The Diner | Powell, OH

The Diner
240 N. Liberty St. (map it!)
Powell, OH 43065
(614) 846-8550
Open Mon-Sat, 7a-2p; Sun, 8a-2p
Accepts cash & check ONLY
Vegetarian/vegan/gluten free? Y/N/N
Kid-friendly? Y

Date of Visit: Friday, April 12, 2013 at 9:30 a.m.

Once in a while there are little whispers on the wind. Have you heard? There’s a new diner in town. This is when a breakfast blogger dons his traveling cloak, pulls on his boats, grabs his walking stick, and goes on an adventure. In this case, he trekked his way up to Powell – not quite as far as Mount Doom, but a small journey from central Columbus nonetheless.

The Diner – which is as straightforward of a name as you can get – is in a small stretch of stores a couple blocks north of downtown Powell. The space used to house the Grace Diner and briefly a place called Jodi’s Home Cooking, but has now been nicely renovated and brought to life again. The restaurant is one simple room, with a five-seater counter and about eight tables.

When we arrived, we found the diner half full, which is a great sign. Our server told us they’ve been in business for two months, and they seem to be drawing a steady crowd. Another good sign of a healthy diner: the regular “old guys” who are sitting at the counter. That’s when you know a diner has truly taken root in a community.

One of the first things I heard about the diner was that they served goetta. Yes, goetta. If you’re a native of Cincinnati, then you recognize this as a piece of home. If you’re a non-native, or you’ve just never heard of it before, goetta is a dish created by German immigrants in the greater Cincinnati area. It combines meat scraps (usually pork) with oats, spices, sometimes onions, then is sliced and fried.

And yup, there is is on the menu.

First things first, though, before we get to the goetta. For my 1.5-year-old I ordered some scrambled eggs and toast a la carte.

My sister-in-law ordered the Diner Special: eggs, home fries, meat, and toast. None of this was astounding, but it was exactly what you’ve come to know and love from a good diner breakfast.

I was feeling a little off-the-hook, so I went for the Big Breakfast: two eggs, meat, home fries, and toast. Eggs and toast were just fine, potatoes were appropriately crispy (my 1.5yo ended up stealing most of mine), although they could have used a little more seasoning. Of course I chose the goetta as my meat. This was actually my first time having goetta, so I’m not sure how this version stacks up to the popular Glier’s brand out of Cincinnati (although one of the cooks did say they get their goetta straight from Cincy). The patties were a little thinner than I expected, but they still packed a flavorful punch. The outside was nice and crispy, while the inside was a tad chunkier than the scrapple I’ve tasted. I got a sense of bigger chunks of meat plus the oats, and I know I saw onions in there. I couldn’t identify all of the spices, but it was enough to differentiate from a standard breakfast sausage.

The Big Breakfast also comes with your choice of three pancakes or two slices of French toast. I’m more partial to French toast, especially when you have the option to order it deep fried. Why just batter French toast and throw it on the flattop when you can go full force and fry it?! There’s a lot to like about French toast like this; as my sister-in-law said, it tasted like funnel cake.

Our food did take a little while to come out – maybe because they had to deep fry my French toast? – but I later found out that the owners were out of town, so perhaps it was someone newer at the grill. Still, the wait wasn’t horrible and the food was comforting and filling.

So what do you think? Goetta aficionado or not, I think The Diner is worth checking out, at the very least to support a locally owned business and help establish a diner for this part of town.

Chef-O-Nette | Columbus, OH

Chef-O-Nette
2090 Tremont Center (map it!)
Columbus, OH 43221
(614) 488-8444
Open Mon-Sat, 7:30a-8p (bfast served all day)
Accepts cash & debit/credit
Vegetarian/vegan/gluten free? Y/N/N
Kid-friendly? Y

Date of Visit: Monday, January 21, 2013 at 10:30 a.m.

Nearly every comment, blog post, or review about Chef-O-Nette will tell you that it’s a diner that’s lost in time. And that’s absolutely true: when you put your foot in the door it’s like someone hit pause on a big universal remote. The entire experience feels a little like stepping out of time. Things inside Chef-O-Nette move at their own pace. The atmosphere is quiet and subdued, while the layout and decor don’t seem to have changed much since the restaurant opened in 1955.

Just looking around will reveal the charmingly dated layout and decor: floor partially carpeted and partially covered with formica, long green runner carpets, old school red leather upholstery, latticework walls, neon signs.

My favorite detail of the space are the two U-shaped counters. They stick out into the space at an angle and are surrounded by short-backed red swivel seats. The counter itself is low and wide; a long-legged person like me feels a little crammed sitting in those seats. I love that the open end of each counter leads back into the kitchen, so servers who appear in front of you to take your order or bring your food are standing in a little island.

Chef-O-Nette’s breakfast menu is fairly small. It mainly features the egg/meat/toast combinations, with pancakes and French toast, plus an omelet thrown in for good measure. The waffles aren’t listed on the menu, but there’s a paper sign near the door suggesting them.

I started with a cup of diner coffee. It’s just as you would expect: hot and bitter. I like, though, that they serve it in small cups. Smaller cups are easy to hold in your hand and they cool off faster. Part of me hopes to spend my retirement sitting in an old diner with a cup of coffee like this.

My 4.5-year-old ordered two eggs with sausage patties and toast. All very simple and straightforward. I don’t think the sausage is made in-house, but it was well seasoned. The toast is generously buttered, and the eggs are cooked evenly. At restaurants you frequently see scrambled eggs cooked flat and then folded over itself. So while they’re scrambled, it’s not the typical pile of eggs. This lets them cook the eggs faster, because they’re spread out across the flattop.

I also did the two eggs combination, but of course added bacon and hash browns to it. All good, but nothing blow-your-mind remarkable. Buttered toast, some crisp to the potatoes and the bacon, good eggs. Nothing fancy, but you don’t go to Chef-O-Nette for fancy. You go for simple and filling.

Speaking of filling, I also felt the need to order one of their waffles. Again, simple, and again, likeable.

Even though it isn’t strictly breakfast, I  have to show off Mrs. Bfast w/Nick’s chicken-fried steak, too. I just love how beige this meal is. This is basic comfort food: crispy chicken with white gravy and a scoop of mashed potatoes, plus sides of canned green beans and rolls with butter.

I’ve said many times before that every neighborhood and every small town needs its diner. Well, Upper Arlington, this is yours. Chef-O-Nette has been serving breakfast on the slow-and-steady for nearly six decades now, and there’s no reason to change a thing about it. Families have gathered there over multiple generations, and here’s hoping they’ll continue for many more.

Fun historical note: Chef-O-Nette claims to have the oldest drive-through in America. Owner Harlan Howard has said that he can’t find record of any restaurant serving out a drive-through window (note, not a drive-in) earlier than Chef-O-Nette. Harlan has owned the restaurant for a long time, having inherited it from his father, who bought it in the 60′s. Harlan also says that no one knows the origin of the name Chef-O-Nette; that secret passed away with the first owner.

Barnstormers Grill | Columbus, OH

Barnstormers Grill
2160 W. Case Rd. #13 (map it!)
Columbus, OH 43017
(614) 292-5699
Open Mon-Sat, 7a-3p (bfast served all day!)
Accepts cash and credit/debit
Vegetarian/vegan/gluten free? Y/N/N
Kid-friendly? Y

Date of Visit: Tuesday, May 8, 2012 at 9:20 a.m.

IMPRESSIONS: Oh, how I had loved the idea of The Barnstormer. Breakfast in an airport? Are you kidding me? Two of my favorite things! But alas, it wasn’t meant to be: I visited once in late 2009, had an okay experience, and then the restaurant quietly closed a couple years later. It was a missed opportunity. Until two days ago, when a reader sent me a message saying that the restaurant was re-opened under new management and serving good food! On top of that, the reader pointed out that you can you can go up in the old control tower, now converted into a simple observation deck. Needless to say, less than twenty-four hours after finding this out, I was eating breakfast and watching airplanes with my boys.

ATMOSPHERE: The restaurant space isn’t radically changed, although there are a few more dashes of OSU colors, and it’s brighter overall. Still a lot of aviation-themed decorations. It’s a three-and-a-half-year-old’s dream. (Oh, heck, I loved it, too.) There are plenty of tables scattered throughout the space; only one other was filled while we ate.

FOOD: The menu is simple and straightforward: four omelets (including a vegetarian option), four combination meals, and a kid’s menu. There’s plenty of a la carte items, too. Breakfast is like that. My son chose the Little Flyer: eggs, toast, bacon, and a drink. He didn’t have much of his bacon, so I tried some. Crispy, just the way I like it.

I was in a sausage gravy and biscuits mood (the dish is a new addition to the menu). It came with a heaping side of two eggs and hash browns. This is just one of the plates. Good crispy hash browns, and the eggs were wet enough, although they tasted slightly of that generic diner flattop cooking oil.

And this is the plate of biscuits and gravy. Two dense biscuits halved, covered in gravy. It was perhaps the thickest, meatiest sausage gravy I’ve had. Very dark, and pretty well seasoned.

At $5.75, it’s a lot of food, and a fairly heavy meal.

Our breakfast companion, Bill, ordered the pancakes and gave me a taste. Overall, very good. It was browned well on the grill, but spongy throughout. Good example of diner pancakes.

SERVICE: We were treated very nicely by our server and by owner Jodi Perez. It certainly helped that there weren’t many people in the restaurant, but they were very attentive and our food came out quickly. Our server left this card with us at the end of the meal. I don’t think I’ve seen a breakfast punchcard before!

OVERALL: I think the new management and little makeover for Barnstormer (now renamed Barnstormers Grill) is just what it needed. The space is brighter, the menu is more focused (I’m told they have good burgers for lunch), and it’s a little better connected with the airport itself. The improved food makes me want to return, whereas the previous version didn’t. And knowing more about the airport grounds makes me want to visit every morning. The restaurant is just a small room connected to one of the hangars. This is the view through the service door that leads into it.

Of course the boys and I went exploring afterward. Just outside the door to the restaurant is this entrance to the airport terminal. At the top of the picture is the old control tower, now the observation deck. It’s reachable by a series of short flights of stairs.

But the view from the top is pretty awesome. You’re right next to the runway and the plane “parking” area. There’s a table and chairs, so you could order your breakfast to-go and then come up here. Just sayin’…

Breakfast and some plane-watching made for an enjoyable morning, especially given the company.

Greenville Dinor | Greenville, PA

Greenville Dinor
7 S. Mercer St. (map it!)
Greenville, PA 16125
(724) 588-8820
Open Sun-Wed, 6a-8p; Thurs-Sat, 6a-9p
Accepts cash & credit/debit
Vegetarian/vegan/gluten free? N/N/N
Kid-friendly? Y

Date of Visit: Saturday, December 24, 2011 at 9:00 a.m.

IMPRESSIONS: It’s easy to be mean to small-town diners. I’ll admit, I’ve done it. They’re small, their food is often lowest common denominator, and let’s face it, if  you’re someone who lives in a big city like me, we often smugly enjoy the “quaintness” of small town life. Or we romanticize the feeling that “there aren’t enough of these left in the world!” Despite growing up in a medium-sized city, currently living in a larger one, and often visiting smaller ones, I experience all of these feelings when visiting small-town diners.

Or maybe I’m over-thinking it. Small-town diners are the hub of community and good food, just like any other diner across the country. They mean something to the community, and their charm comes from the rough edges and the little local flair. Okay, I’m over-thinking this. Let’s start again…

On Christmas Eve my brother-in-law and I finally visited a small diner in my wife’s hometown. The Greenville Dinor (yes, it is spelled with an “o” and I don’t know why) has been around for decades, off a side-street in downtown Greenville, just up from their magnificent pre-Depression post office building (see pictures here). We found the entrance to the dinor through a back door off the municipal parking lot.

ATMOSPHERE: The interior is a mix of small diner and dive bar. There’s carpeted floor. Low ceilings. Christmas lights and neon signs. TV sets. A checkered pattern across the counter, with a handful of swiveling stools. At one end of the restaurant is a series of beer coolers.

The main seating is a long row of booths along the front window. On a chilly, slightly snowy Christmas Eve, it was surprisingly cozy.

The front of the menu claims 80 years in business, which is nothing to sneeze at. In addition to breakfast, they serve lunch, dinner, and drinks; the menu brags about sandwiches, burgers, Robbie’s soups, wings, and fish.

FOOD: The one-page breakfast menu has a decent variety of things. I glanced over it too quickly to notice that they actually serve eggs benedict. But they’ve got you covered with omelets, pancakes, French toast, corned beef hash, even chipped beef on toast, which you don’t see that often. The benedict is actually listed under the omelets, which is why I missed it completely.

First order: diner coffee served in those glorious brown mugs. I’m guessing there’s a law somewhere stating that diners must use these mugs for coffee service.

My brother-in-law ordered the eggs benedict, and said he enjoyed it. The egg yolks looked a tad over-done, and the hollandaise a little light, but otherwise it’s a decent version of the dish. Came with some nice crispy hash browns.

I was in more of a combo mood, so I went with pancakes, eggs, and bacon. Easy-to-like pancakes – buttery and browned nicely, they soaked up the syrup. Good scrambled eggs, and the bacon was crispy. I don’t realize this often enough, but I really like bacon that’s crispy, almost to the point of being dry. This bacon hit the spot.

Plus I had more coffee. It was cold and early. Bring it on.

SERVICE: The servers were quick to take our orders and quick to bring it out. Checked in on us frequently. Kept the coffee refills coming. I had that feeling that if I gave them some sass, they’d give it right back.

OVERALL: Between the big city smugness and the small town romanticizing, I’ll land on the side of romanticizing. The Greenville Dinor is a tiny eatery that not many people know about outside of the Shenango Valley in western Pennsylvania, but all the same it has a dedicated clientele who have frequented for decades. I may not rush to visit again the next time we’re in town, but it’s nice to know that it’s there, and that places like this still exist.

OTHER LINKS:

-> listen to Harrod & Funck talk about eating at the Dinor (at the end of the song)

161 Diner | Dublin, OH

161 Diner (Facebook / @WFM_Columbus)
3670 W. Dublin-Granville Rd. (inside Whole Foods Market) (map it!)
Dublin, OH 43017
(614) 760-5556
Open Mon-Fri, 11a-9p, Sat & Sun, 10a-9p (brunch served Sat & Sun, 10a-2p)
Accepts cash & credit/debit
Vegetarian/vegan/gluten free? N/N/N
Kid-friendly? Y

Date of Visit: Saturday, December 17, 2011 at 10 a.m.

IMPRESSIONS: Breakfast in a grocery store? Yes, you read right. Those familiar with Whole Foods Market know that their goal is to create more than just an average shopping experience. Instead, they want to keep you wandering the store for hours, sampling wines, buying gelato, tasting a wood-fired pizza, and more. In short, they are trying to recreate a central city market, in which small cafes or street vendors sell you meals on-the-go while you visit your favorite cheesemonger, butcher, and coffee roaster. Or even while taking your regular spot at your favorite diner counter. Yes, they’ve done even that. Enter the 161 Diner.

ATMOSPHERE: The 161 Diner is indeed a counter inside the Dublin Whole Foods. This WF is the first and largest one in greater Columbus, located in a plaza near the intersection of Sawmill Road and Dublin-Granville Road (Route 161). This means you have to brave the traffic of some of Columbus’ busier thoroughfares, which not everyone is keen to do. You can find the diner on the east side of the store, in the very large prepared foods section. 161 Diner is their version of the American diner, situated amongst Italian food, sushi, pizza, baked goods, and more. Brunch is only served on weekends, and it’s a busy affair. Even though 161 isn’t a traditional diner, it still has its regulars, and the counter stays full.

FOOD: I found a spot at the stainless steel counter and ordered a coffee. I believe they use some of the Whole Foods-brand coffee, but I don’t know for sure. Still, it’s well-brewed – not the acidic “angry water” (as my father-in-law calls it) that you find in most true American diners. Bonus points for serving cold cream with it. I had to search the counter for one of the jars of raw brown sugar. It seems fitting to the type of coffee you’d expect Whole Foods to serve.

I relied on the kitchen staff to suggest unique dishes to eat. They all recommended the sweet potato biscuits first. You don’t see these often enough on breakfast menus, and when they’re done well, they’re great. These very good, although not the best I’ve had. They make use of the sweet potato flavor, although they came out a little on the crunchy side for me.

This is helped by the serving of 365 brand (Whole Foods’ private label brand) jams. A crispy piece of sweet potato biscuit smeared with jam = all right in my book.

For my entree I again relied on the cooks behind the counter, and they all said, “You need to try Danielle’s Meat Cakes.” Um, what? If there’s any phrase that should give you pause in life, it’s “meat cakes.” Danielle’s meat cakes are loaded pancakes – three of them, to be exact – layered with meat, cheddar cheese, topped with strips of bacon, and sprinkled with more cheese. Oh, I’m sorry, does this picture make the dish look small to you?

Maybe this is better. As you would expect, the meat cake is served sizzling and pouring over with goodness. I didn’t even take a picture with the maple syrup (real, mind you) drizzled over the top. In terms of sheer breakfasty flavorfulness, it’s hard not to like it. Pancakes with meat in the batter? Check. Bacon? Check. Cheddar? Check. Crispy fried on the flattop? Check. It’s a breakfast blogger’s dream. Now, is it healthy? Eh… probably not. It’s a lot of food, and a lot of food straight from frying.

SERVICE: In case you were wondering, yes, Danielle, creator of the meat cakes, is a real person, and that’s her cooking my breakfast. All three of the servers working that morning were very friendly and accommodating. The food is all cooked right in front of you, and they clearly have regulars at the counter, even if this is a diner in a different context. That shows you they’re doing something right. A lot of people seemed to come straight to the diner, too. They weren’t dragging grocery carts behind them, just happening to stop for a bite to eat. They came to the store to eat at the diner.

OVERALL: Admittedly, I’m not a regular shopper at Whole Foods. It’s not in my neck of the woods, and the pricing is often beyond my budget. But whether Whole Foods is your grocery store of choice, or not, I think it’s worth at least one trip to the 161 Diner. I tried more of the loaded fair, but there is a lot more to explore: chocolate chip pancakes, prosciutto eggs benedict, even sweet potato biscuits and gravy. The pricing is a couple steps higher than a $4 breakfast platter, but I think the quality and quantity of the food is commensurate. (Sorry, I was jut looking for an excuse to use that word.) Whole Foods is known for well-chosen ingredients, so the construction of their prepared foods is pretty solid as well.

OTHER LINKS:
-> view photos of their updated menu (3/30/12)

Hamburger Inn | Delaware, OH

Hamburger Inn (Facebook)
16 N. Sandusky St. (map it!)
Delaware, OH 43015
(740) 369-3850
Open Mon-Wed, 6a-9p; then open 24 hours from Thurs 6a through Sunday 9p
Accepts cash & credit/debit
Vegetarian/vegan/gluten free? N/N/N
Kid-friendly? Y

IMPRESSIONS: On a recent trip up to Delaware, Ohio, I finally made it to the Hamburger Inn. I’ve gotten many recommendations for it, particularly whenever I ask where to eat breakfast in Delaware. The Hamburger Inn – which is not an inn, to be clear – can be found on the very cool stretch of Sandusky Street in downtown Delaware. Along the strip there are all sorts of shops, galleries, restaurants, coffee shops, offices, and more, including the great Beehive Books, which may or may not carry a certain author’s breakfast book.

You’ll recognize the Hamburger Inn by the two signs out front: the brighter, newer one on the maroon awning, and the older, off-center letters, presumably the original signage on the building. The restaurant falls under one of those “don’t deny your DNA” spots. This comes from Alton Brown’s description of good restaurants: don’t deny what you do. Be honest with your food and your style, and customers will appreciate it properly. It’s all about expectations. The Hamburger Inn may not be the most imaginative restaurant, but it’s an honest-to-goodness old diner, and they do that well.

ATMOSPHERE: The Hamburger Inn is a single-room diner, with two big wooden U-shaped counters that jut out into the room. One side of the restaurant includes the kitchen, with the grill and prep areas. There’s no real counter seat to watch the grill, but you still get the camaraderie of sitting close to or facing your fellow diners. The atmosphere is that of a typical diner: white noise from some TVs, bustle in the kitchen, customers chatting.

FOOD: Being in an old-school diner (since 1932!), I chose the standard diner breakfast. It’s a good way to judge a restaurant. The result: good scrambled eggs, toast soaked in butter, a basic sausage patty, and some soft, sliced potatoes. All good, although the potatoes need some seasoning, and they need to be left on the grill longer. Not quite enough crispy brown edges for my taste. I also had coffee, which qualifies as that special blend of diner coffee: caffeinated, hot, slightly bitter, only partially improved by cream and sugar.

SERVICE: The servers are as nice as you can expect. Hamburger Inn, like all good diners, cultivates its regulars, so while we ate we noticed a number of people walk in, sit down, and be served their “usual.” You don’t get that way without a group of cooks and servers who are kind and welcoming.

OVERALL: As I said earlier, the Hamburger Inn is like most diners in that the food isn’t off-the-charts good, but the building and decor are fun to see, the service is friendly, and the portions are filling. Every good neighborhood or town needs its old diner, and this is clearly Delaware, Ohio’s. This makes it a necessary stop in any exploration.

OTHER LINKS:

Sloopy’s Diner | Columbus, OH

Sloopy’s Diner

1739 N. High St., in the Ohio Union (map it!)

Columbus, OH 43210

(614) 292-7000

Accepts cash, credit/debit, and BuckID

Vegetarian/vegan/gluten free? Y/N/N

Kid-friendly? Y

Date of Visit: Friday, August 5, 2011 at 9:00 a.m.

IMPRESSIONS: Anyone who attends or works at Ohio State is familiar with construction on campus. We live with road closures and new buildings, but we also enjoy the fruits of all that labor. Cases in point: our beautiful renovated library, and our massive new Ohio Union. And a bonus that came with the Union: the designers wisely placed a diner in it.

ATMOSPHERE: Because Sloopy’s is, after all, situated on the campus of THE Ohio State University, you can expect very heavy Buckeye themes. Tile floors, plates, lighting fixtures, booths, signs, countertops, everything is decorated in scarlet and gray. It’s very fitting for a diner, actually.

If you go at mealtimes, especially during the school year, you’re bound to find crowds of students. However, the diner provides a wealth of seating, with two levels of booths, tables, and a looooong row of counter seats. For a diner, it’s pretty spacious.

You also get a big view of the kitchen, so Sloopy’s may not have that crammed-next-to-your-neighbor charm that smaller places like Nancy’s or Jack & Benny’s boast, but it still gives you enough of the diner flare.

FOOD: We started off with some coffee. Notice the checkered scarlet and gray around the cups and plates. Coffee was good diner coffee; bonus points for bringing out a mug of cream automatically.

We had heard tell of their popular cinnamon rolls, too, so we sampled one. It was pretty warm and soft. Definite cream cheese taste in the frosting. Not the best cinnamon roll ever, but I can see why people go for them. It works well as an appetizer for a group.

I haven’t seen too many breakfast sliders on menus, so we had to try one of these, too. It’s essentially a small breakfast sandwich with scrambled eggs and a sausage patty, but then it’s topped with crispy onions and a dash of barbeque sauce. This could make an easy light breakfast (or another appetizer). The ingredients came together well: the onions and a little bit of zest from the sauce sold it.

I ordered the smothered breakfast burrito: a flour tortilla packed with eggs, cheddar, chorizo, black beans, and salsa. I’m a sucker for a good burrito. This wasn’t the most dynamic, but it certainly tasted good and was filling. The chorizo and salsa were pretty flavorful, and you can’t argue with eggs and cheese. Came with a side of nice crispy hash browns.

Here’s the overhead artsy shot of my burrito.

And here’s the No Veggies Here omelet, loaded with bacon, sausage, ham, turkey, and cheese, then covered with black beans, avocado, and more cheese. We chose the side of hash browns. Like the burrito, the dish was delicious and portions were student-sized. You’ll certainly get your fill at Sloopy’s. It’s a wonderful combination of diner + student cafeteria, which means you’ll get a lot of comfort food.

SERVICE: Sloopy’s fully embraces the 1950′s diner theme. The menu is shaped like a record, and you’re of course treated to lots of 50′s rock music while you eat. Although the servers don’t come to your table on roller skates, you’re still treated well. Our service was great: very friendly and welcoming, able to suggest menu items and tell us about the restaurant.

OVERALL: Sloopy‘s has the feel of a deliberately retro-looking diner, so if you’re searching out one of Columbus’ true old-school eateries, this isn’t your place. But as a welcoming and filling breakfast experience, Sloopy’s won’t let you down. I love that the Union designers actually made something of the restaurant, rather than just building another student cafeteria. I recommend trying Sloopy’s, and then taking time to wander the rest of the Ohio Union (plus the newly renovated Thompson Library). It would serve as a great start to a morning of touring campus. (Bonus side note: they serve a breakfast buffet on football game days!)

OTHER LINKS:

-> my (614) Magazine write-up about campus-area breakfasts, including Sloopy’s Diner

Your Guide to Columbus Diners

Out of the many things I love about Columbus, I’m particularly proud of the unique identity every neighborhood embraces. Everywhere you go, you’ll find homes, shops, and restaurants that are the pride of their neighborhood, touted by locals as the very best at what they do. They dare you to find a better place.

Such is especially true for the neighborhood diner.

If you were to compare, side-by-side, the breakfast and lunch offerings of Columbus’ diners, you wouldn’t find tremendous variety between them. You might even be hard pressed to identify whose eggs are whose, whose stuffed french toast is whose, and whose corned beef hash is whose.

But it’s the owners greeting their customers, the regulars seated at the counter, and the long-time servers bustling back and forth that make each place unique. Even if you don’t live in a neighborhood, you can still become a regular at its diner. If you’re looking to become a mainstay somewhere, here’s a beginning guide (no, it’s not complete) to some of Columbus’ old-school eateries.

*****

Warehouse Cafe (DOWNTOWN)
243 N. Fifth St. 43215
Warehouse Cafe is a one-room wood-and-brick joint in northern downtown Columbus, owned by an Albanian family. The food is made fresh and dirt cheap. The only hold-back is the highly acidic and highly caffeinated coffee. Enjoy a cheap plate of eggs, bacon, potatoes, and French toast while you take in the exposed brick walls, big viney plants in the windows, and the overall feel of this old converted warehouse. If you’re in a hurry, order your breakfast to go, as you’ll see much of the downtown working crowd do. [Full Review]

Jack’s Sandwich Shop (DOWNTOWN)
52 E. Lynn St. 43215
Jack’s goal is to show everyone that they DO make diners like they used to. This oldest-of-old school diners has been in its current location since the 1970′s, although the business traces its roots back to the 40′s. While you enjoy a breakfast sandwich or plate of pancakes at the counter, take a look at the original grill. Or just enjoy the old diner decorations, including Coke machines, signs, checkered floors, and owner Chris Kowalski’s delightful holiday decor. Jack’s does its best business with the weekday working crowds, so remember that it’s closed on weekends! [Full Review]

German Village Coffee Shop (GERMAN VILLAGE)
193 Thurman Ave. 43206
The GVCS ranks up there with the cheapest and most buttery breakfasts in Columbus. A slender room with low ceilings and the barest hint of lighting houses a busy little kitchen, a long counter, and a handful of booths. Enjoy a plate of eggs for $2.25, three slices of the most butter-laden (read: delicious) French toast for $2.50, or splurge on a huge omelet for $5.25. Saddle up next to the regulars at the counter before you enjoy a day of strolling around German Village. [Full Review]

Starliner Diner (HILLIARD)
5240 Cemetery Rd. 43026
The American diner meets Cuban cuisine in this restaurant often touted as the best breakfast in Columbus. Named after the owner’s 1960 Ford Starliner, this little find outside the 270 loop features a bright color palette, funky decor like a wall of clocks, and a rockin’ menu of all your diner favorites plus Cuban specialties like huevos rancheros, chiliquiles, and Cuban bread French toast. Every dish packs an array of tastes and aromas, and seasoned Starliner veterans will tell you the most difficult choice is between the old favorites and the daily specials. Probably why the clientele is so fiercely loyal: they’re not done discovering the menu yet, and they’ve liked everything they’ve tried so far. [Full Review]

D K Diner (GRANDVIEW)
1715 West Third Ave. 43212
The “DK” stands for Donut Kitchen, so even if you’re not in the mood for a full breakfast when you visit – which you should be – you can still pick up some of the best donuts in Columbus. Clearly handmade, in small batches, these donuts go fast. But don’t just pick up some pastries to go, stay and try any of the diner favorites, including the DK All the Way – their version of the everything’s-included breakfast platter. Covered in chunky gravy, that is. Enjoy the Grandview schools paraphernalia coating the walls, join the conversation with the group of retirees who have been sitting at the same table for decades, and then snag a dozen donuts on your way out the door. [Full Review]

Nancy’s Home Cooking (CLINTONVILLE)
3313 N. High St. 43202
Nancy’s has the distinction of closing up shop in June 2009 and then coming back to life, with the help of the Clintonville community, in February 2010. The new incarnation looks, feels, and tastes mostly like the original diner of forty years, although hardcore enthusiasts can tell the difference. Although Nancy’s changed hands within the family, the customers still return for eggs, potatoes, garbage omelets, and chicken and noodles. It’s a bustling diner with a colorful history, and it still offers your greasy spoon favorites if you’re in the mood and in the area. [Full Review]

Beechwold Diner (BEECHWOLD)
4408 Indianola Ave. 43214
Rising out of the ashes of the former Rube’s Diner – a hole-in-the-wall greasy spoon if there every was one – the Beechwold Diner joined the ranks of Columbus diners in January 2010. Clearly it fills a niche, as almost instantly the place was packed with regulars. Bland colors give way to new stainless steel everything, with plenty of seating at the new counter. The menu features the diner favorites, all made by one of the cooks from Rube’s. [Full Review]

Jack & Benny’s (OSU CAMPUS/OLD NORTH COLUMBUS)
2563 N. High St. 43202
Jack and Benny’s is on the list of the ten things every Ohio State student needs to do before graduating. Breakfast at J&B’s (perhaps hungover) may be required noshing for every college student, but it’s also a must-visit for any Columbusite, at least once. Sidle up in the old corner space on Hudson and High Streets, with a row of booths and old counter stools that are almost too small for anyone over 5’5″. One wall is plastered with pictures of Jim Tressel, Woody Hayes, and other OSU sports celebrities. Try the Buckeye pancakes, with peanut butter and chocolate chips, or soak up last night’s party with a Gutbuster: eggs, meat, potatoes, and cheese in various forms, stacked together and drowned in gravy. [Full Review]

Hang Over Easy (OSU CAMPUS)
1646 Neil Ave. 43201
It’s easy to dismiss Hang Over Easy as a place just for college students to recover from last night’s partying, especially when dish names include Struggling to Get Up, the Ultimate Hangover Cure, Menage a Trois, or Morning Wood. But a quick look around reveals the appeal to a broader clientele: students, university employees, and neighborhood locals alike gather for breakfast served all day. The menu appeals to nearly everyone by loading plates with breakfast favorites like omelets, skillets, stuffed French toast, and house made corned beef hash. [Full Review]

Buckeye Donuts (OSU CAMPUS) **NEW**
1998 N. High St. 43201
Okay, so yes, Buckeye Donuts is not strictly a diner. Half its business comes from selling trays of buttermilk donuts, Bismarcks, and jelly-filled goodness. But the key markers of a diner are there: small counter with swiveling stools, kitschy paraphernalia like Ohio State gear, pictures of James Dean, and black and white photos of the eatery’s early days. The breakfast menu, while not extensive, offers you a range of breakfast sandwiches, French toast, or a platter of eggs, bacon, hash browns, and toast. Like Jack & Benny’s, Buckeye Donuts is an institution, keeping Ohio State students and alumni fed for over forty years, twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year. [Full Review]

Daybreak Diner (LINDEN)
1168 E. Weber Rd. 43211
Daybreak is one of the new kids on the block in the Columbus diner scene. Owner Bill Kinniard is fulfilling his dream of running his own diner, and he’s already drawn a crowd of regulars. He cooks up a solid menu of breakfast mainstays – including some very good hash browns – but he also surprises with more unique fare like breakfast fried rice, cheeseburger omelets, and Captain Crunch French toast. [Full Review]

Fitzy’s Old Fashioned Diner (WORTHINGTON)
1487 Schrock Rd. 43229
One of Columbus’ few 24-hour diners, Fitzy’s lies off the beaten path up in Worthington. It serves a mixed clientele of the late-night bar-goers, local college students, and the old folks who gather for a quiet breakfast in the morning. The diner is both welcoming and a little rough around the edges. It’s single-page breakfast menu covers all of your favorites, plus a couple unusual dishes (bologna and eggs, anyone?). Expect to be well-fed: a typical breakfast takes 2-3 plates to carry all of your food. [Full Review]

The Best Breakfast & Sandwiches (WESTERVILLE)
5916 Westerville Rd. 43081
Like all good diners, Best Breakfast & Sandwiches is a little hard to find, tucked in the back section of a strip mall off Westerville Road. As one of the few places that lives up to the name “The Best,” this little diner, owned by husband and wife duo Tom and Jan Spangler, serves up made-from-scratch breakfasts and lunches, fresh-baked breads, and house-made cinnamon buns. But the biggest selling points? The welcoming service and Cheers-like camaraderie you’ll find in their clientele. [Full Review]

Gena’s Restaurant (WESTERVILLE)
5947 S. Sunbury Rd. 43081
It’s the little diner that could! A small, one-room diner in Westerville, just east of the 270 loop, that makes all the standards, but boasts the “Greatest American Pecan Roll” and a three-pancake challenge that only fourteen people have conquered over the years. It’s a great place to be if you’re hungry for a monstrous breakfast. [Full Review]

Tommy’s Diner (FRANKLINTON)
914 W. Broad St. 43222
Tommy’s is another classic with a loyal clientele, serving customers for over twenty years in Franklinton, just west of downtown Columbus. Go to Tommy’s to see what diners should look like: neon signs, black and white checkered floor, vinyl booth seats, swivelly stools around the counter, and local knick-knacks flung around. Say hi to Tommy at the register. Try some of the Greek specialties on the menu, in homage to his heritage. Then become famous enough to get Tommy to put a picture of you and him on the wall near the front door. [Full Review]

Dan’s Drive-In (SOUTH SIDE)
1881 S. High St. 43207
Dan’s Drive-In is an old school diner… made to look like an old-school diner. It’s been around since the 1950′s – and claims to be Columbus’ first drive-in – but recent owners repaired and refurbished it to look as it once did. The result is a glossy take on the old American diner, but their food, service, and overall look still make it a worthy stop on any Columbus diner tour. [Full Review]

*****

So there’s your starting point for a Columbus diner tour. Of course, there are some missing from the list. Diners are hidden treasures, and undoubtedly I’ve missed a few. And there are plenty that I know about but just haven’t visited yet, so look for updates soon!

Risser’s Family Restaurant | Womelsdorf, PA

Risser’s Family Restaurant (Facebook)
4055 Conrad Wesier Parkway (map it!)
Womelsdorf, PA 10567
(610) 589-4570
Open Tues-Sat, 6:00 am – 7:30 pm; Sun, 6:00 am – 1:30 pm
Accepts cash & credit/debit
Vegetarian/vegan/gluten free? Y/N/N
Kid-friendly? Y

Date of Visit: Sunday, November 7, 2010 at 9:00 a.m.

IMPRESSIONS: The “family restaurant.” Now there’s a phrase packed with connotations! What does it bring to mind for you? For me, it recalls small one-off restaurants. Found in small towns around America. Usually close to highways. Definitely family-friendly. Often crowded with regulars. Serving one or two regional specialties but otherwise generally decent food. Family restaurants are close to diners, but bigger. Larger dining rooms. More room for big groups and buffet lines. Many of them, like Ernie Risser’s Family Restaurant, have a small diner side – if you want that type of experience – plus an extensive dining room if the whole family’s come to dine.

ATMOSPHERE: When it comes to the definition of family restaurants, Risser’s is all of the above. Some of my wife’s family is from eastern Pennsylvania, and they discovered it on a visit, parked along Highway 422 between the small towns of Womelsdorf and Myerstown. (Can we say German influences?)

On our visit, we opted for the diner side of things. Truly a tight squeeze. Small stools at the counter, snug little booths. Shiny chrome here and there. Sassy servers.

But the dining room offers more open seating and room for big families. (We returned on a later trip with a group of 15; they easily tucked us into the dining room.)

FOOD: Risser’s gives you all the family restaurant breakfast favorites: eggs, home fries, omelets, French toast, sausage gravy and biscuits. Plus a few not-as-common things: pancakes (called “hotcakes”) loaded with all sorts of fruit. Not just blueberries, but apples and cherries, too. Or there’s the dried chipped beef on toast (aka, an SOS). But no scrapple on the menu.

As we were visiting in the fall, they had a couple seasonal favorites on their specials menu. These include the apple hotcakes, which have apples and cinnamon in them, and the pumpkin pancakes, which are what you’d expect. Or you can go all harvest-crazy and do the autumn hotcakes: apples and cinnamon in… wait for it… pumpkin pancakes.

Good diner coffee. I like the big blue mugs.

We tried the sausage gravy casserole: two eggs, cheddar cheese, home fries, coated in gravy. Sure, it was good. Chunky potatoes. Mostly flavorful gravy. Nothing to write home about, but if you’re a fan of the little-bit-of-everything dishes, this your guy.

Here’s the creamed dried beef on toast. Pretty rich gravy drowning the toast. Nice meaty chunks. But nothing amazing.

A plain old blueberry pancake for my son. Big blueberries. A small lake of melted butter.

And of course, we had to have the autumn hotcakes. Not the greatest pancakes ever, but there’s really nothing to dislike here. I mean, come on… tasty pumpkin pancakes, chunks of apples baked into them, generous dusting of cinnamon sugar, plus a melted pad of butter. Oh, and you pour syrup on it. They’re fitting for the season: warm, sweet, and filling.

SERVICE: Our server was great. The right amount of sass, tempered by quick coffee refills and fast turnaround on our order.

Oh, and this is another mainstay of the family restaurant: the paper place mat with local advertisers.

OVERALL: If you’re traveling down Route 422 in rural eastern Pennsylvania, find a way to stop at Risser’s. It’s good road food – like the Kumm Esse Diner down the road – that offers you a few specialties in the midst of an otherwise ordinary, but solid, breakfast.

OTHER LINKS:

Time To Eat Diner | Bridgewater, NJ

Time To Eat Diner
270 Route 202/206 North (map it!)
Bridgewater, NJ 08807
(908) 704-9221
Open Mon-Fri, 5 am – 3 am; Sat & Sun open 24 hours
Accepts cash and credit/debit
Vegetarian/vegan/gluten free? Y/N/N
Kid friendly? Y

Date of Visit: Friday, November 5, 2010 at 9:30 a.m.

IMPRESSIONS: In northern New Jersey for a family wedding, we needed some sustenance. One part of being the resident food blogger in the group is that everyone will turn to you when looking for breakfast, even if you’ve never been to the city before. Fortunately, my wife and I triangulated reviews between Yelp, Urbanspoon, and Google and came up with the Time To Eat Diner.

Time To Eat is like many of those roadside diners that capture some sense of the small diner, while still being built out enough to accommodate large groups. It’s the diner + the dining room. You can have your sit-at-the-counter, flashy-chrome diner experience, or you can have the plusher big family dining room experience.

ATMOSPHERE: Kudos to the Time to Eat crew for being able to accommodate such a large group. They stacked together a bunch of tables in the back of the dining room and gave us a harried server.

The atmosphere is just what you would expect. Small booths, kitschy 50′s memorabilia, and that just-off-the-highway feeling. It makes me think of the Broadway Diner in Baltimore.

Plenty of Elvis.

And Elvis guitars and Elvis clocks.

FOOD: I get a little nervous when I see menus like Time To Eat’s. They’re like a short novel. Pages and pages of items. It gets hard to sift through, even if breakfast only takes up three of those pages. I think of this as the Cheesecake Factory syndrome, in which the menu is so huge that you know there’s no way all that food didn’t just come out of a freezer. Because we had a big group, we ordered a big variety of things. Some hit and miss.

First off, coffee. Very good. A step up from the standard diner coffee. I liked the big mugs, and the individual serving plates with spoon and creamer. Also scoring points for the diner: colorful dishware. I like seeing that.

I tried the Sampler: two eggs, hash browns, bacon, sausage, pork roll, toast. Eggs were fine. The hash browns were okay, a little on the mushy side. Bacon, fine. Sausage, very good. Reminded me of English sausage: a little more plump. I ordered this dish partially out of curiosity over the pork roll. I’ve never encountered that on a menu before, nor have I seen taylor ham (also on the menu). I asked our server to clarify, and she said they are basically the same thing, and that they’re both essentially country ham. So: pork roll = taylor ham = country ham = salted ham.

My wife ordered the Eggs Benedict Florentine. It came with a side of hash browns. It was okay, but there was definitely a funny taste to the spinach and the hash browns. Almost metallic. A little off-putting.

Everyone’s toast came together in a basket. I find this charming because it reminds me of toast racks typical of an English breakfast. But it also confuses me, because I didn’t know whose toast was whose.

Also ordered a side of Potato Pancakes with sour cream. These were pretty good: crispy outside, warm inside.

Er… an omelet. I forget which one. Like I said, a lot of dishes…

The Toasted Bagel with Lox. This was a definite hit.

Breakfast burrito with all the accoutrement.

Country Fried Steak & Two Eggs. I had a taste of this, and it was quite good. I wish I had ordered this instead of the Sampler. I loves me some country fried steak.

Crepes! Sweet and tasty. Canned fruit filling.

Pancakes! Sausage! Eggs!

A veggie omelet!

Corned Beef Hash, with eggs and potatoes.

 

Lots of combos! French toast, eggs, sausage…

…or pancakes…

…or bacon!

SERVICE: Our server did a very good job, considering she had such a large group all to herself. She seemed pretty harried, but all told, the food came quickly and she got all of the orders exactly right.

OVERALL: I don’t know when I’ll next be in Northern Jersey. If I am, I don’t know if I’d stop at Time To Eat again. I think it’s worth at least one visit: the location is interesting (although a little hard to get to if you don’t know the local highways), the service is great, and I guess there’s enough variety on the menu that you’re bound to find something you’ll like. But I think the so-so dishes, especially the eggs benedict florentine, left me feeling like one visit is enough for me.

OTHER LINKS: