Thursday, September 9, 2010

Dinerwood on the Road: Las Vegas! Sunshine Cafe



I love "real people" Vegas. Sin City I can take or leave, but the real thing is something special. It's rusty and sun faded and weird. Each year I've tried to make if farther and farther away from the casinos to see just what the regular people eat because I know only the tourists and the desperate hit the buffet at Binions.

This year I conned my friends Edwin and Skylar into coming with me on my breakfast adventure. I really had no idea how far it was from where we were staying and I got us lost. In my defense, Las Vegas messes with my sense of direction.

You know how casinos don't have windows or clocks so you don't have any idea how long you've been there, gambling away your pension? I think when I'm outside of a casino in Vegas I have a bizarro reaction to the heat and the sun and have no idea in what direction I am going. However, once I got my bearings, we found The Original Sunshine Cafe.



The desolation implied by the sign above the mini-mall which houses Sunshine Cafe, belies how adorable it is on the outside.



This adorability carries over into a delightful homey-ness on the inside. It looks a lot like a grandma's living room.

We overheard a lot of "Long time no see!" and "Oh, what's good this week?" from other patrons. Yep, this was definitely a locals' place.



While we waited to be waited on, we entertained ourselves with the trivial pursuit questions box on the table--I think each table had one. I'm really good at random trivia and so is Skylar. Edwin was bored by our nerdiness.



Our waitress really pushed the home breaded chicken-fried steak, which is not fried, but actually grilled. Either way, it sounded a bit heavy for 9am. I now kind of wish I had gotten it because it did sound pretty interesting.



Edwin had the Ham and Eggs with a waffle on the side. The waffle had a really nice malt flavor.



Skylar ordered the eggs and pancakes breakfast with a side of potatoes. Her pancakes were chewy, but otherwise good.



I got the pork chops and eggs breakfast special. The pork chops were tiny, but were very good. They were nice cuts of meat with very little fat. The eggs and the potatoes tasted fine. The biscuit was standard, but the gravy was really special. I would highly recommend that.

Overall, we agreed that the food was okay, but pretty much tasted exactly how it would had we made it at home. It was really nice getting out into real people Vegas, and with the friendly non-grift vibe, it certainly was a pleasant experience. I probably wouldn't go back there, but I wouldn't tell dissuade anyone else from going, either.

Food: Okay.
Service: Friendly.
Price: $5-$8
Pie: No.

Sunshine Cafe
1581 N Decatur Blvd

Las Vegas, NV 89108
(702) 646-4415




"Whipped Spread" sounds dirty.

1 comment:

edwin. said...

Edwin was also a bit underslept. Just saying.