters on theday.com said no way he would pay $15 for meatloaf.

I didn’t think $15 was outrageous, but when I mentioned that to a colleague he agreed with the online commenter that it was too high.

As it turns out, The Commoner charges $15.95 for meatloaf at lunch and $17.95 at dinner. That does sound a few bucks too high, although, to be fair, it sure sounds good on the menu:

A stack of meatloaf rested on a bed of whipped mashed potatoes with hand peeled baby carrots and haricot vert and a pinot noir demi glace.

(I didn’t have the meatloaf but a few of us stopped by on Wednesday for lunch and everything we ordered was excellent. This is a welcome addition to downtown.)

Back to the meatloaf: wondering what a fair price was, I looked around. At the Steak Loft in Mystic, $15.95; at The Bridge in Westerly, $15. The Shack, not as upscale and without a liquor license, charges $9.79.

The best deal I could find was at Goldy’s in New London: for $8.99 you not only get meatloaf, potato and veggie, but a choice of soup or salad.

The meatloaf is looked at as lowly diner fare, but I’d take a great meatloaf over a mediocre piece of steak.

Who has the best meatloaf?

And what do you think is a fair price?