Dinerwood on the Road: Penny's Diner, Yermo California

Yermo California might be the most depressing town I have ever seen. On my way back from Vegas last month I decided to take the scenic route through the town. I had never seen so many abandoned and boarded up homes in all my life. It was like wandering through a town in Fallout 3.

Yermo does have two saving graces though--the two diners located right off the freeway exit. They are Peggy Sue's Diner which I reviewed last year and Penny's Diner. Well, maybe Penny's isn't so much a "saving grace" as it is a "decent option if Peggy Sue's is not available."



I do like that Penny's is a classic art-deco chrome diner. There are not a lot of those left out here in California. Stylistically alone, I give it points.



I think this is where the Yermo locals eat, leaving Peggy Sue's to the tourists.

I asked about the Dody's Vegas Jack sandwich. The waitress--a sweet girl--had no idea what I was talking about, so I showed her the menu. Apparently she had never seen anyone order it. Bad sign, maybe? But it was just a turkey melt with some green pepper, I don't know how that could go wrong. I ordered it and then got to overhear the cook asking what was on it and how to make it. Seriously, NO ONE had ever ordered this sandwich? An older waitress--sweet girl's mom--had to explain how it was made.



I got the sandwich before too long. It was okay. The cook forgot the green peppers... which is kind of the thing that would make it not just a turkey melt? I bet it would have been good with the peppers. Oh well. I thought the number of french fries on the plate looked puny, but they tasted all right.



I also got a slice of apple pie at Penny's. They had some homemade looking pastries on the counter and I could see some pies in a case behind that so I got my hopes. They were dashed when I saw in the reflection of the case a store sticker on top of the plastic lid of the pie. Meh, it was supermarket apple pie--dusty crust and nothing to taste but cinnamon.

Across the street, Peggy Sue's is this spectacle that harkens back to the old days of road-side attractions, while Penny's Diner is just there for you to get some food and move on from the most depressing town I've ever seen.


Food: Okay.
Price: $5-$10
Service: Friendly.
Pie: Yes...store bought.

Penny's Diner
35450
Yermo Rd, Yermo, CA 92398
(760) 254-1148

Arthur's - GREATEST FOOD IN TOWN! Well...kind of.

While we were at Ozzie's the other weekend, Tony recommended Arthur's as another great breakfast place. So last weekend when #1Diner Companion Antoinette and I were looking for a place to go to breakfast, I googled it. As it turns out it, Arthur's is only a few miles down the road from Ozzie's.



I was a little hesitant when I saw that they have a drive-through. That's a burger joint thing and I am not in the business of going to burger joints. "If we have to order at a counter, we're walking out," I informed Antoinette. I am snobby about my diner reviewing.



I was relieved when we walked inside. Thankfully, there was no back-lit sign that I had to crane my neck up to read. Chairs lined the counter rather than the counter having a line. Looking at it more closely, I think it had to have been a burger joint at some time in its history: the drive-through first of all, it's very cramped inside, and the kitchen is partially exposed.

A benefit of being in such a small space is that your waitress is never more than ten feet from you. Eating in such close proximity to everyone else also lets you in on their conversations. If it weren't for this, we wouldn't have known that Arthur himself (or Art, as his regulars call him) was there this morning chatting up the diners. He's a sweet looking old man with two hearing aids and flair for jokes. Dirty ones, I assumed, since he'd lean in close to give the punchline.



It's a pretty standard menu that covers the basics. There were two things that really stood out: the price, which I expected it to be a lot cheaper, and the lack of spell check used on the menu. It's like an Easter egg hunt spotting all the typos. "Squueesed."

They also have a fake or rather "exact duplicate" of an Orange Julius on the menu.



The is a weird thing worth noting--in small type at the bottom they tell you that they charge a fee for using your credit card. I had a sense of goodwill toward Arthur's because y'know, old man/dirty jokes, that's pretty cool--but this was borderline.

I'd reserve final judgement for the food. I ordered the french toast breakfast with polish sausage and a side of biscuits and bacon gravy (supposedly a house speciality). Antoinette ordered the turkey salad sandwich on raisin nut bread with a side of fries.

The turkey salad sandwich was exquisite. Quality chunks of white meat that wasn't drowned in mayonnaise. The toasted raisin bread was perfect. The french fries had an excellent crispy to potato flavor ratio.

The french toast and the eggs were nothing to crow about. They were decent--basically what you'd make at home. The polish sausage, however, was delicious. I did have sausage burps for the rest of the day-- but hey if you really like that flavor, it will stay with you.



The biscuits and gravy were very good. The gravy was smooth, not lumpy, and we could taste the bacon grease. That sounds kind of gross, but it really is good! The biscuits are small and dense. They bake them continuously and pop them straight from the oven and into a bucket. The waitresses come by and scoop them out and onto a plate.

Arthur's Restaurant was good. It had a cozy, familial atmosphere that we both really appreciated. The prices and the odd charge card fee practice were given context when Arthur (I can't call him Art, yet) was asked by a patron how business was doing. In that "greatest generation" way he sort of shrugged and talked about not losing money, not making money, only breaking even. Little places like this operate on the razor's edge and need the support of people who appreciate real, classic American food.

If that is not enough to entice you, there's always the prospect that Arthur might tell you a dirty joke or two.

Food: Good.
Price: $6.95-$10.95
Service: Good.
Pie: No pie.

P.S.

After I told Tony that we went to Arthur's for breakfast, he got really mad. "Dude why didn't you call? I live right by there. I would have met you."

"Sorry. Wait...don't live in Orange County?"

"Yeah?"

Apparently, there are TWO Arthur's. Art gets around!

Arthur's GREATEST FOOD IN TOWN

8813 Lakewood Blvd

Downey, CA 90240

562 869-9189

And the other location-

Arthur's Coffee Shop GREATEST BREAKFAST IN TOWN

1281 E La Habra Blvd

La Habra, CA 90631

562 691-7793

Added-
Apparently that wasn't the place Tony was talking about either. There is a THIRD Arthur's and this one is also located in the OC. However, the logo is different and the menu is much fancier. I expect it is not the same restaurant family... or is it? Perhaps there is a story there. Maybe this third restaurant is old Arthur's son's place. He wanted to take the diner dynasty in a new direction but Arthur clung to the old ways, the simpler way of a simpler time. They had a bitter falling out when Art Jr. ran off with the third Mrs. Arthur, a vivacious starlet who Art Sr. hoped would take care of him in his twilight years. The harlot and the ungrateful son had planned on the shock and heartbreak to be enough to kill Art Sr., but they knew nothing of the fire and vigor that rested in the old man's guts. He survived and now battles for the heart and soul of the Arthur's name.

Wow, this makes this so much more than a diner review and more like a Raymond Chandler novel.

Colonial Kitchen--Kitsch-en

Going to the Colonial Kitchen in San Marino was just like visiting my grandmother's house. Well, not my grandmother's house, because mine is a crazy hoarder. It was more like visiting your grandmother's house.

There are glass display cases with ceramic figurines and a grandfather clock...



useless books laying about...



a gift shop selling necklaces and...stuff...



a hidden away Elvis dining room...

And this... hanging on the wall. Just like your grandma's house.

It's clear to see that Colonial Kitchen is a bit of a design mystery. It's folksy and homey and loves Elvis and has weird stuff everywhere. The overstuffed booths are covered in green leathery upholstery that reminds me more of an Italian restaurant than a diner. The low mood lighting and fixtures do the same.



#1Diner Companion Antoinette and I met up with our friends Lidia and Josh for breakfast one morning. We arrived around ten and had to wait just a minute for a table. Sadly, they were not seating in the Elvis room at this time. I think it's just for special occasions.

The menu had an odd habit of placing quotation marks on parts of the titles of the dishes. For example, the menu listed "The 'Reuben' sandwich" which was right next to "The Hot Beef" sandwich.



Antoinette ordered a turkey sandwich with a side of potato salad. The sandwich was good. It was very thick and didn't skimp on the meat. The potato salad was odd. It was all potato and mayonnaise. No egg at all. It didn't taste bad, it just tasted weird. I actually HATE potato salad with too much of an egg taste, but this was just wrong.

Lidia and Josh split the Belgian Waffle breakfast. It was pretty standard. The bacon stood out as being pretty good.

I ordered the Louisiana omelet. Much like my 1961 cookbook "What Cooks in Suburbia" has a recipe for a sweet and sour sauce which is basically ketchup and more sugar, Colonial Kitchen thinks "Louisiana" is just a place holder for "spicy." The omelet was good, mind you, it just had very little to do with Louisiana. Oddly, it was served with salsa and green chiles, y'know, staples of the southern diet, with a slice of Swiss cheese over the egg. The sausage inside the omelet was at least an actual hot link, so the name wasn't a total misnomer.

The hash browns were really disappointing. They were chewy and lumpy. Apparently, this is a style of hash browns known as "Cafeteria." This comes from cooking a lot of potatoes all at once and then keeping them warm for an extended period time. The starch from the potatoes gets all sticky and gross over time.

Colonial Kitchen is a little disappointing in the food department. In the "WTF" department, it gets a solid 'A.' I can't really give it positive recommendation though. It's fun to go there for the kitsch and the possibility of dining in the Elvis room, but otherwise it is an easy skip.

Food: Okay.
Service: Okay.
Price: $6.95-$9.95
Pie: Yes.

Colonial Kitchen
1110 Huntington Dr
San Marino, CA 91108

(626) 289-2449

Silver Spoons: West Hollywood. - Closed

I don't do West Hollywood. It's a big 'ole hassle of a neighborhood full of parking permits, douchey stores, and crowded clubs where I don't like the music and nobody asks me to dance. I have no reason to ever go there.

While looking for a diner in Beverly Hills one Saturday morning, we found the google maps directions woefully unhelpful at navigating the ridiculousness of the area. We gave up and headed back to the east side via Santa Monica Blvd.

#1DC Antoinette's eagle-eye noticed the sign for "Silver Spoons." Because I was speeding by in order to get back into familiar territory, I had to flip the car around to get into the parking lot. Now, a dedicated parking lot in this area of town speaks to the length of time Silver Spoons must have been around.

Sorry about the lack of a photo of the sign for Silver Spoons. For some reason, the picture I took with the digital camera didn't turn out. The sign is pretty massive and cool and I must have driven past it dozens of times and missed it somehow. Instead, here's the title shot from the classic 80s sitcom:

Walking up to the building, I was full of trepidation. It was boxy and uninviting, almost built like a fortress. A canopy covered what I assumed was a patio that somehow served to make the building even more closed-off--like a turtle in a shell.

Once inside, the feeling immediately washed away as the first sound we heard was the hearty laughter of a man and background smatterings of lively conversation. Turning the corner to face the counter, we saw that the laughter belonged to one of the waiters who then approached us.

He had the look of a career waiter. Not passing time while waiting for pilot season and not broken down after twenty or so pilot seasons had passed. This man clearly loved being a waiter and he showed genuine care and friendliness.

Man, I look like crap in that picture. Anyway, the walls of Silver Spoons are adorned with movie posters and head shots. Head shots are fairly common in Los Angeles, but full on posters (most of them autographed) is unique. A lot the signatures are personalized to Silver Spoons, making me think this place is even more of a Hollywood landmark than I had imagined.
If you glance over my shoulder on the left, you'll see a poster for an Ice Cube movie. Remember Ice Cube from such powerful performances as "Boys in the Hood" and "Three Kings?" Also remember Ice Cube from such films as, "Are We There Yet" and "Barbershop 2: Back in Business?" He's all over the place in terms of quality, but that poster there represents a new low for anyone. That poster is for:

Now, too small to see on the poster is the name of the director. The director:

Fred Durst.

This was the snippet of conversation we overheard going on behind us when the patrons at the table located under that poster asked the waiter about it.

Patron: Like the Limp Bizkit guy?

Waiter: Yeah.

Patron: Did he do the soundtrack?

Waiter: No. He directed it.

Patron: He's a director?

Waiter: Yes. He just finished his second movie. He comes in all the time. He's a friend.

Patron:...Oh.

As we looked over the menu, nothing really jumped out at us. No moment of "Hmmm, that sounds interesting." Silver Spoons offers very standard fare--nothing you couldn't get at Astro Family Restaurant or a Spires or any number of other similar restaurants. The prices aren't going to kill you nor are they going to save your soul.

Antoinette ordered the patty melt with fries and coleslaw. The rye bread was really good, as were the fries, which even retained a hint of real potato flavor. Antoinette thought the onions could have been grilled a bit longer. I thought the patty melt didn't have enough cheese, while Antoinette thought it had too much...That probably means it had a perfect amount of cheese.



I ordered the "old fashioned sandwich," which is turkey, ham, and thousand island dressing. It was pretty good. The dressing was slathered on, but wasn't overwhelming to the point of not being able to pick up the sandwich.

Now the coleslaw; I first found it bland, but Antoinette noticed an odd flavor to it. It took me several tastes and some time, but I eventually realized that the coleslaw had the distinct flavor of old cantaloupe. It wasn't gross by any means; it was just weird.

The meal at Silver Spoons was decent. It's a nice, comfortable place with big booths, dark wood interior that makes you feel you're in a nicer place than you are, and a good staff to bolster that feeling. I'd recommend it if you are nearby and looking for American comfort food, or if you want to see some cool movie posters and maybe a celebrity. Here's a link to the "Seeing Stars" website page about the restaurant. Stalk away creepos!



Food: Decent.
Service: Hearty Laughter!
Price: A little high.
Pie: Check out the revolving dessert case by the front counter.

8171 Santa Monica Blvd.

West Hollywood, CA 90046

(323) 650-4890

UPDATE- Silver Spoons closed back in 2011 and is now a seafood restaurant.

Flappy Jack's Pancake House: Get your kicks and your pancakes on Route 66.

Route 66 is the most iconic roadway in the country, maybe the world. It has a long time feud going with a very jealous Autobahn. Numerous songs have been written about Route 66 and it even starred in its own tv show. The Autobahn only has one song. And although Route 66 probably runs over its fair share of ancient Indian burial grounds, it still holds the moral high ground over its Germanic foe. And somewhere a punch-drunk Silk Road is wondering 'what happened?'
Number One Diner Companion Antoinette and I went for a drive down historic Route 66 looking for a breakfast joint. Once the bloodline of travel through the southwest, the 66 is now bypassed by most in favor of the freeways. The closer you are to civilization, the more common it becomes with strip malls, Jiffy Lubes and other trappings of the suburbs. Although traffic has changed, we knew that a classic eatery must be along this legendary road.

When I saw the sign for Flappy Jack’s, I knew we need not travel farther. This felt good. This felt right. Then when I saw the crowd of people outside, about 20 to 30 strong, I felt really annoyed.

Lots of people waiting could mean a few things: maybe the food is really good; maybe the service sucks or they are overwhelmed; maybe the after-church crowd is just really lazy and doesn't want to eat that far away after visiting God's House.
I ducked inside while #1DC Antoinette parked the car. I asked about the wait and was told 30 minutes. I put my name in and was handed a restaurant beeper.

I am not a fan of restaurant beepers. Ingenious idea for an Outback or a Red Lobster, it's practical but impersonal. I want someone to have to shout out my name and look anxiously around for a minute to see if anyone responds. I want someone to then look annoyed and peer around after shouting out my name a second time before I respond. This is what I like.

After waiting the full thirty minutes and looking over the window menu time and time again, I went back inside. Just as I was about to ask how much longer it would be, the beeper—which did not beep—flashed its red LED lights and vibrated in my hand. I felt like I had just won something. I had just won not having to wait anymore.

The walls of Flappy Jack’s are painted with scenes of the high points of Route 66: woody station wagons, car hops and...Al Capone.


Having had more than enough time to look over the menu, ordering was easy. At the window menu, my mind might have changed a dozen times, but one thing was for sure: I knew I had to get pancakes. It's a pancake house, after all. The only problem was, what kind? I thought the strawberry stuffed pancakes would be a winner. Or maybe the bacon pancakes? Then when we sat down I saw the placard for the seasonal Pumpkin Nut pancakes! Seasonal pancakes always win out.

The pancakes had a nice subtle pumpkin flavor. It's hard to get pumpkin just right. The walnuts added a nice crunch to the pancake in almost every bite. I had been hoping for something a little special with the syrup, but it's just not that kind of place. The eggs were decent and the bacon was crispy without crumbling into bits.

#1DC Antoinette ordered the french onion soup and the turkey avocado melt. Our waitress brought out a gang of packaged crackers, including rye crisps, my favorite restaurant crackers ever. I promptly made Antoinette load up her purse with them. The soup also came with a large thick slice of bread to sop the soup with. She thought the soup was good; not earth-shattering, but good.

Interestingly the pasta salad that came with the sandwich was made with orzo pasta and included pine nuts, which seemed very frou-frou for a place like this. The sandwich itself was decent with fresh tasting ingredients and thick cut bread. The fries were nicely golden and crispy.

Flappy Jack’s was good. It is clearly a popular place in Glendora. A lot of people eat there. A lot of people eat at Dennys and Chillis, too. I was only disappointed that it wasn't more homey. It really lacked charm. It seemed stuck in a weird middle place of classic family dining and trying to appeal to..well, to people who go places where they give you beepers.

Food: Good.
Service: Friendly.
Price: You are looking at $8-11 for most things. Beware the sides, which run around $4 to $5 each.
Pie: None.

640 West Route 66
Glendora, CA 91740

Note: Hours
M-Sat: 6am to 3pm
Sun: 7am to 3pm

On the Road: Spokane's Diners pt. 3 and 4- Dolly's Cafe and the Milk Bottle

I literally have 10 places to write about for this On the Road series. Expect more succinct but hopefully still fun and informative reviews from here on out until I get back to reviewing the SOCAL area.

The same day that we hit Frank's Diner, Jon truly surprised me by taking me to a place I had never even seen before. A quaint neighborhood diner called Dolly's Cafe. You can't miss this little shack of griddled goodness, the building is bright pink. And really part of the what I found charming about this place was the "shacky"ness of it. It was an old building. So old it would always looks just a little dirty and rough no matter what.


Jon, Stephanie and I sat down and made friends with a sweet and chatty waitress. She brought us water in giant coca cola classes and then disappeared. We then and ordered from our laidback "heeeyyy, maaann" waiter. He looked at my ancient digital camera (vintage '98 my friends) and marveled at how cool it was. I think he thought it was cool in a "Wow, technology!" way and not a "Wow! That's like walking in with an 8-track player." way.

He was honest when I asked for a recommendation. He asked if I was in the mood for a breakfast or a burger. I told him "Whichever you think you guys do the best." He straight up said "Eggs Benedict" So that's what I got. And lo and behold I think I may have discovered that Spokane has their own style of hashbrowns. These potatoes were just like the ones I got at Frank's. The eggs benedict was also delicious. The eggs were poached well enough that they didn't gush yolk everywhere when cut into.

(edited for correction) Stephanie got the country-fried steak. I don't have a taste for the country-fried steak since it was first inflicted upon me in elementary school. That can be very hard for a child. Oddly enough though I don't eat tostadas because the ones I had in elementary school were soooo good the real thing is always a disappointment.


Jon had a simple grilled turkey melt. He enjoyed it. I tried some of the fries and found them perfectly decent diner fries. Not too greasy but nothing to rave about.

The coffee was also pretty durn good. Not strong but smooth.

Price: $6-$9
Food: Good.
Service: Very friendly and chatty.
[Honestly, I forgot to make note of if they served pie or not, so I called them this morning;
Guy at Dolly's: Uhhh... good morning.. Dah-ummm... Dolly's Cafe.
Me: Hey, this is kind of an odd question. Do you guys have pie?
Guy at Dolly's: Ummm What?
Me: Do you guys serve pie?
Guy at Dolly's: Pot?
Me: Pie.
Guy at Dolly's: Uhhhhhhh.......let me check to see what we have.
Me: .............
Guy At Dolly's: It looks like.... umm... Chocolate?
Me: Great. That's all I needed to know.]
Pie: "umm... Chocolate?"
1825 N Washington St,
Spokane, WA 99205-4758
I'd give the phone number but.... you don't want to do that.

Now jumping forward to my last day in Spokane, before Jon took me to the airport we stopped at a cozy little place fans of Johnny Depp and/or quirky romantic comedies should recognise.

As seen in the movie Benny and Joon

(That's me on the right.)

Although the Milk Bottle offers a full menu of burger diner favorites, Jon and I were only in the mood for one thing; milkshakes. I got the peanut butter he got something with chocolate. In this picture you can't really tell them apart. They were good though.

The milk bottle is a cute neighborhood place, as well as being an historical landmark. Done up in an maltshop style, including a working jukebox and stainless steel everywhere, it's one of those places that just makes you feel happy. I don't feel like it's the kind of place I could ever be a regular at even if I didn't live 960 miles away. It feels like a vacation place and not a place to hang my hat.

Price: 3-7
Food: n/a
Service: Fine.
Pie: Tons of desserts to chose from including pie. Get a milkshake though.

802 W Garland Ave
Spokane, WA 99205
(509) 325-1772

Joe's Diner- Dirty sounding dessert!

Having to take an unexpected trip out to Santa Monica on this past Monday led me to quickly search out a diner to review. Why squander a trip outside my usual neighborhood when there are diners aplenty to seek out? A quick google search later, I found Joe’s Diner. How about that! It actually has ‘diner’ in the name. That might be a first for the diner blog.

On this trip, I took along my friend Greg who is visiting from Washington state. He's a clown who does birthday parties and burlesque shows... I hate his life because I covet it. Anyway...

Joe’s Diner is located in the middle of an old storefront block in Santa Monica that has been thoroughly gentrified. It is nestled between a sushi restaurant and trendy clothing boutique. We entered Joe’s through a rickety screen door and took a booth right inside. I noticed something immediately that makes me have to disagree with Joe’s website- "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place". The lighting was down low to near-romantic levels, this, as well as the soft music playing, gave the diner an out of place “date” atmosphere. The dining area itself reminded me of an old apartment I once had. A fresh coat of white paint and a mopped floor but it still looked dirty. Please don’t think that this is a place with cockroaches on the floor or rats using butter pats to skate on the griddle, that’s not it at all. Sometimes old buildings are just always old. And old equals dirty.

Our waitress hit us up quickly for drinks. We both got the coffee. She apologized for being a bit frazzled, apparently that soft music we were listening to had been the same soft music playing in the restaurant for some time. The cd player had been stuck on repeat and “High Life” was starting to drive her bonkers. She left us menus and retreated to the back to try to fix the problem. After a moment she returned with our coffees and the new Amy Winehouse started to play. The coffee had a smoky flavor, it reminded me of a bonfire at the beach for some reason. I’m ashamed to say that it wasn’t until later that I realized that that meant the coffee was probably burnt.

Gazing over the menu we noticed a vegetarian section which should please a lot of folks. This and the fact that they had an item called “Zone Diet Salad”, lead me to conclude that this place was a nouveau diner with way too much avocado and healthy alternatives. This conclusion was blasted away when I saw the “John Wayne’s Eggs”. This was a MEAL, a man’s meal, a “don’t call during Ninja Master on G4” meal. Chilli on top of two eggs, on top of home fries, on top of a flour tortilla with sausage-Like I said, “a man’s meal.” I imagined this would be similar to the Devil’s Mess I got at Millie’s. Greg was willing to take one for the team and let me order for him. That way I could get a closer look at another item. The Santa Fe Melt sounded like a good choice- Jack cheese, turkey, green peppers, tomato and avocado served on sourdough bread.

My confidence in our food was bolstered when I noticed it would be an aged man in a paper hat preparing our meals. C'mon, a paper hat!

We inquired about desserts. I saw that they had apple pie as the sole representative from the Pie food group. Greg asked about a massive ice cream dish that was described as having 10 scoops of ice cream. Our waitress admitted she was completely unfamiliar with the desserts. I asked if she knew if the pie was made in house. She said it was made somewhere else but baked at the diner. Greg then ordered the second most pornographic sounding dessert I have heard of-the first being the fudgeanna at Frankie Doodle’s in Spokane Washington- Greg ordered a Frosty Brown Cow with a Vanilla Sidecar. Our waitress also admitted she had no idea what that was. We broke it down and figured it was a blended root beer float served with a glass of vanilla syrup and soda water. We adjourned our dessert conference and she went off.

After only a short wait, she brought out our meals.
Greg commented that it was refreshing that the turkey had been heated all the way through. Normally a hot sandwich (one not served open face of course) suffers from the fact that most places heat the sandwich all at once on the grill or toaster or (heaven help us) the microwave. This usually means the core of the sandwich doesn’t get as hot as the rest of the sandwich. Joe’s had clearly heated the meat separately guaranteeing a even temperature throughout. The fries, which were surprisingly curly, were good. Not crunchy but not soggy either. The pickle still retained some semblance of a cucumber flavor.

The John Wayne’s Eggs did not disappoint. The chilli, worked great with the eggs and the eggs worked great with the home fries. Originally I dismissed the inclusion of the tortilla at the bottom, but found that it helped mop up the leftovers from the top layers. The sausages were basic breakfast links, more crispy than you usually get but really plain. This was such a man’s meal I, a man, couldn’t even finish it all.

We did have to remind our waitress of the desserts after we were done with our meals. She quickly brought out the pie and left to get retrieve Greg's ensemble. The pie was straight-up good apple pie. A nice flaky top and a strong cinnamon taste to the apples that I enjoyed. She returned with the three glasses that made up Greg’s dessert. One for the frosted brown cow, one metal cup from the milkshake machine, and one glass with the vanilla sidecar. After some deliberation we decided that sipping through two straws, both the brown cow and the sidecar, was the most reasonable and delicious way to drink it.



We left Joe’s with full tummies and some leftovers. Definitely check it out.

Price: $10-14 for most entrees
Food: Tasty.
Service: Personable but not necessarily on-the-ball.
Atmosphere: Old.
Pie: Apple and definitely good.
2917 Main St, Santa Monica - (310) 392-5804

UPDATE: Joe's has changed. It has become more trendy and added a wine menu. I drove past it and didn't even recognize it. It has a totally different feel now.