Blueplate, Portland OR.

One of the places I desperately wanted to go while we were in Portland was Blueplate in downtown. The problem was that its normal hours weren't going to coincide with when were available to go eat. The Diner Gods smiled on us and made the weekend we were there the first weekend Blueplate was open for dinner service.



I knew it was a small place and I actually thought we might need reservations. It was only the second night of dinner service--I thought that was a big deal--but when we walked in things were very low-key. Then I remembered that this is Portland and Portland is a laid-back town. It was silly to think we would need reservations.

There were a few tables occupied and the counter was completely open. Antoinette and I took seats at the counter. Antoinette appreciated that each had its own step-stool to get up onto the seats. My wife is short.




It's almost a gimmick the way things are cooked at Blueplate. It's a tiny place without an actual kitchen. It's all done on this tiny cook top (supplemented by electric griddles during peak times). Out of necessity, the menu is about as small as the restaurant. It's all modern gourmet takes on classic comfort food: things like shepherds pie, sliders and meatloaf.

The special that night was a chicken and waffle sandwich.

Okay, this is going to sound just a little snobby but--I'm from LA, trick! Chicken and waffles is kind of played out, but I wanted to give it a shot.




Okay, this sandwich was bomb. Yep, I called it BOMB! It actually worked as a sandwich. I assumed it was going to be like a pancake sandwich which is never actually a sandwich. This had two savory waffles holding a delicious piece of chicken breast, lightly battered and fried--it could not have worked if it had been the least bit greasy--with shredded apple and a honey mustard sauce. Bomb, right?
The sandwich and the candied carrot side were phenomenal tasting.




Blueplate is known for its meatloaf so Antoinette had to order that. If she hadn't, I would have had to order that to take back to the hotel for later. Now, for the dinner that night, they were only serving the meatloaf sandwich as they didn't have any gravy. Antoinette didn't mind, she just wanted mashed potatoes and meatloaf. The meatloaf was very moist and delicious, and the potatoes were creamy and perfectly seasoned.



Along with the delicious food, Blueplate serves up homemade sodas and milkshakes. I ordered the R.P. McMurphy, named for Jack Nicholson's character in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.




I have a deep love for butterscotch and when you add to that some honey roasted peanuts and toffee covered cashews, it becomes heavenly.


We talked with the owner--who was also our cook--after we finished eating. We asked him to recommend some other places to eat in town. He said where he goes for breakfast was a little place called Byways Cafe. A review of this place is coming soon.


Blueplate completely lived up to my expectations. I do wish we had been able to make it there during the day, I would have loved to see it at the height of business at lunch. A full counter and tables I think would have made the atmosphere really pop. The next time we are in Portland, we'll make that happen.

Food: Great.
Price: $10-ish.
Service: Great.
Pie: Sadly, no.

Blueplate

308 SW Washington St
Portland, OR 97204
(503) 295-2583

Dinerwood on the Road: Clayton's Coffee Shop - San Diego

Original Dinerwood Friend Greg and I went down to San Diego for San Diego Comic Con this past weekend. On our first day we neglected to eat anything. By the end of the day, we had gone beyond starving and into a dull ache in our tummies. We shambled back to the car with our swag bags and headed out to Coronado island. Last year #1DC Antoinette and I had a bizarre and awkward experience at the Night and Day Cafe; located just down the street from there is Clayton's Coffee Shop.

My biggest concern with doing a Dinerwood review on such an empty stomach was that we'd be so hungry that everything and anything would taste good. That ended up not being the case. That sounds ominous, but it's not.



Clayton's Coffee Shop is how you do a 50's diner right. It's not over the top. It really feels like a place you could have eaten at back in the 1950s.



A jukebox is about as garish as Clayton's gets. It doesn't need pictures of Marilyn and Elvis on the wall to capture the feel. It does so with colors and textures.

It was 9pm on Thursday, so things were starting to slow down. There were a few singles at the counter and a few couples at the booths. There were still about four waitresses working and we never wanted for refills on water or coffee (The coffee was only okay).

When our waitress came to take our order, I asked what she recommended. This is always an interesting question to ask. If they say "everything," it's not at all helpful and tells you a lot about the waitress. If they say "nothing," WHOA--That's an honest waitress and you should listen to her. If they ask for more specifics, you know she's taking your question seriously. She asked what we were in the mood for. I wanted breakfast, Greg was more open. We just told her we were starving.

She began a litany of menu items and before long the ladies at the table behind us joined in and started listing their favorites. The daily special was a turkey pot pie, which one of the ladies was currently eating and said it was delicious. Ultimately, I went with corned beef hash and eggs and Greg got the baked turkey dinner.

Greg was also sold on the soup-of-the-day, which was chicken tortilla. Apparently, the owner of Clayton's also owns the Mexican take-out place next door and a lot of their Mexican dishes are actually made there and then brought over t0 the coffee shop.



The soup was really good. It was hearty--each spoonful had some tomato, some chicken, some tortilla and some cheese. It was just a little spicy, giving a little tweak to your taste buds.



Our waitress then brought out Greg's baked turkey dinner. It was a giant mound of turkey and a giant scoop of potato, flanked by a medley of steamed fresh vegetables and a dish of cranberry. Here's how I know I wasn't so hungry that my opinion would be off--I did not care for the gravy. It needed more salt. You could tell it was made with real pan drippings, but it just wasn't salty enough for me. Greg liked it, though. Everything else was great, but I couldn't get behind the gravy.



My breakfast-for-dinner came out looking a little cramped on the plate. There was a lot more corned beef hash on the plate than the picture shows. I ordered my eggs over medium and two of them were right, but one was cooked through. Not a huge deal, since they all tasted good. The hash browns were standard and tasty. The corned beef hash was outstanding. In fact, it was the second best corned beef hash I have had in California. The best is at Nick's in Los Angeles.



I'm not sure what they did with my biscuit, but the bottom was a little soggy (maybe they put it on a freshly washed plate that wasn't dry yet?). Otherwise, it was good. I tore it in half and used one half to sop up some egg yolk and the other to just have with jam.

One of the women who had been sitting behind us stopped by our table to see how we were enjoying the food. Although we didn't take her advice about the turkey pot pie or french toast, she was very sweet. She asked why we were in town and when we told her it was for Comic-Con she got a little sad. It was her first year not going. She and her husband had enjoyed going every year. She was Mrs. Dick Durock. She was Mrs. Swamp-Thing.

I almost wanted to thank her for her husband's service, but that would have been weird.

She wished us well and told us to have fun at the Con.



This was my favorite piece of decor at Clayton's. They take delicious pie so seriously, they painted it on their wall. Here was my odd conundrum--I wasn't totally in the mood for pie. Shock! Horror! I was craving a milkshake. I thought I might have to order both and then explode like the guy from that Monty Python movie.



Greg saved me from such a fate and ordered the apple pie and let me have a few bites. It was very good. It tasted fresh and was made with granny smith apples, which gave it some tart flavor. The crust was dry but not "dusty."

I asked our waitress what kind of milkshake she recommended. I knew which one I wanted and I was hoping she'd list it early to confirm my craving. She went down what seemed like the whole list before I finally stopped her. "What about peanut butter and chocolate?" "Oh, I haven't tried that one."

I went with it. Some sips were more peanut butter, some sips were more chocolate. Each one was heaven.

Clayton's Coffee Shop just became my go-to spot in San Diego. I will drive over that giant bridge to get to the island any time. It was pleasant and absolutely a classic.

Food: Good.
Service: Very good.
Price: $6-$10
Pie: Various. And good shakes!

Clayton's Coffee Shop
979 Orange Avenue
Coronado, CA 92118
619) 435-5425

Diner on Main: I don't like sports.

The Diner on Main is an odd one. Located in the heart of what the City of Alhambra Chamber of Commerce calls "the historic Main Street Entertainment district," it is gigantic and overflowing with neon. It has an impressive pedigree as a diner, being an actual Armet and Davis designed "googie" building (it was formerly called Sandi's Restaurant). Once inside, however, you get smacked in the face with the fact that the Diner on Main might actually be aspiring to be a sports bar.

Dinerpal Paul and I went in for dinner a few weeks ago. For some reason, although there were plenty of tables available in the main dining area, we were shuffled into a "lounge" area underneath a blaring flat screen TV playing a basketball game. Bud Light pendants hung all around us, which really distracted from the 50's style architecture and fixtures.



We were the only two diners in this section so we were doted on by our waiter slash bartender. He was all up in our business but only to the point of mild annoyance. He really pushed the happy hour specials on us and seemed a little disappointed when we ordered coffee and soda.

It was hard to get a sense of the rest of the restaurant from our alcohol serving corner. I ventured out to get a glimpse and saw a pretty traditional diner set up. A large, long counter face the kitchen and several booths line the walls. The walls were decorated with only a moderate amount of kitsch and several black and white photo prints of classic--probably long extinct-- diners. I valued this connection to the past. In our lounge we were graced by the presence of college dorm art Marilyn Monroe.



The menu at Diner on Main is pretty decent. It's not extensive, but it covers everything you would reasonably want to order. The frou-frou factor was pretty light. I think I made our waiter's day when I ordered the dinner special, the chicken pot pie. Paul ordered the Philly French Dip.



My dinner came with side salad which was actually pretty good. I didn't expect that. The chicken pot pie was interesting. The crust was basically a giant floating biscuit on top of a hearty bowl of chicken and vegetable soup. I liked it, although the cheese on top was unnecessary and could be skipped. Included with the meal was a small plate of foccacia bread, I assumed for dipping; it also didn't add that much, but was a nice surprise.



Paul really like his Philly French Dip. It was exactly what you thought it would be, a Philly cheese steak with a bowl of au jus for dipping. It was a thick sandwich, which made it a little difficult to dip in the juice without stuff falling out. It came with coleslaw that was slightly rubbery but nice and tart. I'm pretty sure they used apple cider vinegar.

We both had room for dessert and I made our bartender slash waiter's day even better when I ordered the dessert special, the boysenberry and apple cobbler. Paul ordered a vanilla shake.



The cobbler was really good. They serve two kinds of pie at Diner on Main: apple and boysenberry. The apple is served with a warm cinnamon sauce and the boysenberry is best a la mode (according to them). The cobbler is basically these two items smashed together in a bowl.



Vanilla shake was a vanilla shake. It was good.

Diner on Main is part of the Pasadena based restaurant conglomerate that also owns Wild Thyme and Shakers (which will probably get reviewed sooner or later). I can really appreciate what they are trying to do decor-wise and that they need to do it, but the Diner on Main overwhelms you. There's so much neon (the blue hue to all the pictures will give you an idea of what it's like) and the reflection of the lights offf the large plate windows can easily disorient you. The jukebox can go from playing Wanda Jackson to Bon Jovi--and not classic Bon Jovi, MODERN Bon Jovi--and it makes you want to die. You miss out on some of the great atmosphere it would have had back in the Sandi's Restaurant days. Or that it might have in the morning when they aren't competing with the other restaurants located all around them. It unfortunately reminded me a lot of Ritchie's Diner.

Paul and I ended up going back to Diner on Main just a few days ago. We tried their breakfast (ham and eggs and Portuguese sausage and eggs) and found our reactions to be pretty similar to our dinner. It was good, but not great.

I will probably find myself in Diner on Main again. It's located in our new neighborhood and sometimes we might not want to drive the 1.2 miles to Twoheys. Ultimately, I'm glad it's there because of the history and the need for something more real than the Johnny Rockets a block away. I swear to g-d though, if I see them advertise a "Watch the Super Bowl here" campaign, I'm going lose that goodwill in a heartbeat.

Food: Good.
Service: Fine. (Desperate if you get stuck in the empty lounge)
Price: $7-$10 most things. Up to $14 for entrees.
Pie: Apple and Boysenberry

Diner on Main
201 West Main Street
Alhambra, CA 91801

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

Ronnie's Diner... I think K-Fed was our waiter. (updated with more pics!)

While seeking out a way to promote the Dinerwood blog, I stumbled across a handy website for restaurant listings. Why don’t I post the link? Because I want you to come here to Dinerwood to find your information, not to some soulless mega website devoted to Los Angeles eateries in general. Okay maybe if I’m nice I’ll post a link in the links section.

On this website I found Ronnie’s Diner in Culver City. My comedy group works out of Culver so I am getting to know the area well. I suggested we have our Saturday brunch meeting at Ronnie's and surprisingly everyone agreed. Or if they didn’t agree they kept their big mouths shut.

Ronnie’s is in a strip mall. Well, it’s not really a ‘strip’, it is more of a courtyard. Parking was a bit difficult since the courtyard consisted of several other restaurants and a bar having a private party… at noon. Seriously. We did manage to snag street parking nearby, right in front of “Shady Dan’s Mafia Front Garage and Murder Den” (name changed as to not offend) Ronnie’s was busy, it being lunchtime and all, but we luckily managed to snag a table. Ronnie’s does offer patio seating if you are so inclined. I am usually not inclined considering I hate the sun.

Our waiter was a young man with a cocked baseball cap and baggy clothes. He spoke in an amazing out of place drawl. His accent was similar to my brother-in-law’s Louisiana accent. Apparently part of that accent is calling everyone “man”. My sister's husband will say “Hey man, you go see any shows in LA?” or “I just got me a Playstation, it’s cool man.” It’s really disconcerting when he calls my nieces by that. “Breanna put down the sugar, man.”
So K-Fed- that’s what I’m calling our guy. I don’t mean it as an insult. Honestly! - took our drink orders and brought them back quick as you please. I got the coffee, of course, which was adequate. The mugs were the good, heavy kind you buy your dad for Father's Day. When I found grounds at the bottom of my mug, one of my friends said "That means it's good." I think it means they need a new filter on the coffee maker.

Two things about Ronnie’s reminded me of the 101 Coffeeshop. First of all, the globe light fixtures, for which I am a sucker, and the bizarre out of place photograph that adorns their menu. Much like the pictures that adorn the walls of the 101, we are left without any context to the image below. The poor Cowboys kid surrounded by Rams fans, he seems lost and despondent.

Looking over the menu, I settled on the Louisiana Royale. How could I not? Not only would it be homage to our waiter but also it also sounded delicious! Check it- eggs scrambled with hot links and tomatoes, served over Spanish rice. Doesn’t that sound so crazy it just might work? It did! Like the Devil’s Mess at Millie’s, this was a surprising (not surprisingly, note the difference) delicious meal. My one critique of it would be that by the time it got to me it was not as piping hot as I’d have liked it. I just chalk this up to K-Fed having to bring our whole table’s dishes out at once.

Everyone enjoyed their meals. They will vouch for their sandwiches being tasty, their fries long and crispy and their french toast with marmalade being "good, actually".

I asked K-Fed about pie. He said they might have some chocolate cake left. “Left” really threw me. Like ‘left’ over from Jose’s birthday party last week? Do they usually have cake that they burn through by 12:30 on Saturday? And really, if you break it down, nobody really likes cake that much. It's like an obligation. People will say "I love cake!" but if you press the issue, it is soon revealed that cake takes a back seat to pie, milkshakes, cobbler(the kind with fruit), milkduds, and cobblers (the kind with shoes).

Overall, we enjoyed Ronnie’s. It lacks atmosphere (except for those sweet globe lights!) but the food is good. As a diner experience, it is middle of the road. If you are in the neighborhood and you’re hungry, or you are getting your car serviced/meeting the guy who knows the guy who can kill your wife for less than two grand, stop in.

Food: Good.
Service: Decent bordering on Good.

Price: $7-$12P
ie: No. Left over cake though.

Ronnie's Diner
12740 Culver Blvd #J,
Los Angeles 90066
At Braddock Dr

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