RESTAURANT REVIEW / PETE’S BREAKFAST HOUSE : The Right Start : The last thing this busy little spot needs is a rave notice, but it’s elevated a simple pleasure to a high culinary plane.

My 13-year-old, Ted, considers himself an expert on going out to breakfast. It all began when he was a year old and his father started taking him out every Saturday morning. He ate off his father’s plate, the waitresses fussed over him, and the cashier always gave him a penny. He still considers going out for breakfast one of the happiest of all occasions.

Pete’s Breakfast House has elevated one of the simple pleasures in life to a high culinary plane, and it has done it without taking away any of the casual funk and bustle essential to a great breakfast place. In fact, Pete’s has enough coziness and cheerful chatter for two restaurants. The last thing this busy little spot needs is a rave review.

Tucked into a nondescript pinkish-brown stucco building on Main Street, Pete’s would be easy to miss except for an amazingly hokey, perpendicular sign shooting straight up from the roof: “RESTAURANT.”

On a busy morning--most mornings--diners sign themselves in on a clipboard and settle down on the bench outside to wait for a table. It’s not much of a wait, because the waitresses here move like lightning. Pete himself, wearing a T-shirt and gym shorts and looking about 22, works as hard as his help. He has a winsome charm and makes running a successful restaurant look easy and fun.

How can a basic coffee shop breakfast of eggs and potatoes be better than most? The potatoes, for one: small, sweet chunks fried up with onions, not much grease and a whole lot of flavor. They also bake a marvelous biscuit, fluffy and toasty and big as a butter plate.

The breakfast specials are noteworthy. The “B. House Scramble” ($6.25) had chunks of tender tri-tip in masses of scrambled eggs spiked with avocado, tomato and mushrooms. It was like a meaty matzo brei , and deeply satisfying.

Another terrific special was salmon and eggs ($7.95). It featured a wonderful piece of salmon, cooked exquisitely and moistened with a delicate lemon herb sauce with chives.

Huevos rancheros had few surprises, though the beans were a nice mixture of refried and whole beans, and the sauce had a good kick to it. Homemade salsa was also good on the side. Virtually everything here is homemade--except the corned beef hash. The customers, it turns out, preferred it that way.

Another classic is blueberry pancakes ($4.25), light and not too doughy, filled with tiny blueberries. An “open face omelet,” or frittata ($5.50), more green than yellow, was filled with spicy sausage, mushrooms, cheese, chilies and fresh spinach.

Although breakfasts are served until 2 p.m., Pete’s also offers a lunch menu, mostly sandwiches and hamburgers. Of these, the Ortega burger was particularly good, although it practically had to be eaten with a fork. A “home roasted” turkey sandwich had meat that tasted better than Thanksgiving turkey. It came with grated cheese (entirely unnecessary), tomatoes and lettuce.

A taco salad was built on a bed of fresh corn tortilla chips, using generous amounts of lettuce, melted jack and Cheddar cheeses, raw mushrooms, slices of avocado, big red beans and a dense chili sauce. Like the rest of the food, it was fresh and appealing.

Pete’s certainly met Teddy’s approval. He mixed up his eggs and potatoes and hash with practiced ease. About every third bite he muttered, “Delicious.” His father may have started this whole breakfast business, but I’m the one who took him to Pete’s.

* WHERE AND WHEN

Pete’s Breakfast House, 2055 E. Main St., Ventura, 648-1130. Open every day for breakfast and lunch, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Breakfast for two, food only, $3.80 to $15.90. Cash or check; no credit cards.