"Maybe I should have told them I didn't want it," says Justin dolefully.

"It is the evening of the day," sings Maritoni.

"There's still mustard on it," Justin hisses quietly. "Don't get he relish off. I like the relish."

Maritoni finishes the song, returns to her seat and scrapes off the remaining mustard. Drapeau turns the stereo back on.

"The Tasty is a haven," says Maritoni. "The other day, I walked in here, and there had to be at least nine or 10 people that I knew from various parts of the Square, all talking to each other."

"And at the same time, there was this shy Harvard student--I knew he was a Harvard student by the fact that he was so well-groomed, so well-mannered. He didn't interact at all, but you could tell he was listening, taking everything in. At the cash register, he turned around and smiled, and I knew he was a nice guy."

Other Harvard students are less shy. "You come here for the people," says Pat B. Pazmino '93, taking the last empty seat at 1:20 a.m. "A lot of people from Harvard Square come here, and they'll always talk to you. They're really interesting."

He leans over, pointing to his double cheeseburger. "It's also kind of a morbid attraction, for the food."

"This is a sort of a nostalgic trip for Pat and me," says his roommate, Adam R. (Woody) Halvorsen '93.

"We came in her every night on Freshman Week," explains Pazmino. "We spent so much money here. My parents gave this money for semester..."

"...For books," adds Mark A. Apolinar '93 helpfully. "For books," repeats Pazmino. He shakes his head sadly.

At 2:15 a.m., the seats are full, and people stand three deep, yelling out orders. Gordon M. Aamoth stands at the back counter, eating oozing cheeseburgers. He's from Minnesota, and, with his hulking figure and blond hair, looks it. Currently, he's a sophomore at Babson College. He says he drives into the city to visit his only friend in Boston, and when his friend goes home, Aamoth stops off at the Tasty.

"I first came to the Tasty when I was a freshman," he says, polishing off his third cheeseburger.

People stand wedged into corners; there are 20 burgers on the grill. The music is very loud.

"I was lost and alone, and I came here because I saw a big crowd," says Aamoth. "I was here for about and hour, and I ate nine burgers."