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| - I've lived in Bellevue now for five years, and have tried most of the offerings the main street has that appealed to me. Most of them were either disappointing in food quality or price point, or after learning of their political leanings, I won't return. But somehow I totally missed the two 'diners' on the strip...until today. And holy moly...how did I miss THIS for so long?
From the outside, it looks like nothing. It doesn't even look big enough to be a restaurant, but those looks are totally deceiving. Once stepped inside, I was totally enamored by a true old-world style...DINER! Even walking up to the table to sit down, my heart skipped a beat...at each booth a coat rack. That includes space for...MY HAT! I didn't need to clear the salt and pepper shakers for a place to sit my hat. Smitten.
The decor was simple. Old photos of Pittsburgh from the early 1900's, and little shelves on the wall with old fashioned food containers, mixers, etc. Perfect kitsch for an old diner. One long counter with the grill behind it, old diner dishes with the brown lines around the rim and those brown heavy ceramic coffee cups.
The menu was standard diner fare, with a few other touches, and they had both a breakfast and lunch menu. The prices are standard what-diner-prices-are-supposed-to-be fare, or more accurately, FAIR.
We were there for lunch, and scanned through the menu and I initially eyeballed the Reuben. The fish looked good too, those it was served on a hamburger bun (I will never get why, in the land of 'hoagies', so many fish get served on a hamburger bun, with two three inch sections of fish hanging out either end of the bun), and the DV burger looked good too.
When the waitress came to take our order I asked "The Reuben?" and I held my index finger and thumb one inch apart and then three inches apart. She got it, and showed me about an inch and a half. So, the burger it would be, and it ended up for both of us. Mine with slaw, and his with onion rings. She got our coffee and water, and put in our order.
When I lived in Miami, I LOVED diner burgers. There, since diners were the last remnant of American food, ALL of it was home cooked food. After to returning to Pittsburgh I found that many of my real old go-to diners were either gone, or were serving up frozen crap from the back of the Sysco truck. I had no idea what I was going to get.
After we sat and chatted a few minutes, my better half grew wide eyed and said "They just took an ice cream scoop of ground beef and put it on the grill and flattened it down!" WOW, we were getting burgers...not frozen gray hockey pucks...but real ground beef!
After a short wait, the food arrived. A beautiful double decker cheese burger with lettuce and pickles. A MOUND of cole slaw, and a MOUND of onion rings. They also brought my usual request of a side of mayo and dark mustard (most diner dives only have the day-glo yellow ball park nonsense). I did think that the bun was a little skimpy for these beautiful burgers...they got soggy from the juices and fell apart very easily. BUT, that being said...if I have to get up and go to the restroom to wash my hands after eating a burger...then you are doing something RIGHT! Frozen hockey puck burgers don't create juices. My hands were totally slimed in a delightful way.
Now I've seen other reviews whining about sanitation and bad service. Frankly, I experienced neither. The server was very mon-and-pop diner appropriate, the rest of the staff was totally presentable and respectable, and there was absolutely nothing 'unclean' from what we experienced.
For $20 we had two double decker REAL burgers, a ton of slaw, a generous pile of onion rings and two coffees. TOTALLY diner-reasonable and appropriate.
I am just so sorry that it took me this long to FIND it and try it!
Thanks Dari Villa...for giving me a great meal...and a place to hang my HAT!
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