Dinersaur

This Just In - Diners on the Quarter

2009-02-18T14:20:00.001-08:00

You can vote to put Al's Diner, the Rosebud, or the Miss Worcester Diner on the Massachusetts quarter! Sure, there are other, non-diner sites, but come on! Check it out here.

Country Fare Restaruant; Falmouth, MA

2008-09-24T14:52:00.001-07:00

breakfast brilliance!
Originally uploaded by Skeintily Clad

potatoes + scrambled eggs + melty cheese + HOLLANDAISE SAUCE = omg i loved it so much.

sadly, i've forgotten what they called it. it was on the specials board. It is supposed to have meat as well, but i thought it was great without.

11th St Diner: Miami, FL

2008-05-27T14:39:00.001-07:00

diners with a liquor license rule
Originally uploaded by Skeintily Clad

I used to live on South Beach, about 4 blocks from the 11th St Diner, but it was a long time before i developed my diner obsession. We were extremely broke at the time so i was more likely to eat cheaply at the Miami Subs across the street. i can only remember eating here once.

From what i can dig up, this diner started life at the Paramount Modular Concepts factory and then spent 48 years at the Olympic Diner in Wilkes-Barre, PA. It moved to Miami in 1992 - the same year i moved there. It has been welcomed with open arms and become a staple for hungry club-goers on South Beach.

Even though i can't review the food, it is the first classic diner i remember ever seeing. i was recently in south florida and thought i would swing by and take a few pictures.

11th St Diner
1065 Washington Ave
Miami Beach, FL
305-534-6373
Google map

Deluxe Town Diner Plates and Placemats

2008-02-06T09:18:00.000-08:00

Apparently you can buy Deluxe Town Diner placemats and plates, made by the company Bob's Your Uncle. BYU is a Boston-based company, but they sell only to retailers, hence the links to those third party shops.

The Deluxe is our favorite local diner, so these are pretty appealing, although I kinda wish they'd feature better photographs.

Parkway Diner: Worcester, MA

2007-12-27T18:24:00.000-08:00

The Parkway Diner in Worcester lives across the street from the much more famous Boulevard Diner, but that doesn't mean it should be ignored. Sadly, its first impression is pretty poor. The exterior, which I can only assume used to look like a classic Worcester car (the Parkway is dated to the 1930's according to Gutman, owned by the Evangelista family since the 50's), was at one point torn off and replaced with this '80s-looking bit of sad frontage. However, on walking inside, you get the classic diner ambiance.

The actual diner portion of the restaurant is very small and has no booths, only two rows of counter seating, which is pretty rare to see in a Worcester car. It's not actually suitable for anything more than dining solo or with a friend. Three people would be pushing it.

Fortunately, the Parkway features an adjacent dining room suitable for parties of any size. While you don't get the ambiance, if you want good diner food as a big group, this might be the place for you. Even the Boulevard can't boast a dining room.

Anyway, on to the food!

Since the Parkway is an Italian diner, I wanted to order an Italian breakfast. You know, two eggs, red sauce, Italian sausage, toast, home fries. But I spotted something I'd never seen before: a meatball omelet! I had to order it, so I did. And boy was it good. The omelet came out bulging with meatballs, and had a little tiny hole where it was bleeding marinara sauce, like a wounded, delicious animal. Oh yes. It was awesome.

Our friend Scott thought the home fries sucked, as there was no seasoning or onions or anything. I didn't hate the home fries, but I didn't really notice them at all since they were so middle-of-the-road. But Scott's right, they're basically potatoes and butter.

The toast was really great. Done just right, nice amount of butter on everything. We couldn't stop eating it.

So if you're in Worcester, don't judge a book by its cover: you should definitely give the Parkway a try. They're open for breakfast and lunch, and they do dinner Fri/Sat/Sun.

Parkway Diner
148 Shrewsbury St
Worcester, MA 01603
508-753-9968
(Google map)

Vegan Diner in Worcester?

2007-12-10T13:15:00.001-08:00

My friend Drew Wilson just launched a campaign to open a vegan diner in Worcester, MA. Sounds like a long shot, but I think it's a pretty cool idea. If you're the kind of person who likes to support stuff like this, head over to the campaign site and pledge some dough.

Eddie's Breakfast & Lunch: Newton, MA

2007-09-15T12:33:00.000-07:00

So, this place isn't a diner, it's a dinette. But Dharia insists that since we laid out our definitions, we can review dinettes now.

Anyway, we've been to Eddie's Breakfast & Lunch once before and wanted to get a quick breakfast today, so we headed over to give it another shot even though we weren't blown away the last time.

The dinette has been in the neighborhood for many years. There's weird office-style stools at the counter, and some pretty hideous wallpaper. Of course, there's also a cool banner on the kitchen hood that says, "My name's Eddie, your breakfast is ready!" Which is pretty neat.

The food, on the other hand, was not really that neat. We got water to drink, and it was served in red solo cups. Dharia ordered Eddie's Highway Special. At $3.75, it's a good deal for an egg and cheese on a bagel/muffin/toast with your choice of meat and a heap of home fries. The eggs were pretty fluffy and the sandwich was decent. My order wasn't so good. At first I asked for a Monte Cristo--but then the waitress asked me what kind of bread I wanted. Uh, isn't a Monte Cristo always served on French toast? The only options were white, wheat, rye, and English muffin. Odd. I immediately switched my order to The Ivan, which is roast beef, Swiss cheese, and fried onions. Got it on rye, and it was okay. Just okay. I felt kind of cheated for $6.

The people are pretty friendly at Eddie's, but I don't think I'll be going back.

Eddie's Breakfast & Lunch
394 Watertown St.
Newtonville, MA 02458
(617) 964-3277
(Google Map)

Deluxe Town Diner Pic

2007-08-24T11:46:00.001-07:00

toast & home fries
Originally uploaded by KarenMarleneLarsen

Here's a nice picture (by Flickr user KarenMarleneLarsen) of toast and home fries at the Deluxe Town Diner in Watertown. They have really great bread there, from Nashoba Brook Bakery. The white toast is sourdough by default, which is a rarity in New England!

I also just discovered that Blue Man Group recorded a music video at the Deluxe. Awesome.

Yankee Diner: Closed!! (Or Maybe Not)

2007-08-21T14:57:00.000-07:00

(12/1/2009: looks like it's back open! See comments below. I have no idea if Deb is still working there, but I'm glad the Yankee is back in business.)

Sadly, the Yankee Diner on Rt. 20 in Charlton, MA has closed down. We really liked this diner. Anybody have any idea why it closed?

Deb is a fantastic personality, and the one time we did eat there she made us feel right at home. As you can see, this made Dharia sad:

I also disapprove:

Bacon!

2007-08-06T15:02:00.000-07:00

While not strictly a diner post, I would like to write about bacon. I'm sure most people would agree that bacon is an integral part of the diner experience, so I don't feel bad writing about it here.

My birthday was about a week ago, and in honor of the event, Dharia ordered a four-pack of artisanal bacon from the Grateful Palate! I ended up receiving

Brown sugar cured Virginia bacon
Burgers' Smokehouse peppered country bacon
Nodine's Smokehouse double smoked bacon
Petit Jean's Ozark hickory smoked bacon

I'm trying the bacons one by one. So far I've only had the Virginia bacon, and I have to say it's one of the best bacons I've ever had. We made BLTs with that bacon. Here's a picture of the ridiculously tasty result (including some nice farmstand heirloom tomatoes):

And because they're nice looking, here's a closeup of the tomatoes we used:

how we define diners.

2007-07-11T14:49:00.000-07:00

As a scientist by trade, I like to categorize and define things. Darius and I have our own system of diner classification that we use when we visit places. Since this blog is entirely our own opinions, its only fair that we lay out these characteristics. So here are the definitions of what we consider a true diner, dinette, or diner restaurant. All 3 have some overall characteristics, the differences are mostly in the physical structure of the building. There are, or course, exceptions to each category and occasions where a place may fit into more than one. I guess its more of a 'diner spectrum' than distinct 'diner categories'.

Building independent characteristics. These things are found at just about any diner or diner-style place.

makes delicious food:
I don't care whether the menu is traditional diner fare or modern / gourmet food. Cheap or pricey, it must be tasty. Many people excuse bad food because a place is "a greasy spoon". blech! A 10-seater, hole-in-the-wall should still make food that tastes good.

serves breakfast:
Here the difference in Jersey diners and New England diners is huge. Both styles serve at least breakfast and lunch, even though bigger diners have a full dinner menu as well. [I will concede that Casey's Diner in Natick, MA is definitely a diner even though it serves only hot dogs and burgers.]

experienced staff:
Some might think this a strange defining characteristic, but I am quite particular about it. I have waited tables at MANY restaurants in my life (including Denny's). One thing that separates the Boulevard Diner from the newest 'Cheesecake Cafe' (chain franchise) is the experience of the staff. If you are a regular at a local diner, you will see the same servers and cooks every weekend and they know what they are doing. They are not hired today and fired tomorrow, which is the status quo at most chain restaurants.

Building specific characteristics:
(true) Diner:
For me, the sole defining factor is that it was factory built (aka prefabricated, free-standing). They can be small like Worcester Lunch Car Co, or larger ones such as DeRafelle or Kullman. They were transported to their new location and final assembly was done on site (depending on the size of the diner). [There are a few small diners that were unique and built-on-site. I think they still count as True Diners.]

Dinette:
1) not free-standing (or prefabricated), even though it has all the other characteristics of a diner. They can be in a strip-mall or the bottom of a larger building. Tom's Restaurant in New York is a very well known example. Another common type of dinette was the cafe in Woolworth's or other 5-and-dime stores, but they are pretty much extinct now. A great dinette in Worcester is Zia Grill, often overlooked because it is actually inside an italian bakery.
2) has counter seating available. Single diners can sit and and get quick service. A little restaurant without a counter is just a cafe to me.
3) small. Of course, this is a fuzzy definition. A large dinette might be more of a diner restaurant.

Diner Restaurant:
A very large diner with lots of table seating and extensive menu options. Often open 24 hours. In our universe, Jersey-style diners are leaning towards the 'diner restaurant' end of this spectrum (despite being factory built).
or
A "family restaurant" that focuses on breakfast and lunch, even though they are not in a factory built diner. Might have tables only without counter seating. One of our favorite breakfast places near our house is Joseph's Two. It is definitely not a diner based on the building but still satisfies all the other characteristics that make a diner restaurant. (see below)

Wilson's Diner: Waltham, MA

2007-07-10T13:58:00.000-07:00

We tried to like Wilson's Diner.

Our last apartment was walking distance from the Boulevard Diner. Life was good. Two years ago we moved, leaving our favorite diner behind. Imagine the excitement when we discovered that our new place in Waltham was walking distance from another beautifully maintained Worcester Lunch Car!

The atmosphere at Wilson's is great, it has all the characteristics of a great diner: family run, devoted regular patrons, and a small menu featuring greek specialties. The first time we ate there, our food was mediocre. We decided that it was probably just bad luck, we needed to find their 'jewel item', like other diners that have blah egg dishes, but heavenly french toast. There must be some items on the menu that are good, we thought.

We have gone back to Wilson's many times. The fresh baked muffins grilled in butter are pretty good. Unfortunately everything else on the menu is mediocre, or worse. We've tried the egg-y things, the bread-y things and the meat-y things; they were all disappointing. I wouldn't even classify it as "a good greasy spoon" as some people like to describe many diners. A good greasy spoon should still be able to make delicious food.

we've procrastinated on writing this review. We really wanted to like Wilson's, especially since it is our closest diner. We wanted it to be our regular brunch place. Wilson's is a great example of a classic worcester diner, one of the only ones in the metro-west area. The food is fast, the prices low, and the staff friendly. If you want an authentic new england diner without going very far, it is worth checking out. If you want a really great breakfast, keep going.

Wilson's Diner

507 Main St

Waltham, MA 02452

(781) 899-0760
(Google Map)

"Keep the Menu Small"

2007-06-05T11:04:00.001-07:00

Apparently, NY/NJ diners pay the price for their gigantic menus. New York Magazine just published a feature where they profiled different businesses and how they manage to turn a profit. One of those businesses is the Silver Star diner in the Upper East Side of NYC. Check out the article here.

(Also, not surprising is that their least profitable customers are the elderly, who tend to return food.)

Mob Hits and Diners

2007-04-14T18:12:00.000-07:00

There's been some recent news about a possible mob hit outside the Seville Diner on Rt 18 in New Jersey. This of course reminds me of a 1993 mob hit that took place outside the Melrose Diner across the street from the house my mom grew up in in South Philly.

There's something about diners and cold-blooded retribution, Mafia-style. They just go together. Like hash browns and eggs.

Kelly's Diner: Somerville MA

2007-02-23T08:04:00.000-08:00

We've heard great things about Kelly's Diner in Somerville. Its Ball Square location makes it convenient, and a favorite, of both students and locals. We picked up our friend James in Cambridge and set out to try it out. A line out the front door is a good sign, but not proof. (People wait in line for bad food, too! Hello, Cheesecake Factory?) While waiting I noticed the cool custom grill work on the stairs with red "K"s. Nice touch.

When we made it to the front of the line, we spent a few minutes standing uncomfortably squeezed between a James Dean statue and an oversized 1950's style jukebox. Looking around, I noticed the stereotypical Betty Boop and Marilyn paraphernalia as well. While I generally dislike this sort of stuff at diners, I will give Kelly's a little leeway because it is a 1953 O'Mahoney diner. Unlike 50's stuff decorating a diner from the 30's, at least this one is in the right era. I couldn't help but think that they could've fit an extra booth or server station where the jukebox was taking up space.

The menu had a nice selection, I decided to go with my standard Veggie & Cheese Omelet. Feeling decadent, I added a grilled bagel. The first thing i noticed when the food arrived was the home fries. Were they actually hash browns? (A regional debate that we need to write up on its own someday soon.) Sadly, they turned out to me massively overcooked home fries; left in the steam pan so long that they were bland, chunky mashed potatoes. I don't remember any details about the omelet except that it was bland. Grilled bagel = always delicious.

Darius ordered a Monte Christo from the lunch menu, so it came with potato salad and a pickle. Even though it came with lots of meat, there was nothing memorable about the taste of the sandwich, and the potato salad was "ok". James ordered a Mexican Omelet from the specials board, and really enjoyed it. I believe it had salsa, cheese, and probably some type of meat in it.

People who live near it claim that Kelly's in the best breakfast in the area. I was a waitress for many years, so I know full well that our bland food may have been anomaly of a busy Sunday, short staff, or new cook. We will certainly try it again before forming our final opinion of this place.

(google map)
674 Broadway
Somerville, MA 02144
(617) 623-8102

Yankee Diner: Charlton, MA

2007-02-21T11:54:00.000-08:00

Dharia and I used to see Chris and Deb's Yankee Diner driving down Route 20 all the time, but we were always either too busy to stop or the place was closed. But a few months ago, we were cutting around holiday traffic coming back from VA, and we noticed that the place was open for lunch! We took the opportunity to stretch our legs and get a bite to eat.

The diner itself is gorgeous on the outside despite the rather ugly protrusion of the front waiting area. For some reason I just love green diners.

The inside is neat, too. There are actual porcelain panels on the inside of the diner, which is kind of a rarity. Also, there's a strange back room that kind of cuts into the diner space which used to be the tiny kitchen, but is now an office for the owner. According to the owner (I can only assume we were speaking to Deb), that room had been there since the beginning and was not a modification as we'd originally suspected.

The menu was actually pretty small. There wasn't much on the menu in the way of vegetarian food, but Dharia ordered a grilled cheese and tomato with french fries. Deb suggested she try it on seeded rye, which turned out to be a good suggestion. The fries were tasty, and Dharia liked her sandwich, which was crispy and had just the right amount of melting on the cheese (which is sometimes hard to do when there's tomato in there.

I ordered a chili bowl and a cheeseburger club. I was not planning on ordering the chili, but the smell from behind the counter coerced me. I was not disappointed: the chili was great! And I'm picky about my chili. It didn't hurt that they added big chunks of fresh chopped onions to my bowl. Man oh man, do I like fresh onions with my chili.

The cheeseburger club was also pretty good, although less remarkable than the chili. Overall, I was very happy with my meal.

The other great thing about the diner was that the lunch crowd really seemed to have a rapport with all of the employees. It was fun just listening to them banter back and forth. All of the staff was very friendly and we had a great time talking to them about the history of the diner.

Speaking of history: the Yankee Diner is a 1947 Worcester Diner, originally located in Southbridge. I can't remember when it moved to Charlton. Sorry I don't know more!

They're open for breakfast and lunch on weekdays, breakfast only on weekends.

You can check out the rest of our photos of the Yankee Diner here.

Chris and Deb's Yankee Diner
23 Worcester Rd (Route 20)
Charlton, MA 01507
508-248-7370
(Google map)

Fun Diner Observation

2007-02-20T08:23:00.001-08:00

When not eating at diners, I work on software. As such, I read a lot of articles about software. I was delighted to see that my favorite author on the topic of software just included a few observations about New York diners in his latest article:

It’s one of those classic New York diners, like the one on Seinfeld. There’s a thirty page menu and a kitchen the size of a phone booth. It doesn’t make sense. They must have Star Trek technology to get all those ingredients into such a small space. Maybe they rearrange atoms on the spot.

Bad Experience at the Deluxe

2007-02-11T10:08:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, a friend of ours mentioned that they'd had a bad experience eating breakfast at the Deluxe Town Diner here in Watertown, MA. They said that the food was pretty bad. This surprised us a lot, because it's quite possibly our favorite local diner! We surmised that there must have been a staff change.

We had dinner there shortly afterwards, and everything was fine. The food and service were as good as usual, so we just assumed our friend had caught the diner on an off day.

But we just had breakfast there this morning, and I'm sad to report that the food was in fact, really pretty bad. Dharia and I each ordered an omelet. First of all, the omelets were not folded on a big grill, but rather they looked like they were cooked in a small pan. They came out with a funny circular shape. Second, the omelets were not even omelets at all! They tasted like overcooked frittatas (here's an article about the difference between an omelet and a frittata). It was a rubbery egg disk, not the big, light, fluffy omelet we usually get served. The goat cheese in Dharia's omelet was like a small-curd, non-goat cheese. The French toast was also disappointingly overcooked. The poached eggs, however, were good, and the Nashoba Bakery bread was as tasty as ever.

It looks like the morning staff has some people who literally don't know how to make an omelet, while the evening staff is still great. So, I have to revise my recommendation on the Deluxe Town Diner: go there in the evenings, but not in the mornings. At least you can still get breakfast at night, done right.

Dinersaur Google Map!

2006-12-07T20:12:00.000-08:00

I've created a Google map marking every review we've done on this site.

You can check it out here.

(Hopefully there will be a lot more pushpins in the future.)

video of the Kullman Factory

2006-12-05T13:47:00.000-08:00

Watch 'webisode' #9 of the Food Network show "Dave Does..." to get a brief tour of the Kullman Factory and interview with owner Harry Kullman. Its a quick watch, but fun.

The last segment is a bit of a stretch for me. He lumps soda fountains in with diners, simply because they are "retro". Soda fountains are wicked cool but they are not, as the man states in the clip, a predecessor of diners. Yes, they did become 'diner restaurants' that served burgers and fries in the 50's, but Lunch Wagon-style diners evolved from a completely different path. Unfortunately, these two things have morphed together in today's pop culture into the Johnny Rockets-1950's-sock-hop-style kind of place we see whenever people hear "Retro". That's why i find the decor at many classic diners so annoying. A 1928 Worcester Lunch Car is no place for the James Dean and Marilyn Monroe posters you often see!

Miss Worcester Diner: Worcester, MA

2006-11-29T08:39:00.000-08:00

After waiting so long to learn the fate of this classic 1948 Worcester diner, I just had to eat there right away. A friend and I checked it out last Saturday, very late in the morning. They are currently open for breakfast and lunch only, 7 days per week.

We ordered two diner standards: a veggie and cheese omelet and french toast. They were very good, the portions were filling (but not so much that we had to roll out the door), and the prices were low. Kara, who notices these kinds of things, commented on how clean the diner was. I usually take note of home fries because they are served everywhere and allow easy comparison between diners - these were well seasoned and delicious.

My only gripe is with the booth tables and chairs: the molded plywood kind that you find in cafeterias and fast food restaurants. I couldn't remember if they were there before, but they appear in several interior photos from before the closing (Here is a very nice photo taken last year while the diner was in limbo). I know the new family has put a lot of money into refurbishing/renovating the diner already and I'm sure that custom (or salvaged) booths would be expensive. I hope that business goes well and that in the future they will replace the benches with something more appropriate for this historically significant diner.

Miss Worcester Diner
300 Southbridge St
Worcester MA 01608
(google map)

Hours:
Tu - Fri 5:30 am - 2 pm
Sat 6 am - 2 pm
Sun 7 am - 1 pm

The Breakfast Club: Allston, MA

2006-10-17T12:11:00.000-07:00

The Breakfast Club takes a different spin on the "themed diner" idea. Instead of the typical 1950's theme, they use the 1985 teen classic as a jumping off point. There are posters of famous 80's movies on the walls, and the radio play only 80's music. The menu has specials based on the movie such as "The Jock" (egg white omelet with veggies) or "The Princess" (belgian waffle with whipped cream and fruit). Thankfully, the theme is just a cute touch and not ridiculously over done.

Situated between Harvard and the Allston-Brighton student district, the customers are typically on the younger side. Expect a wait on saturday or sunday mornings, but it moves quickly due to competent wait staff and an huge counter.

The food is good and reasonably priced, with omelets priced in the $5 - $7 range. I particularly like the seasonal specials. Last weekend we ordered the "Avo Benny" - Eggs Benedict with fresh avocado on a croissant - and the Cinnamon Apple French Toast. The benedict was a bit pricey ($10.95) but there was a lot of fresh, ripe avocado and the flavor was good. The french toast, on the other hand was absolutely delicious! Just the right amount of sweet and spiced apples over perfectly buttered french toast. The couple next to us looked like regulars who know the mneu well, both ordered the blueberry pancakes.

They are open for breakfast and lunch, 7 days a week.

The Breakfast Club
270 Western Ave
Allston, MA 02134
617-783-1212
(Google map)

Miss Worcester is open again!

2006-10-13T08:42:00.000-07:00

While driving to a friend's house in Worcester last weekend, I noticed that the Miss Worcester Diner had an "OPEN" sign! My friends in town were as surprised as I was... there were no announcements or grand openining. I am very happy to see it open again, it seemed like it might be lost there for a while.

I'm certainly not the only person who drove by that day and noticed, either! There is an article in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette about the return of "the Woo". I'm looking forward to trying it out someday soon.

Deluxe Town Diner: Watertown MA

2006-09-18T15:11:00.000-07:00

I've been composing this in my head for almost a year now. We keep eating at this diner, and I keep not writing this review. I want to write something more than drooling praise, but that seems to be all the comes to mind.

Update 2/11/07: we've had to revise our recommendation on the diner. Everything you read here still applies if you eat in the evenings, but the morning staff has apparently changed, and there are some serious problems. Read more about it here.

The food is great. I've ordered something different every time we've gone and it just gets better every time. They are open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They have a really diverse array of food options, including wonderful vegetarian dishes. Not just a veggie burger or pasta, but real meals made with vegetarians in mind. Last time we went I figured I'd give the "tofu burger" a try... its not something I would normally order, but I was feeling adventurous. The waitress answered honestly when I asked her about it, "Tofu isn't really my thing, but customers seem to like it." I was surprised at how good it was. I should mention that the servers are always friendly and give good suggestions if you can't decide.

The menu is not geared just towards vegetarians or "health nuts", though. They have standard comfort foods that are sure to please - like mashed potatoes with just the right amount lumps and garlic. Their meat-burgers are fantastic, too, and while the value of having American Kobe beef in burger form is dubious at best, they offer turkey, buffalo, and other alterna-meats as well. Darius has never had one of their burgers he didn't like. You also get a choice of regular fries or sweet potato fries. Their regular fries are nothing to write home about, but their sweet potato fries are excellent.

They even offer sweet potato waffles! Their breakfast menu (which can be ordered from at any time) is expansive, and includes many different kinds of waffles and pancakes. Not just "kinds" as in "toppings" but rather "different starch bases," including bulgur wheat.

Deluxe Town Diner is also a bakery, and they offer fresh, exotic breads, including flavors like jalepeno jack. You can get any of their great breads on any sandwich. They also have these amazing-looking spiny cupcakes. Like little, delicious porcupines they are.

Rounding out all this is a great beverage selection, from unusal sodas like Doc Brown's, to scary neon green lime rickeys, to a selection of over a dozen teas.

The downfall of many New Jersey diners (in my admittedly skewed opinion) is that they offer way too many options. They have novel sized menus with so many options that the ingredients can't possibly be fresh. I also have my doubts as to whether or not a short order cook would know how to make many of the things offered on their menus. This is why the large menu as Deluxe Town Diner was so surprising. A wide range of options, and yet they are always cooked well. And they pride themselves on having fresh, local, and/or organic ingredients. We recently went for dinner and sat next to a gorgeous dessert stand full of heirloom tomatoes.

I could go on, but instead I'll sum it up. I once heard a friend comment that "it was cheaper when it was just the Town Diner". I didn't live here then, but I don't want it to ever go back. Sure, its not the dirt cheap diner fair that some people expect, but the portions and quality are worth the price. I think that they have managed to successfully create a contemporary diner experience. I do not mean "modernized" they way people often mean it - this is not haute cuisine gussied up inside an old diner shell. I know that everytime I go to the Deluxe Town Diner, I'll get food I endjoy in a comfortable atmosphere. Isn't that the essence of diners? I think so.

Deluxe Town Diner
(google map)
627 Mt Auburn St
Watertown MA
617-926-8400

7 am - 10 pm every day

The New Ideal Diner: Aberdeen, MD

2006-09-04T11:41:00.000-07:00

During our recent trip to northern VA, we stopped for a very early breakfast at The New Ideal Diner in Aberdeen, MD. Its an O'Mahoney that looks to be in excellent condition. Walking in we noticed the gorgeous green trim along the bands on the outside.

The inside of the diner is decorated in mint green to match the outside panels, which was beautiful in the overcast morning light. The booths looked like they could've been original, but are probably a very tasteful renovation. I saw nothing hokey and "retro-fied" anywhere in the diner.

There were very few customers there yet, but it started to fill up quickly. The sign out front boasts a full dinenr menu and maryland crabs. Its nice to see some diners can get enough business to stay open for dinner!

The breakfast menu was standard diner food: omelets, pancakes, french toast. Our food was mediocre, but in a trustworthy kind of way. I was expecting a filling, standard diner omelet... and that's exactly what i got. Darius ordered the "Malted Waffle" which, while tasty, wasn't anything special.

The New Ideal Diner
(410) 272-1880
104 S Philadelphia Blvd (Rte 40)

Aberdeen, MD

(google/local map)

Bully action shot

2006-09-01T12:59:00.000-07:00

Taken at the Boulevard Diner in worcester on a friday night. dinner time.

Went on a road trip last weekend, heading out on friday night. We were hoping to try out a new (to us) diner somewhere in CT, but traffic on the turnpike was slow. Decided to have some comfort food at our old favorite instead. yum!

photos of empty Edgemer Diner

2006-08-16T11:33:00.000-07:00

We were out in central MA last weekend and decided to swing by one of our favorite diners to see if anyone had leased it yet.

Sadly, no. Its still empty, and starting to show signs of disrepair. The saddest part is that some of the porcelain panels are starting to come off the body of the diner.

Charlie's Diner is back in Spencer, MA

2006-07-31T14:30:00.000-07:00

A great video interview has been posted at Roadside Online about the newly re-opened Charlie's Diner. I originally moved to Worcester to work at UMass Medical School and was quickly introduced to Charlie's at its location across the street from the med school. My boss would take us there for lunch several times a month. We always tried to get there in the early lunch rush because otherwise they would run out of the amazing french fries. Cut fresh daily, when they're gone, they're gone!

My 'local spies' told me it was open and doing well, but its great to see the inside and hear that things are good. Hopefully we will get back there some weekend soon to check it out in person.

Talk of the Town Diner: Watertown, MA

2006-07-20T16:40:00.000-07:00

When we moved to Waltham last summer, we immediately started looking for our NEW favorite neighborhood diner. We quickly tried out every nearby breakfast spot, including 4 classic diners. Then life got busy and we didn't write reviews for any of them. I'm trying to catch up onw.

One of the first places we found nearby our house was Talk of the Town Diner in Watertown Center. The outside is rather plain, clearly doesn't have porcelain or aluminum panels. maybe they were covered up? its hard to tell if there is a "real diner" underneat the stones or not. You'll notice right away that it feels different than other diners inside. The decor here makes you feel like someone's home dining room. There are fabric curtains, carpeting, hanging light fixtures, and historic photos of Watertown Square. Yes, there are some photos of James Dean, Elvis, and Marilyn... the decor doesn't feel too kitschy and "50's-ified" like many diners out there. I don't know if it was recently rennovated, but it is very clean and new feeling (by diner standards)

One of my favorite "homestyle" features is the coffee station near the entrance. If you're like me, waiting for a table is miserable if you haven't had your morning coffee. On a saturday or sunday morning, you will definitely have to wait for a table. But just ask a waitress for a cup of coffee and then you can dress it at the coffee station and get the caffeine flowing while you wait! i love that. Don't be afraid to take a counter spot for quicker seating. As a bonus, the stools have backs, so you won't feel like you are perched on a tiny diner stool. (and a bonus for those of us with back problems!)

The menu has a good amount of variety, but not so much that they can't do everything well. They have egg's benedict available on weekends, and vegetarians can get it with spinach and tomatoes instead of ham. As we've mentioned before in this blog, my top secret superhero weakness is definitely egg's benedict. I have to order it if i see it on the menu. I appreciate that they only offer it on weekends, because that means the hollandaise sauce is homemade and fresh. always a plus.

The second time we went, i was able to resist the siren song of the benedict and tried some of their other breakfast items. The banana pancakes were fluffy lots of air holes, with warm gooey bananas cooked in. And decent sized, not too small or too big. Darius enjoyed his Monte Christo, which was lightly battered so its not too heavy in the stomach. (served off the lunch menu, with chips and a pickle.)

All omelets are huge - the size of the plate, with homefries served right on top. I got the vegetable omelet, and they did it "right". Being a vegetarian, i often order a "veggie and cheese" omelet at diners, and every one is different. Sometime they just have onions and peppers and in my book - those ain't veggies! A Real veggie omelet has mushrooms, broccoli, tomatoes, and more. This veggie omelet has all of the above, cooked al dente (not thrown in at the end, but not mushy either). vegetarian approved!

Like most New England diners, the Talk of the Town is only open for breakfast and lunch.

Talk of the Town Diner

(617) 923-2369

11 North Beacon St

Watertown, MA 02472

(MTWRF 7a - 2p; SSu 7a - 3p)
(Google Local/Map)

Four Sisters Owl Diner: Lowell, MA

2006-05-21T12:03:00.000-07:00

This morning we headed into Lowell, since there are a few diners there that we haven't eaten at before. Our first choice was the Paradise Diner, but it turns out that's closed on Sundays. So instead we hit up the nearby Four Sisters Owl Diner.

The diner's a 1947 Worcester with a dining room added on. I think add-on dining rooms are great, because it gives large parties a chance to get some good breakfast while leaving room for parties of four or fewer to actually get a chance to sit in diner itself. And today, we got a chance to sit right at the counter, which is probably the ideal configuration for a party of two.

One of the first things I noticed is that the waitress and the grill cook were both really, really friendly. Wel, the other thing I noticed was the giant orange old-style fridge. This thing is awesome and has this beautiful black trim that you can't really see in the photograph.

They have a huge omelette menu, where each omelette is named after a street in Lowell. Dharia ordered the Woburn omelette (I think), which was spinach, mushrooms, and Swiss. I noticed that they were pimping their baked ham big time on the menu, so I ordered Eggs Benedict, which they make with their ham instead of the usual Canadian bacon.

We got our dishes and we couldn't have been more pleased. Dharia noted that the home fries were really incredibly tasty. But I didn't really notice, because I was too busy eating tasty, tasty ham. This isn't your ordinary breakfast ham. This a big thick piece of pork, straight off the bone, baked and then grilled to perfection. Check out this blurry-cam shot of the ham in action:

Oh yeah. I would marry that ham, but it's not legal in this state. Damn you, Massachusetts. So the Benny here is the most enjoyable Benny I've ever had... on the basis of ham alone! Everything else about the dish was certainly okay, but the ham hurtled it into the stratosphere of breakfast greatness.

Back to the home fries. We were watching the waitress and the grill chef mess around with the grill (one of the benefits of sitting at the counter). And suddenly the waitress poured about a cup of butter and a cup of Old Bay seasoning onto the cooking home fries. AHA! That's what makes them taste so good. Mmmm. Truckload of butter...

Maybe the coolest part about this diner, aside from the ham, is the fact that it's really bustling on a Sunday morning. There's large families eating in the dining room, and the main diner is full of folks too. It's that kind of atmosphere that I love about the best diners in the country.

Four Sisters Owl Diner

(978) 453-8321

244 Appleton St
Lowell, MA, 01852
(Google Local/Map)

the Dinersaur lives!

2006-04-24T06:09:00.000-07:00

The Dinersaur was made by PapaFork, who makes really creative "cutlery sculptures"!

29 Diner: Fairfax, VA

2006-04-11T21:14:00.000-07:00

The 29 Diner (formerly the Tastee 29 Diner) is the place where I developed my love of diners in general. My last year of high school I spent probably two to four nights per week here with three buddies of mine. So I could review this place in my sleep... which is more or less what I'm doing right now.

First of all it must be noted that this is a true 24/7 diner. They're closed on Christmas Eve for about 12 hours, and that's it. The place is open the whole rest of the year, which means that when you're jonesing for an after-Thanksgiving snack, this is the perfect place to come. You'll find some very interesting characters here, especially in the 2am to 6am time period (I recall a guy who interrupted a conversation I was having to point out that the entire Internet was housed at a colocation facility just up the road from the diner).

The building itself is a very beautifully preserved streamline modern Mountian View diner. According to the official website, it was delivered to its location on July 20, 1947. The joint was called Lee's Diner for a short period of time, but for most of its life it was the 29 Diner. Then for a period beginning in (I think) the 1980s it was part of a D.C.-metro-area mini-chain of diners and was given the "Tastee 29 Diner" name. Finally, some time around the year 2001, the "Tastee" was removed and it went back to its original(ish) name. The picture you see above is visually identical to the original 29 Diner sign, although I'm not too clear on whether it's the original sign refurbished or just a faithful copy.

Back in 1947, Route 29 was a pretty rural place. The diner was in the middle of nowhere. It was basically a truck stop, since 29 was a major trucking route. Since then, Fairfax County has grown to be one of the most populous counties in the country. In fact, even here in Boston I sometimes hear people using "Fairfax County" as a synonym for horrible suburban sprawl. It's mostly strip malls and car dealerships abutting the diner these days.

Random fact that I picked up from a short order cook who used to work there: the 29 Diner had a liquor license back in the 1970s. This cook remembered there being a bar fight in the diner and someone actually ended up flying out through the window. Crazy times. They lost (or maybe gave up) their liquor license not too long after that incident.

But enough background material. What about the food?

Here's how a typical meal at the 29 Diner would go. My three friends and I would saunter in at about midnight. We'd get seated at a booth. The waitress would give us water (bear with me, this is important info). I'd order a triple decker BLT. Chris would get a chocolate milkshake, although if really hungry he'd get a "plain burger, just meat and bread." Jimmy would often order a triple decker club, and Kevin... I dunno. He'd get something. Kind of a loose cannon. Regardless of what we ordered, we'd also get two orders of french fries and split them between the four of us. (Also routine, but nothing to do with food: at some point in the night, we would pony up the dough to get "Folsom Prison Blues" played on the jukebox.)

The fries at this place are heavenly. Not too thick, not too thin. Fried in... lard? Bacon fat? Who knows? I'm guessing it's something really bad for you, because it tastes so damn good. The BLT is always awesome. Lettuce crisp, tomatoes fresh, and the bacon is fatty without being greasy, crunchy without poking my gums, and delicious without, uh, tasting bad.

And the water! The water flows like, yes, water. Seriously. You take one single sip of water, and the waitress immediately comes over and fills your glass right back up to the brim. Also of note on the beverage front is that they have birch beer on tap, which is pretty rare for VA, even if it is the third-rate Fanta brand. The milkshakes always tasted pretty okay to me, but Chris was a connoisseur, and he liked the shakes enough to order them every time, which says something, I guess.

I've actually only eaten breakfast at the 29 Diner a handful of times. It's pretty decent, albeit typical, diner fare. The only thing noteworthy about the breakfast is that it's the South, so you can get grits. Omelettes are passable. The home fries suck. Other than that, there's nothing to separate their eggs over easy from anyone else's.

I like a whole lot of things about this diner. In fact, the few things that it gets wrong are entirely mitigated by the incredibly cheap prices. Maybe the menu items have gone up in price since I last visited a year ago, but last I checked you could get a single-decker BLT in the $2.00 range. Can't beat that.

29 Diner
(703) 591-6720
10536 Lee Highway (Route 29)
Fairfax City, VA 22030
(Google Local/Map)
(Official website: pics, history, historical menus, and more!)

now here's an opportunity

2006-04-05T06:09:00.000-07:00

Worcester Lunch Car #747 (formerly Porter's Diner and Mindy's Diner) is being sold. on ebay.
I have no clue about the validity of the auction. There is another listing for the same diner on the American Diner Museum website, but that is rarely updated and is likely to be very out of date.

just more fuel for my little "i'm going to quit graduate school and run a diner" fantasy. never gonna happen. but a girl can dream.

ode to a barrel roof

2006-02-15T07:40:00.000-08:00

I just love the corner where the roof tapers in. The neon lighting on shiny metal made some very interesting shadows.
taken at the Deluxe Town Diner in Watertown, MA.

Zippy on Decaying Diners

2006-01-24T14:42:00.000-08:00

Check it out: there's a Zippy the Pinhead comic about decaying diners posted at this LiveJournal community! I couldn't have said it better myself.

mug collection

2006-01-12T08:12:00.000-08:00

our small, but growing, collection of diner mugs.

It started with the two Boulevard Diner mugs that we bought for our anniversary. Then we picked up a few more in our travels. (don't worry, none are stolen.)

I need another collection like a hole in the head!

quiet time

2006-01-10T12:44:00.000-08:00

This picture was taken on a VERY snowy thanksgiving morning, at a diner in E. Hartford, CT.

Rosebud Diner: Somerville, MA

2006-01-01T21:00:00.000-08:00

The Rosebud Diner is in the bustling Davis Square area of Somerville. Although its been rundown in the past, the area has undergone a renaissance in the recent past and is now a hip, fun neighborhood. The Rosebud Diner reflects that history and fits right in.

Darius and I went there for sunday brunch a few weeks ago. There was a wait to get a table, which i see as a good sign for ANY diner. How can you trust a diner thats not packed on a sunday morning? The Rosebud was built later that most of the Worcester Lunch Cars (1941) and that's reflected in the modernized, streamlined style. But the distinctive ceramic plates on the side are a giveaway for the Worcester Co. Each color was painted on the plates and fired individually, and you can feel the texture of each layer of glaze. The Rosebud is the first diner where i've walked right up to the plates and touched them. pretty cool!

Even though there is a full restaurant built onto the back of the diner, we ate in the front, original diner area. The grill area has been converted to a full bar, and we had fun ordering mimosas with our brunch! I'm a total sucker for hollandaise sauce and was very pleased that one of the weekend specials was eggs florentine (spinach instead of ham). The food was excellent. The only downside is that that after two breakfast specials and two alcoholic beverages, our bill was nearly $30! oops, that was a little shocking when you're used to diners being the cheapest way to eat. but it was worth it.

Rosebud Diner
(617) 666-6015
381 Summer St
Somerville, MA 02144
(Google Local/Map)

The Edgemere Diner

2005-10-04T07:39:00.000-07:00

One diner that we loved going to was the Edgemere Diner in Shrewsbury, MA. Sadly, it's currently closed. We were shocked by its seemingly sudden closing, but those who have been following diner history longer than us were not. According to Roadside Online, the city of Shrewsbury owns the diner and only allows people a two year lease on this property. This leads to frequent turnover in the property and long stretches of closed time in between.

I really hope that the city will change its policy and not risk letting a great diner go to waste.

(This is a picture that i took during my B&W photography class last year.)

Edgemere Diner
(508) 752-8838
51 Hartford Tpke
Shrewsbury, MA 01545
(Google/Local Map)

Becky's Diner: Portland, ME

2005-10-03T12:22:00.000-07:00

So Dharia and I went to Portland, ME for the weekend to relax and to celebrate her birthday. Of course, we can't visit a town for any length of time without checking out the local diners. On the advice of a friend (and on the advice of Rachael Ray's travel show), we decided to try Becky's Diner, a Portland legend.

You can tell that Becky's is an institution simply by looking at the line out the door on Sunday mornings. (The line is sort of obstructed by my figure in the above picture. Sorry.) While we were waiting to be seated, I overheard a local describe this as "the only place to get breakfast around here." Keep in mind that was said with a sigh, as in "I wish there were other places people could get breakfast so I wouldn't have to wait 30 minutes to be seated at this diner."

Becky's is a freestanding building, but is not in a traditional diner structure, meaning you won't find it listed on a place like Diner City. Still, the interior is authentic, and so are their hours: they operate from 4am to 9pm most days.

The menu was pretty impressive, striking a nice balance between the minimalist "what's on the board" stuff you tend to see in Massachusetts and the over-full "we cook everything" monstrosities often found at New Jersey diners. I ordered the special: biscuits and sausage gravy with two eggs over easy. I also got a side order of one blueberry pancake (can't be in Maine and not have blueberries). Dharia got the broccoli and cheese omelette with a side of cheese home fries.

Pardon the blurry picture. We were using a throwaway tourist camera. Anyway, I liked my breakfast. Although the sausage was nothing to write home about (typical sweet breakfast sausage), the biscuits were delicious and the eggs nicely done with just the right amount of yolk bleed for me. My pancake was incredibly fluffy, to the point where I thought they had accidentally given me two pancakes! Alas, no, it was merely one incredibly fluffy 'cake. As a side note, if the quality of their maple syrup is any indicator of the best that Maine has to offer, I must officially side with Jed Bartlet in my proclamation of New Hampshire as the clear winner in the Great Maple Syrup Wars. Dharia liked her omelette, but her cheese home fries were disappointingly just topped with barely melted American. The grilled Italian toast was great, yet not as satisfying as what we get at the Boulevard Diner. (But then, we're spoiled.)

While the wait was long and the food was a mixed bag, I did very much enjoy the friendly atmosphere. Even the cooks seemed to be having fun with each other in the back, and our server was incredibly personable. Plus, they sell mugs with the Becky's logo for $4.28 each (tax included). Now that's a real bargain, as most diners sell their mugs in the $8 to $15 range.

All in all, I'd recommend Becky's to anyone visiting Portland who wants a taste of how the locals eat. You can check out their website, www.beckysdiner.com, for a partial menu and some biographical info.

Becky's Diner
(207) 773-7070
390 Commercial St.
Portland, ME 04101
(Google Local/Map)

Boulevard Diner: Worcester, MA

2005-09-26T21:34:00.000-07:00

Okay, so here's the long-promised post.

Dharia and I went on our first date at the Boulevard Diner ("the Bully" as it is affectionately known by some). So we like to go there on our anniversary. Below is a picture of the two of us, in front of the word "Diner". Okay, everyone say "awwwww."

Now that you've got that out of your system, we can get down to what I'd really like to talk about: the diner itself. The Bully is an institution in Worcester, MA--itself a feat, since Worcester is where the majority of diners in the NE United States were manufactured. (See Richard Gutman's excellent book on the topic for more info.) It's a 1936 Worcester Lunch Car diner, if I'm not mistaken on the date, but the Boulevard Diner actually has been on the location since 1932 (they got a new diner in '36 I believe). Also, it's a 24 hour diner, not including Sunday evenings when they close for 6 or so hours.

The interior is wonderful, a classic Worcester Lunch Car with the wooden interior and wooden booths. There's seating for maybe 10 at the counter (it's a 12-counter car with a seat or two missing at the waitress station), and the 6 booths comfortably fit 4 people each.

The food ranges from good to great. Of note is the Italian bread: it's fresh and very thick-cut and incredibly gooey and good. If your meal doesn't come with the bread, I suggest you ask for some on the side. I'd highly recommend the French toast, as it's made with the stuff. They do eggs well, although the home fries are very plain. But the omlettes are nice and fluffy and they have good stuff to put in it (pepperoni and broccoli is my favorite).

Lunch and dinner stuff is also good. I like the eggplant parmesan a lot. Being a cheese steak snob, I was surprised to find that I actually like the one they offer quite a bit. But what I really like is that you can get a Brazilian-style hamburger, which means you get a fried egg on top! Holy crap. I've never ordered it, but watching my friend Mike eat it was something to behold.

That's my brief take on the Boulevard Diner. I'm sure Dharia has more to say. In the meantime, here's the pertinent info:

Boulevard Diner
(508) 791-4535
155 Shrewsbury St
Worcester, MA 01604
(Google Local/Map)

Dinersaur

2005-09-12T17:03:00.000-07:00

Dharia and I are pretty crazy about diners. We've decided to start this group blog to talk about all the different diners we've been to, post pictures of these diners, review the food and the atmosphere, and maybe even talk about things to do nearby a diner.

So yes, this is going to be about diners, and will be mostly New England diners, since that's where we live. The rules of full disclosure dictate that I say right off the bat: we are prejudiced in favor of Worcester Lunch Cars, because we used to live in Worcester, where they were manufactured. Our first date was in one of these diners.

Keep your eyes peeled. We'll be updating shortly.