Dinerwood on the Road: Ellen's Pancake House, Buellton, CA

Quaint little roadside eatery.

Delicious biscuits and well-scrambled eggs. Hashbrowns were okay.

Tasty thin Danish pancakes. 

Add your own ham!

Food: Good
Service: Good
Price: Decent
Pie:

Ellen's Pancake House
Dining Hours:
Monday 6 a.m.–2 p.m.,
Tuesday–Sunday 6 a.m.–8 p.m

On the Road: In San Diego, AGAIN! Ricky's

I'm coming up to the one year anniversary of the first "On the Road" report, which featured two San Diego diners--one good, one bad. Now, as I ready myself for another trip down there, I am finally going to post a quickie review of another San Diego eatery that I hit some time ago.

Rickys! Apostrophe in there? I have no clue. Is it his restaurant or are there a bunch of Rickys all working together to form Devastator?



Diner pal Professor Nefarious and I hit Rickys completely by accident on one trip down to the SD. A wrong turn put us on Hotel Circle and our hunger made us stop.

The sign boasts a "world famous apple pancake." If I had a nickel for every joint that claimed to have a world-famous menu item, I could probably feed those starving children who can be fed on just thirty cents a day. I would then assume that those children would be asking the United Way workers "do you have any of those apple pancakes from Rickys?"

Rickys is a friendly place. Located around all those hotels, it keeps a vibrant, welcoming atmosphere. A brightly colored sea-scape mural decorates one wall. The waitresses all wear cute aprons emblazoned with the Rickys chef logo. (Sorry no picture of the logo. It's a chef with a big mustache flipping a pancake. Imagine up!) Our waitress would not part with her apron, despite our attempts to bribe her.



Professor ordered the steak and eggs breakfast. He said the steak was a little bland, but the eggs were cooked right and the hash browns were crispy delicious.



I, of course, had to see what this apple pancake was all about.



This thing was huge. It was like a souffle-pancake-bread pudding-monstrosity of tasty. It was very heavy, but not in way that meant you would have to be rolled out in a wheelbarrow after eating it. (Although that does sound like fun.) I powered through, knowing leftovers wouldn't last the several hours they would be sitting in the car. I could not waste a bite.

The coffee at Rickys was also very good and had a smooth flavor.

I would recommend Rickys to anyone traveling through that area of San Diego. It's a safe bet for family trips and low impact dining.

Food: Good.
Service: Friendly.
Price: $7-11
Pie: Basics.

2181 Hotel Circle S.
San Diego, CA 92108
(619) 291-4498‎

On the Road: Portland and Vacouver's diners: Fat Dave's, Jam, and Stardust

Here's another long in the hopper, "On the Road" edition from my trip back in October.

After my long stint in Spokane, I crossed the state by plane,rented a car, and headed south to see my friend Greg (whom you may remember from the Joe's Diner review) in his new town of Vancouver, Washington. It sits right on the border with Portland, Oregon, also known as "the city that freeway planners forgot." I also took the opportunity to visit my old college friend, Amber. In a mere day and half down there, I hit three diner/breakfast joints.

First off, Amber took me to Fat Dave's Restaurant and Lounge. Apparently the place had just recently been upgraded from "dive" to "slightly musty." We rolled in about mid-afternoon and were just about the only people inside, aside from a regular, or at elast the kind of guy who looks like a "regular," be it at a lunch counter or a bar at last call.

I got the "Fat Dave's Special" which included 3 pancakes, 3 eggs, sausage, hash browns, and toast. Amber got the cheese omelette(picture lost to the hard drive ether), which included just about all the same sides.

The food was unremarkable for the most part. The hash browns were the stand out, being a thick mound of potatoes. Shredded at some point but then packed together tightly for their time on the griddle. It was still on Hash brown Road but pointed toward Latke Blvd.

The coffee was good, but an incredible oddpoint: you were only allowed one refill on sodas. Coffee is flowing like the mighty Mississippi, but soda levels are down to LA River measurements.

The best part of Fat Dave's is the stained glass window that adorns the dining room.

Says it all really.

Food: Unremarkable.

Service: In my notes I wrote "odd". I have since forgotten what was odd about it. So.. be warned.
Price: $6-10

Pie- Yes.

Fat Dave's
1511 NE 99 St.

Vancouver, WA

For dinner that night I hooked up with Greg and he took me to the Stardust Diner. Don't let the sign fool you. It is not called the "Blurry Something D-R." My camera phone is not kind to me at night.



Like San Diego's Studio Diner, Stardust is of the shiny metal variety. This place even decorates for desserts. The entire staff appeared to consist of teenagers. At first, this was a bit disconcerting on account of how shitty teenagers are at everything except screwing shit up. However, they proved to be highly intelligent and thorough food workers.

The only low point of the service was at one point they all seemed to disappear to go sing "Soulja Boy" in the kitchen. Jut out of frustration, I was about ready to Superman some hos myself.

I did really like that the Stardust Diner had its own newsletter.

I took a chance and ordered the Philly Cheesteak. Our waiter asked if we wanted to try their new curly fries. He was really excited about these curly fries. I opted in.

Greg had the bacon cheeseburger. Greg got the curly fries, too. The waiter was just too excited about these for us not to turn him down.

The food was only okay. Both of our meals felt overly heavy in our stomachs. So much so, that having after having opted in for the curly fries, we had to opt out of a dessert.

I felt bad because, as I stated earlier, they totally decorated for their desserts.

Food: Okay.
Service: Surprisingly friendly and efficient.
Price: 8-14
Pie: Yes.

Check out their website. Warning: rock and rolling from the get go. Turn your speakers down.
http://www.stardustdiner.biz/

1110 SE 10th Ave.
Vancouver, WA 98683

ETA: Stardust has since closed down. Bum news.

Jam on Hawthorne is probably known to most modern Diner aficionados. It was featured on the "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" show on Food Network.

This eclectic little breakfast joint is nestled in one of Portland's fine hip neighborhoods. Greg and I stopped in about mid-morning on my final day down on in the P-Land-O. (I just made that up. Can people start using it for Portland Oregon? I think that would be cool.)

Jam has a nice neighborhood vibe. I would say it's Portland's Square One, or rather Square One is L.A's Jam. Hipster clients mixed in with regular folks and soccer moms who just got out of their Pilates classes all gathered for breakfast here.

I had to break out of my current breakfast rut and try something new. No, no, no, nothing as drastic as a fruit cup or a bowl of granola--Close, though.

I ordered the VEGAN blueberry pancakes. WTF! OMG!! Vegan! Yes, I ordered them and ate them and they were good.

Greg got the famous Corned Beef Hash breakfast. This was not dog food. This was high-quality (so high-quality I want to put an accent mark somewhere on it) corned beef. Moist, but not mushy; salty, but not briny. It was m-f-ing, Campbells Mmm Mmmm Good!

This was a great way to end that leg of my trip.

Food: Excellent.

Service: Friendly.

Price: 7-13

Pie: Sadly, no.

2239 SE Hawthorne Blvd

Portland, OR 97214

Phone: (503) 234-4790

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

On the Road: Spokane's Diners Pt.1 and 2- Frank's Diner and Pioneer Pies

I lived in Spokane, Washington, for only 6 years. Those were middle school and high school years, though--years that really shape you as person. I graduated from Joel E. Ferris High School in 1997. I've been back periodically over the years, but this trip was for a thing that some people dread: The 10 Year Reunion.

But this this isn't a blog about that. This is not a blog about disappointment and failure. It's about those diners and greasy spoons we so love. During the Spokane leg of my vacation, I was able to hit three full-fledged diners as well as two other places worth mentioning. Without further ado...

Pt. 1 Frank's Diner

If you're from Spokane and you go out to breakfast at least once a month, you have intimate knowledge of Frank's Diner or its crosstown brother, Knights Diner. They were once both real, working railroad cars. This means they are often cramped and have limited seating. Unless you get real lucky, like Jon and I did on our trip there. You can expect a ten to fifteen minute wait, but it is always worth the wait. Unfortunately for Knights Diner, they are closed on Monday's and I didn't get to eat there on this trip; therefore, this is where it will exit the review.

Frank's Diner has been been voted the "Best Breakfast in Spokane" for ten years now. Spokane might have a lot of problems, but knowing where to get its first meal of the day is not one of them.

"Frank's serves 15,000 eggs and 2 1/2 tons of hash browns a month...one meal at a time," boasts a sign in the interior. I know I lack elegance when I say, "That's a hell of a lot."

I ordered the coffee while Jon ordered the hot chocolate. I hate to say the coffee tasted a bit burnt and required actual sugar, not my beloved Splenda or the pink or blue stuff, to make it palatable enough for me to get through a cup. Jon's hot chocolate was something truly special to behold.

Jon said "the chocolate chips added to the bon vivantof the drink."

...Jon is not a writer. I'm barely one, but anyway...

I got into a habit on this trip of ordering things with a person's name in the them. Remember how every place with "Joe" in the name had a "Joe's Special?" Well, there sure are a lot of "Frank's _______" on this menu. So you know what I got? The "Joe's Special:" 3 eggs scrambled, spinach, ground beef with grated Parmesan cheese, served with hash browns and a bread. It sounded delicious with just a little bit of the unusual. I was pleasantly surprised at how well everything went together.

Jon, not being that big on breakfast breakfast, surprised me with a pretty hardcore meal of smothered hash browns and two crispy sausage links. Jon and I both agreed that the hash browns were fantastic. Very unique to me, they were slices of potato, almost like thin cut french fries. They were not greasy at all but definitely had that fried taste you hope for with a good plate of hash browns. Jon did think there was a bit too much gravy. You might want to order it-- not on the side really--just on half the plate and mix it all together yourself.

You can't beat a Frank's breakfast. If you are traveling through town it is a must for any diner lover. If you live in Spokane, eat there at least once or twice a month. Dinerwood commands it!

Food: Delicious

Service: Craig the counter guy was friendly and knowledgeable. Some of the waitresses can get a bit snippy because of the need for quick turnover.

Price: 6-10

Pie: No, pie. Only cobbler.

1516 W. 2nd Ave

Spokane, WA 99204

509.747.8798

PART 2. Pioneer Pies

Pioneer Pies is still a mainstay in some parts of the country. Old timey, folksy decor and delicious pies made it a favorite for families and pie lovers everywhere. Or in my case, a mysterious wonderland: my family never went to Pioneer Pies for some reason. Sadly, the Pioneer Pies in Spokane shuttered it's pie-sills and the building became a casino, much like every closed down building around here nowadays. For Spokanites, the legend gets to live on as part of Conley's Place restaurant in the Spokane Valley. Conley's Place is an odd Irish-y restaurant with a lot of lattice work. I don't know what the connection between the two restaurants is but, Conley's Place serves Pioneer Pies' pies. It even has a Pioneer Pies sign on the building. And since the picture of the Conley's Place sign turned out even worse than this, all you get is the Pioneer Pies part of the sign.

Jon, his girlfriend Stephanie, my friend Bill's wife Lynn (Bill will be appearing later in the blog)and I, all went out for dinner. Well, originally it was to go roller skating, but SOMEBODY isn't so good at listening to phone recordings and got the hours of operation of the roller rink wrong. I won't review the food at Conley's because it's not a diner or a greasy spoon. I will however review the delicious piece of pie I had.

Meet the Almond Joy. With Halloween all up on it I have had the pleasure of rediscovering the...dare I say it? The JOY of the Almond Joy candy bar. This pie strives to recreate that candy combo in pie form. Here's the slice; bottom layer of chocolate cream, then a thin layer of slice almonds, then a layer of coconut cream, another layer of almonds, then whipped cream with a few chocolate chips on top. Now, it didn't taste just like he candy bar, which I didn't really expect it to, but it invoked the essence. The tasty, tasty essence.

Food: Tasty

Service: The restaurant was closing early because we were the only diners, but they didn't rush us or even mention it until we were out the door.

Price: Pie 3-4

Pie:...well, yeah.

12618 E Sprague Ave

Spokane, WA

Tel: (509) 924-5411

Diner 101- Never Run Out of Hashbrowns

Going to 101 is like stumbling into a limbo (which according to Popezenberger no longer exists) - nearly everyone inside is of this modern era but the place itself is captured by the year 1977. Part of this is an artificial put-on of 70s nostalgia. For example, the walls are decorated with framed personal photographs from the time. Lots of large Chevy pick-ups and kids with messy hair. The other part has genuine trappings of 70s décor. A wall is made up of exposed rock, the floor looks like the Formica in my great aunt’s old kitchen and amazingly wonderful globe light fixtures hang above the booths. (You will soon learn I have a thing for globe lighting fixtures.) It also harkens back to the day when diners were attached to other businesses. Usually they would sort of fit the locale, bus stations and bowling alleys for example. Growing up, my local Kmart had a diner in the back with magical looking jello parfaits in a glass case. The 101 Coffee shop is in a Best Western hotel, this leads to an often eclectic mix of hipsters, burgeoning rock stars and people who actually remember the 70s- and are in their 70s.

I went in on an overcast Sunday afternoon. This would be after the church rush and before the dinner boom, so I expected to find it near empty. To my surprise, it was busy and I had to settle for a small table. No booth with totally awesome hanging globe light for me. I ordered coffee which came promptly. Silverware proved elusive for a time. The coffee itself was hard to gauge. I added some creamer and a splenda packet but was unable to mix it short of taking matters into my own hands, or rather finger. After the spoon arrived, I can say they have perfectly adequate coffee. Not too bad and not noteworthy- despite the fact that I just made note of it.

Looking over the menu, it breaks down into three categories: breakfast fare (served all day) sandwiches (tend to be on the frou frou side) and pastas. It was too far from morning for me to be craving breakfast and I’m never in the mood for pasta. I perused the sandwiches for awhile. I couldn’t resist the pull of the fried egg sandwich. My dad used to have me make him these. Mom would usually make dinner but when she was working late, dad, sister or I would pony up and do it. When it was my turn to cook, pancakes and eggs were always on the menu. My dad liked his fried egg sandwiches a certain way, so to me that way is the only legit way to do it. Toasted bread, buttered and the egg fried all the way through with a thin slice of American cheese.

When my sandwich from the 101 came, it was plain toasted bread, a tomato, red leaf lettuce and the egg with cheese. ‘Close enough’ I thought. A few bites in I got quite the unexpected surprise. Apparently, another completely valid way of doing a fried egg sandwich is to leave the yolk runny. In England a fried egg sandwich is called an Eggs Banjo. It gets that name from that first bite into the yolk and the messy explosion that ensues. You pull the sandwich out and away from your body so as not to spill on yourself and it looks like you are running your hand up the fingerboard of a banjo. I was not expecting this and got slimy yellow all over my hands. Eating the rest of it became a bit of a chore. If I put the sandwich down it meant knifing and forking it which was not the kind of sandwich I was looking for. Flavor wise it was a perfectly fine sandwich. The tomato, which I hold in low regard when it is presented by itself, really worked well with the egg and bread. The lettuce was unnecessary. The toast could have used some butter on at least one slice, since the expectation seems to be there that you will be sopping up the yolk.

Normally this meal comes with hash browns, on this day however there was no more hash browned potatoes to be had. They offered me french-fries instead. I love french-fries. Some might see that as a negative that the 101 had run out of a diner staple, and really it is, regardless of my love for the fries. What if I were jonesing for hash browns? This would have been totes uncool. How could they possibly make it up to me? I’ll tell you how- Sweet Potato fries mixed in with the regular ones. Oh man, that was delicious.

The service was sketchy at best throughout. From the lack of silverware to the lack of refills on the coffee, I seemed mostly invisible. I can understand that if I were in some dark corner booth but I was at a table literally within ten feet of the register. My waitress, who was also the hostess seemed to be spread just a bit too thin. She wasn’t the only waitress there though. Another girl seemed to do nothing except walk up and down the nearly empty counter with a snotty look on her face (plus, she wore one of those Red China olive drab caps which is just annoying).

When it came time for dessert I asked my waitress what pies they had. “Cherry and Apple but I wouldn’t recommend them.” She steered me toward a fruit cobbler. I passed. Although I did not partake this time, the 101 is known for its delicious and eclectic milkshakes. You won’t find the industry standard three flavors here. Instead you will see peanut butter and honey (my favorite) or blackberry or the black and white concoction with a shot of espresso. Do these make up for the pie that is apparently so bad the staff dissuades you from ordering it? Not at all but they are tasty.

Price: $7-12 for most entrees
Food: Good enough.
Service: Lacking.

Atmosphere: Retro Fun.
Pie: Yes, but don’t do it.

101 Cofee Shop

6145 Franklin Ave

Los Angeles CA

(323) 467-1175