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This archived review dates from 2007 or before. Use SEARCH above to find all recent reviews.
This attractive recent arrival in Old Louisville makes an appetizing option for a hearty diner-style meal, and judging from the traffic one recent wintry morning, a lot of people are making it a regular stop for breakfast or lunch. It's in a bright and sunny storefront at the corner of Third and Breckinridge streets, fixed up with a distinct look of the '50s (complete with '57 Chevy and Route 66 posters), but freshly renovated and sparkling clean. Green and off-white floor tiles sparkle, as do the textured off-white wallpaper walls over woodgrain paneling. The lunch counter, chrome bar stools and table tops add more colorful spots of green, and the heavy padded wooden chairs are comfortable. Simple flatware is wrapped in paper napkins, and pretty artificial flowers are tucked into antique-looking pale-green bottles on the tables. A short steam table holds cafeteria-style items for lunch, and a case near the front of the room displays displays a selection of tempting cakes and pies. Service is friendly if none too speedy, as a crowd kept the single server hopping, and short-order service means you'll have to wait your turn to get your breakfast fresh and hot. You'll find no cappuccinos or lattes here, but the regular coffee is fine, clean and strong. (Modern coffee makers replacing the battered old aluminum urn has changed diner coffee for the better, and this is one aspect of the old diner mystique that I don't miss at all.) The menu features just about what you would expect of an urban diner, with prices perhaps a little cheaper than you might expect. The Breakfast Special is just $2.99, which buys you two eggs, bacon or sausage, grits or hash browns and toast. Breakfast platters range from $2.99 for two eggs a la carte to $5.99 for steak and eggs or country ham and eggs. Three-egg omelets are $3.99, plus a quarter each for any of a dozen toppings, pizza-style. The daily lunch special, available from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. for $4.95, offers a steam-table selection of entree, two vegetables, bread and drink. About 16 sandwiches, served with pickle and chips, range from $1.99 (for grilled cheese or Swiss) to $4.99 (for a Hot Brown, Reuben or classic club). A hamburger is $2.49 and a cheeseburger $2.99, as are beef, pork or chicken barbecue. A dozen dinner selections, with choice of two vegetables plus bread and butter, are $3.99 (for country-fried steak, fried cod or meatloaf) to $6.99 (for two pork chops). The aforementioned lasagna is $3.99 and the goulash is $5.99. We stopped by for breakfast and got what amounted to a brunch, a morning meal served on oversize plates, filling enough to last until dinner time. Steak and eggs ($5.99) featured a thin but flavorful steak, cooked through but juicy and reasonably tender. Eggs over easy were fine, fried and flipped just right, hot but not greasy. Grits were the real thing, not instant, stick-to-your-ribs thick, and toast was grocery-store bread lightly toasted, served with individual serving packets of apple jelly and butter substitute. The breakfast special ($2.99) was just as well prepared, with two first-rate eggs over-easy, topped by three large strips of lean and crisp bacon and flanked by a generous portion of hash browns, home-fried sizzling hot, potatoes cut in rough cubes, crusty skillet-fried edges contrasting nicely with their fluffy, tender interior. It was all fresh and hot, competently made; this is comforting diner fare, but not at all "greasy spoon." Despite the full house, we never felt rushed, and the brief wait for freshly prepared dishes gave us time to chat, read the paper and sip hot coffee. Breakfast for two came to an affordable $11.82, plus a $2 tip. $ (December 2002)
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