Your Favorite Diner
 

and what they make/why you love them.

I love diners. One of last bastions where the average Joe can get something of the highest quality made with skill, care and craftsmanship.

Coming back from a trip to Delaware last weekend we stopped at the Blue Colony Diner in Newtown, CT, just off 84.

It was good as anything I've ever had, in part because you could tell that the cooks who made it really cared about the end result, the experience, your experience.

My dinner was a Saturday special, braised lamb shanks with orzo in a tomato broth. Also came with soup, manhattan clam chowder, salad, and coffee. Challah bread on the table must have been made that afternoon.

The chowder was homemade down to the stock, tender clams, tons of flavor. You didn't get one lamb shank, but 2 legs. All for $13.99. That's the craziest part. If I had paid double for my dinner, I would have walked away just as happy, just as satisfied. Again, what blew me away was how much you could tell the people who made this food really cared about what got sent out. That's what makes a great diner to me.


So what's your favorite diner and what do they make?

I have a few:

Palace Grill Sandwich Shop In Chicago | Palace Grill Sandwich Shop Restaurant Hash and eggs

Manny's Cafeteria and Delicatessen - Chicago Deli - The Best Deli in Chicago Corn beef sammy on an onion roll with a potato pancake

Silver Palm it's actually a railroad dining car - dinner


I would highly recommend all of them if you are traveling to Chicago.

Chick's diner in Scranton, PA.
Late night cheeseburgers, fries w gravy and a real fountain Coca-Cola.

Fast food and ethnic restaurants have just about put the good old American diner out of business in our area. The only one I can think of is the G&R Tavern, and it's 70 miles away. Home It's famous for its fried bologna sandwiches and a great place to belly up and watch an Ohio State game on a Saturday afternoon. Just get there early and don't have too many barley pops before game time.

Locally I go to a place called The Lucky Dice. Good breakfasts and lunches.

We watch Diners Drive Inn's and Dives. We've been to a few in the Buffalo area. They were The Lake Effect Diner, The Blackthorn Rest., and Mulberry Italian Ristorante. All 3 are good. The Buffalo Brew Pub in Williamsville has a fantastic chicken wing soup.
If travelling by Interstate instead of chain food find the site Flavourtown USA. They list the restaurants featured on the show State by State. There are some fantastic restaurants across the country.

Any country diner with a community table or two as well as the usual 4 seaters. They must serve grits, have good biscuits, and when you ask for sausage you should be expected to clarify - links, pan, patties and hot or mild?

But, with the family it is hard to do it... so I do it at home.

Not quite a 'diner', but a great greasy spoon with tons of personality - Pam's Farmhouse in Raleigh NC.

MMmmmmmMmmm biscuits and grrraaavy....

Big Ricks Hot Rod Diner .............I go for the breakfast and the burgers. Home style burgers made fresh.

Pics here: Big Rick's Hot Rod Diner Photos | Winnipeg, MB | Page 1 | Urbanspoon

Used to go to the "Black Bear Diner" chain here along the major interstates in CA. They had killer liver and onions. You guessed it - had - its off the menu now. Not enough demand, according to the server.

As mentioned above, the ethnic places have any diner here beat. I am glad we have Mexican, Chinese and Vietnamese etc. immigrants. I often pull over in small towns now and find a hole in the wall place for a decent plate of tacos or a burrito with beef tongue instead ... it'd be chicken breast garbage everywhere, otherwise.

G

I'd love to stop by The Only Cafe some day

We have very little time together to get meals but we generally reserve one day a week to have a quiet breakfast at The Majestic. Third generation family-owned and awesome. Recently refreshed and brought back to its earlier splendor. The Hipster crew in the mornings always remembers and greets us and the service has never been anything but spot-on. We usually stick to breakfast basics here (and avoid the 2 am after-the-bars-close shenanigans) but have occasionally had some of their Greek offerings and other blue-plate specials and they are always good as well. No--it's not chef-driven, or organic, or sustainable, or gluten-free, or any of that, but it is being operated properly and we enjoy it. My current fave is the Olympic Omelet and my wife has been getting the Gyro platter repeatedly.

I have to list it as a suggestion if you're anywhere near midtown or Poncey-Highland Atlanta.

Welcome to Majestic Diner



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Funny story. There's a diner near me called Windy City Grill that I went to at least once a week for 15 years, great burgers and gyros, actual milkshakes, huge portions for the price. One of the staff there took a liking to my Smart and asked me to tell him if I ever sold it. About a year later I traded it in on a Solstice and the trade-in value they gave me was $700 less than I paid for it new, so I took the deal.

When the short order cook noticed I didn't drive the Smart anymore I explained what a deal I got, which he would have been nuts to try and beat rather than get a new one, but he was still ticked at me and the environment got chilly. He might have gotten over it with time, but one of the bus boys loved rubbing it in, and every time I stopped in he'd yell "Hey, the Smart car guy!" and the cook's face would cloud up. Finally, I got a burger that was charred to a cinder and rather than make a fuss with the owner/manager, I took the hint and stopped going. Really miss the food at that place.