classic diner breakfast
I like to go out for breakfast once in a while.
It’s fun to sit in the booth and have the server come by an fill my cup with hot coffee and take our drink order. We get to talk (me and my Reason-For-Living, not the server) and relax. The mess is not in my kitchen.
I have had breakfast out in a lot of places, and I am not talking about McDonald’s, Burger King, Chick-Fil-A (chicken for breakfast), or even Dunkin’ Donuts (egg whites on flat bread, no donuts). I mean places that actually resemble a restaurant more than a drive by eatery.
ihop's rooty tooty fresh 'n' fruity
The place I think of as “all breakfast all the time” is International House of Pancakes. “Come Hungry, Leave Happy” they say. Of course they have meals other than breakfast on their menus now, but it is their pancakes we go there for. Or rather did. There were once two within 3 miles but now the nearest if nearly 8 miles away. One is just gone, building and all, and the other is something called Shirley’s Family Diner (not been there yet). Those two really won’t be missed because their quality of service had fallen off badly in recent years anyway. But the food was still IHOP: pancakes, waffles, those little syrup pourers with flavored syrup (strawberry was always my favorite). To me, the quitessential IHOP platter was the Rooty Tooty Fresh ’N Fruity: “Two eggs, two bacon strips, two pork sausage links and two buttermilk pancakes crowned with cool strawberry topping, warm blueberry or cinnamon apple compote and whipped topping.” So much food and the name! What a great name.
denny's grand slam breakfast
Denny’s is the next place for breakfast. Denny’s began in Lakewood, Calif. in 1953 as a donut stand. By 1959, donuts were off the menu and sandwiches and other entrees were added. It’s a full service family restaurant now with over 1500 stores. But it still serves and features breakfast. They have a normal assortment of omelettes, scrambles, meat and egg platters (love the t-bone and eggs), and sandwiches. What they are best know for is their assortment of “Slams.” A slam is a breakfast with about everything you want. They have prepackaged slams like the Lumberjack Slam, but their signature dish is the Grand Slam: “Make it your own by picking any FOUR items out of our ten choices. Eggs* (Two), Sausage Links (Two), Hash Browns, Bacon Strips (Two), Pancakes (Two), Slices of Toast (Two), Creamy Grits, Buttermilk, Biscuit, Oatmeal, English Muffin.” Then you can add up to two more items from that list for an additional charge. Sadly, the nearest one to us is more than 8 miles away in the opposite direction from the IHOP.
cracker barrel tee puzzle
When we are on the road, we like to stop at the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store and Restaurant. My son and I were on a cross-country and we stopped for the night just west of St. Louis. We found our way down to the Cracker Barrel for supper and there at the next table was a big birthday party. The honoree was clearly not the 70 year old woman who was running things; it was her 95 year old mother! I talked to the daughter and asked her: Mom is 95, why not the ballroom at the St. Louis Sheraton downtown? “Because this is where Mom wanted to celebrate.” And why not? It’s a fun place to eat. The meals are wholesome and homestyle. The front porch, and they do have one of those, is lined with rocking chairs (which you can purchase) and checkerboard barrels (ditto). On every table is one of those little golf tee games to drive you nuts while you wait for your meal to arrive. If you have to wait for a table, you can shop in the little country store full of knick-knacks I really have no use for, have from time to time felt compelled to buy.
cracker barrel's sunrise sampler
They have a full menu, but I always order their breakfast and my favorite is the Sunrise Sampler: “Three Buttermilk Pancakes loaded with pecans and served with real Butter and a warm bottle of with Wild Maine Blueberries, Two Eggs cooked to order (over easy, thank you) with Grits (I don’t eat those), Sawmill Gravy, Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits, real Butter and the best Preserves, Jam n’ Apple Butter (on request) we could find, Fried Apples and Hashbrown Casserole and a Sampling of Smoked Sausage, Country Ham, and Thick Sliced Bacon.” Cracker Barrel is more of a “on-the-road” place for us. The nearest one is about 35 miles away. There is one near my mom’s house, but unless I feel like going to see Mom just to catch Cracker Barrel, it’s not really convenient. When we travel though, Cracker Barrel is the place.
the diner diner -- baltimore's hollywood diner
Within walking distance, we have a Friendly’s (an ice cream shop really), a Sam’s Bagels (not a sit-down place), and various coffee shops. A short drive or a long walk, though, is the quintessential Baltimore experience. The Diner: Director Barry Levinson really put Baltimore’s diners on the map in his 1982 movie Diner. You can still visit that diner, the Hollywood Diner (now the home of Crema Coffee Co.), downtown within a couple of blocks of City Hall. There are numerous others: the Bel-Loc, the Paper Moon, Pikes, and more. There are also some national chain diners like the Silver Diner or newcomers to the scene like the one that took over the old IHOP, Shirley’s Family Diner.
yous is always welcome in balmer, hon.
In this town, the word Hon is not so much a term of endearment as it is a punctuation mark. And they people who are most known for it are the Diner waitresses. “Can I take yer order, hon?” Bouffant hairdo, waitress uniform, order pad in hand, they are ready to help you. Honestly, I would need an entire post to talk about the Balmer Hon experience. My favorite is a short drive or long walk from my front door: The Double-T Diner. The Double -T started right here in my town and has since expanded to several other Baltimore suburbs, even out to Frederick. Their menu is thick with literally hundreds of choice. They recently posted their menu online! Hooray! I suppose my favorite breakfast platter is their Florentine Omelette — Spinach & Feta Cheese (I usually ask them to put some cherry tomatoes on it too.), with sides of Turkey bacon and pita bread.
But you can always order breakfast a la carte, and I often do because there is nothing they don’t seem to have: eggs, pancakes, (the best) waffles, french toast, steak, pork chops, salmon, (haven’t tried to order chicken for breakfast there), ham, bacon (regular and Canadian), and on and on. I like to go there for dinner and get their breakfast because it is just as good at 8 PM as it is at 8 AM. Oh and they are open 24/7. So if I am jonesing for an omelette at 3 AM, some Hon will be there to serve me.
Breakfast at the Double-T. See you there, Hon.
