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| - I waited a long time before wading into the whole Deluca's vs. Pamela's dispute, choosing to bring some friends to Deluca's because it was closest to our other errands. I must also admit that the descriptions of Pamela's pancakes as "crepes-like" had some effect on my choosing to try Deluca's first.
Of course, since we come into the city from the boondocks, we arrived at the peak of Saturday morning rush, and waited about 45 minutes to get in the door, but it was a nice, crisp, sunny autumn morning and there were lots of interesting folks to look at and speak with--everyone in line was convivial, anticipating our pending feast.
Inside, the atmosphere was perfect--lots of worn formica, narrow aisles, cramped seats. This was no showplace but a restaurant that works for a living, a diner. The gorgeous hostess was efficient verging on brusque, and the waitstaff seemed predominantly hipster in appearnace, but once we were inside the service was swift and attentive, despite the crowds. Not overly friendly, mind you, but I'm not here to make friends--the priority is eternally full cups of coffee and orders accurate and on time. They rocked it.
I did traditional: pancakes, bacon, and home fries. The pancakes taste exactly how diner pancakes are supposed to taste, the bacon was crisp but not too crisp, and the home fries were decadent and delicious. Others in our party had the blueberry pancakes, chocolate chip pancakes, the Moab, and the famous breakfast burrito. I snuck my fork into just about all of it and found the Moab to be especially good.
Would I go back? In a heartbeat. I departed feeling full from the generous servings, but would gladly have gorged myself further--I'll probably get the Moab next time, Deluca's has a good thing going for it and they know it. The prices are a little higher than similar places I've visited, but are by no means excessive--part of what you're paying for is the atmosphere in the strip as well as in the diner. It's definitely worth the hype.
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