So, want a seat in the State House or Congress, huh?

Better take a seat at Simones first.

The landmark eatery is celebrating its 100th birthday this week with celebrations of its rise from a stand made of soda crates to where, some regulars are known to quip, Lewiston-Auburn’s elite meet to eat.

(We would say where L-A’s elite meet to fete grilled meat has an even nicer ring.)

Starting today, for its centennial observation, Simones is lowering stakes for its customers by offering all kinds of food specials for $1, plus other goodies. Then again, customers are long accustomed to preferential treatment at Simones – that’s why they keep going back.

It’s politicians who get grilled more than the hot dogs.

A Simones visit on the campaign trail through Lewiston-Auburn isn’t so much a necessity for candidates as it is a pilgrimage. It’s a proving ground for any whippersnapper or party veteran looking for a promotion (or their retention) in the arena of big-time Maine politics.

Why? Because the century of local history within those hallowed walls on Chestnut Street represents the essence of L-A itself – a diverse community that is close-knit, stable and strong.

That’s why Maine politicians must go there, and why politicians in general are expected to visit the celebrated hyper-local diners, bowling alleys and barrooms in communities across the country. There’s much to learn about a candidate by how they can’t bowl, for example, or how they knock back drinks with shift workers.

Or, by what they like on their hot dogs.

It’s a test, plain and simple. If a candidate can poll well in Simones, the most local of turfs, where a generation of prior politicos have sought acceptance and handshakes, they might be able to represent the values of Lewiston-Auburn in Augusta or Washington.

If they can’t, well, they can at least enjoy a hot dog and the atmosphere of their visit.

It just might be their last.

We enjoy Simones for many different reasons; great political theater is just one of them. Jimmy, Linda and George Simones and their family are proprietors of a vanishing institution – the real, family-owned, local landmark – and we offer them our heartiest congratulations on their 100th anniversary.

And we wish them hundreds and hundreds more.