your favorite diner foods

[foodperv]

classic diner foods meatloaf (blueplate special), mac n' cheese, chicken-fried AND country-fried steak
WHEN PREPARED RIGHT are true classics and are so yummy
what are some of your favs.
the country or chicken fried steaks are mine

[chilihead]

My Beloved and I used to teach a class in Seattle while we were living in Olympia.
Going home we tried a different diner every week until we found Galloping Gerties, by the film famous bridge. The one where the bridge is doing its impersonation of sine wave.

We both have our "always" dishes. Hers is a French dip and mine an open faced roast beast with mash and gravy.

Good for the food, great for the history.

[chicken kabob]

pancakes w/ sausage or bacon-usually blueberry.

[coll]

Always a chocolate egg cream, no matter what time it is. I"d like to say home fries too, but nobody seems to burn them up anymore

[goodhealthgourmet]

coll, try ordering your home fries "very well done" and explain to your server that you like them "extra, extra crispy"...that may help.

[coll]

I just order them and if they're not right I don't eat so much, which I should do anyway! I make them great at home so I don't really care all that much anymore. I love my egg creams though, and they're so much better with seltzer on tap.

[GodfatherofLunch]

The secret ingredient for an egg cream is Fox's - U- Bet syrup. Except no substitute.

[coll]

I don't!

[Passadumkeg]

If ever in Albuquerque w/ a 2:00 am craving head to the Frontier on Central Ave (rt 66) opposite UNM. Excellent green chile breakfast burrito and green stew. Great people watching and excellent value too. Helped turn me into the chile addict I am today. Cool John Wayne decor
.http://abqstyle.com/albuquerque_resta...

[wanderinglady]

I second that motion! I had the green chile burrito (not breakfast burrito though -- don't like 'em) at the Frontier. It was at 2:00 pm, though. I've been to the Fleetwood Diner in Ann Arbor too, but never had "hippie hash" until my boyfriend started making it recently.

My favorite diner foods are patty melts, chili cheese fries and pot roast with veggies, mashed potatoes and gravy.

[Avalondaughter]

Grilled cheese with tomato and bacon
Disco fries (fries with melted cheese and gravy for those of you not from this part of the world)
Reuben
Monte Cristo
Big juicy cheeseburgers

What's the name of that sandwich that's roast beef and mozzarella on garlic bread? I love those too.

[Sra. Swanky]

Oh - that's a Balboa - those are the best!! :o)

[MrsCris]

Ooh yes, poutine... with squeaky fresh cheese curds.
My favourite is the beef dip sandwich. Beautiful thin sliced roast beef on a roll (with garlic butter please!) and a side of nice jus. And fries. And cole slaw. And a crunchy kosher dill.

[Kate is always hungry]

That beef dip sandwich sound wonderful. Where do you go?

[MrsCris]

It's pretty standard on most diner-style restaurant menus in my area (I'm in Alberta, Canada) and if it's on the menu, chances are I will order it. The best I've had, I think, was at a little diner in a small town called Chilliwack - basically a rest stop town on the highway in B.C. I do make them at home sometimes too, if I've made a nice roast, I'll slice it thin and make a jus from stock and maybe boullion powder tossed in.

[BaltoPhilFood]

Grilled Cheese and Bacon! Always! and club sandwiches with the roasted turkey

[amedemonet]

Fries with gravy, only see it on diner menus. I love the Canadian poutine (fries with gravy and aged cheddar), better than a chili cheese dog.
http://spooninandforkin.com

[Phoo_d]

My hometown was, sadly, very lacking in diners. However if I find a good one I'm a sucker for a big juicy burger, crispy onion rings, and a strawberry milkshake.
Phoo-D
http://www.phoo-d.com

[al b. darned]

No. 1:
3 egg omelet (spinach & cheddar if they have it), extra crispy bacon, home fries, English muffin (w/pb if DW isn't with me) & coffee.

No. 2:
Fried Fish sandwich w/onion rings or fires, Cole slaw, and ice tea.

[kchurchill5]

Meatloaf hot with mashed potatoes and cold meatloaf sandwiches is the top
Chicken and dumplings. I love classic chipped beef. I posted a recipe on here that I love. I enjoy swiss steak over good thick butter noodles. Goulash, well my version ... elbows, cheese, ground round, onions, celery and tomato sauce baked. I love Good pot of chili with corned bread, ham and bean soup with a loaf of home made bread.

Those are my favorites that I love to cook for a classic home cooked dinner. And most found in diners. Patty Melt, Mac and cheese, tuna melt. But today so many diners are going upscale which are alot of fun to see what they do with traditional favorites.

[RyanParkes]

Steak fries with Gravy and Mozzarella

[Passadumkeg]

The fries, cheese & gravy sound like Quebecois poutain. At what diner do you get it? On our drives from Maine to NJ we often hunt out diners.
Welcome to chowhound. Go eat a Taylor Pork roll for me.

[powillie]

Since I live in flyoverland, I am not familiar with a Taylor Pork roll, or Quebecois poutain, just what is this?

[GodfatherofLunch]

I am not familiar with flyoverland, just what is this?
Can you say Google ? Sure you can.

[powillie]

Flyoverland is the vast cultural wasteland between the east coast and the west coast of the United States. Since there is no reason to stop there, residents of either coast merely 'flyover' to reach their destination. Now, may I ask, just what is this 'Google' thing, some sort of Mid-Atlantic salamander?

[ccbweb]

Here you go powillie: happy to help!
http://tinyurl.com/5lq7t3

Please let me know if flyoverland has sapped any further mental energies and I'd be happy to help with the salamander training.

[powillie]

Thanks for the link, I didn't see anything about amphibians, but I did check out Monterey Blvd. on Street View. By the way real Barbeque doesn't need sauce. Thanks again.

[Will Owen]

I too have lived in flyoverland, powillie, and in those parts to which the Harris-Teeter supermarket chain hath penetrated, there dwelleth the Taylor Pork Roll as well. It is a kind of processed lunch meat substance in a plastic chub pack, yearned for in the same way as grilled Velveeta sandwiches and blue-box Kraft mac'n'cheese are. Not a gourmet treat, just comfortable nostalgia on a plate.

Which is the only reason I can think of for Bristol Farms to be carrying it out here in LA County...

[Passadumkeg]

Hey, Taylor Pork Roll makes Spam look absolutely bush league!
(Uh oh, I'm gonna get it at the back of the neck.)

[powillie]

Thank you, Will Owen. I appreciate your answer.

[Passadumkeg]

flyoverland? My mom's house was right under one of the flight paths to Newark airport? I thought every single diner in Nj had Taylor pork roll sandwiches and they were always five dollars!

[KevinB]

Poutine, as it is properly spelt, is hot fries with fresh cheese curds and brown gravy poured over top. The gravy and the heat from the fries partially melt the curds, but if the curds are fresh, enough of them stand up to the heat to still "squeak" as you eat them.

The name comes from an exclamation made by the owner of rural Quebec diner, when a customer asked him to throw the cheese curds into his bag of fries. "Ca va faire une maudite poutine!" - "That's going to make a d*mn mess!". The gravy came later.

It's extremely high in carbs, fat, sodium, and has virtually no nutrional highlights. I love the stuff.

[Sra. Swanky]

Never tried it, but it sounds right up my alley too! Do they have poutine in the states and other parts of Canada or is this a strictly Quebecois delicacy?

[Passadumkeg]

Maine. We have the largest per cent of Franco phones of any state and were once, in a land long ago, part of Quebec. Maine is/was a French province.

[chilihead]

They have it here in Burlington Vermont as well.
You can see the late night Saturday crowd stumble in and out of a Main Street dive seeking a sponge for all that cheer and courage.

[goodhealthgourmet]

PDK, any true Jersey diner should have cheese fries w/gravy. growing up in North Jersey we always had them at the Royal Cliffs Diner in Englewood Cliffs, the Plaza Diner in Fort Lee, or the Tick Tock diner in Clifton.

[amedemonet]

That sounds like the poutine I just posted =). Fries with gravy are underappreciated.
http://spooninandforkin.com

[Passadumkeg]

Yup, poutine, I just can't spel. Fairly common up here, but NOT Taylor Pork Roll.

[lawgirl3278]

At my local diner, I always get their roasted chicken & stuffing with mashed potatoes, extra giblet gravy on both. And a chocolate pudding with fresh whipped cream. The perfect comfort food.

[Judith]

Breakfast, breakfast, breakfast, and whatever it is, a toasted corn muffin, no butter. All of this only works on the east coast. Out here on the west coast there really aren't diners as I knew them growing up in the NY metro area.

[mnosyne]

Egg salad on wheat toast
Rice pudding with raisins
Hot turkey sand. with mashed potatoes and gravy
Bacon and eggs (any way!)
Patty melt for sure!

[chef4hire]

disco fries
SOS
open face turkey or roast beef sandwich
coffee regular
homefries

[HillJ]

diner tuna on rye with a crisp kosher pickle
rice pudding with a sprinkle of cinnamon
PIE; especially that mile-high lemon mer
hash brown (shredded style)

[dolores]

Fries with mayo and ketchup.
Grilled cheese, burgers.
Eggs with jelly and ketchup.
The coffee, no matter how bad.

Sadly, there are no chicken fried steaks in diners in Westchester, more's the pity.

[ChrisOC]

Eggs over easy with sausage and grits
SOS
Chicken croquettes
Monte Cristo
Hot roast beef sandwich (NOT openfaced) and fries with gravy

The open face grilled cheese with bacon and tomato is also lnown as "Etta Special" Don't ask me why

[Soup]

Any breakfast item.
Anything with ton of gravy on it. Yum.

[Firegoat]

The "Hot Hamburger" from Murphy's in Bartlesville, OK
http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Overv...
Any other diner for lunch a perfect diner burger is always a treat and beats any fast food burger by a mile.
For breakfast a ham and cheese omelette.

[alkapal]

that hot hamburger looks like heartburn on a plate. for another of my diner "heartburn favorites": a good reuben! sweet tea.

for breakfast, bacon-grease basted eggs and stone-ground grits seasoned with salt, fresh-ground pepper and butter, and served with (it'd better be) a good biscuit and a somewhat spicy coarser-grind country-style fresh sausage. maple syrup on the side for the biscuit. fresh strawberry jam if at all possible. coffee, half-n-half, sugar.

i think it was the proprietor, danny meyer, of the union square cafe in new york who said in a recent interview that, iirc, it is sort of "known" in the resto industry that to be successful, every restaurant needs to serve (some dish that's like) breakfast (figuratively, if not literally) all the time. http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/587529 but i'm thinking of all kinds of menus where i just simply cannot see that concept. maybe i misunderstood him completely! ;-). maybe it is in his book, sold on the cafe's website: "Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business" by Danny Meyer http://www.unionsquarecafe.com/docs/l...

[MGZ]

Scrapple

[mrsbuffer]

Hot roast beef sandwich, open face, with dinner fries and gravy over all
Turkey club (they ALWAYS use fresh turkey, not deli turkey)
Blueberry pancakes at the Blue Horizon Diner on Rt. 42 in Monticello NY they are the size of the plate, and always come with dinner size breakfast sausages
Cheeseburger deluxe
Char broiled pork chops

[Kate is always hungry]

Hot roast beef sandwich, open face, with mashed potatoes, and gravy on the side.
Hamburger, fries, and coke.
Turkey on toast with mayonnaise.
Grilled cheese.
See MrsCris' French dip sandwich.

[Emmmily]

A grilled cheese sandwich with breakfast sausage inside instead of baon. Sounds wierd but soooo good, and it never turns out right when I try to make it myself.

Matzoh ball soup.

Diner hot chocolate with whipped cream - I know it's usually just Swiss Miss, but somehow it just tastes better at a diner.

[bermudagourmetgoddess]

The grilled cheese with breakfast sausage reminds me of something my grandmother use to make... breakafst sausage on top of an toasted english muffin and a poached agg and smothered in cheddar cheese sauce....kind of like a southeren eggs benedict

[ccbweb]

Ooh, that dish sounds wonderful. I'm going to be collecting a couple of things while I'm at the store this afternoon so I can make that for breakfast tomorrow. Do you, by chance, know what your grandmother put in the sauce? (I think, if you do, that the recipe should go on the home cooking board.) I'd greatly appreciate any thoughts about the sauce. Thanks!

[Morganna]

I have a different take on this sort of thing. I had this for the first time at the Renn Fest in Shakopee, MN in the early 80s. They served it there in the mornings. Autumn mornings can be chilly in MN, so this was a lovely start.

Take a russet potato, slice in half. Scoop out the insides, leaving about 1/8 to 1/4 inch all around, so it's like a potato boat. Press raw, loose breakfast sausage into the cavity, both sides. Leave a depression on both sides large enough to hold a hardboiled egg. Put the egg in the center of one side, then put the otherside on top, enclosing the egg with the sausage and potato. Roll tightly in aluminum foil and poke just a few holes in it with a fork. Bake at around 350 degrees for around an hour or so. While that's cooking, making a really basic non-cheese cheese sauce with velveeta and a little milk, or just heat up some cheez-whiz. Take the potato out of the oven, unwrap, cut along the seam with a knife to slice it back in half, exposing the layers. Put one half in one bowl, the other half in another, cover with the cheese sauce and eat. :)

It's bizarre but it tastes great. ;D They called it Scotch Eggs, but I know that's not what Scotch Eggs traditionally are. :)

Anyway, this is the sort of thing we'll have maybe once every two years. This is not a standard weekly breakfast. :)

[alkapal]

good for a brunch, where i could make ahead and keep warm. fondue pot for keeping sauce warm. mmm, tasty!

it is a scotch egg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotch_egg but de- and re-constructed! same good ingredients. i'd incorporate the real scotch eggs' crunchy coating into the "new" scotch eggs by sprinkling it on top of the egg/cheese sauce -- for some textural interest.

[Morganna]

Well, except for the potato and the lack of breadcrumbs and frying. ;D I was so hungry at my write up of this that I have a couple baking in the toaster oven right this moment. ;D

Someday I'll have to do the more traditional breaded/fried version. :)

[alkapal]

well, i put the *breadcrumbs* back, at least. <and dontcha know, "deep-fried" is equal to "potato"> ;-). -- hey, it was early in the a.m. did you make one for me?

[Will Owen]

That is just about a Sausage McMuffin, though the drive-through version has a slab of Cheeselike Product instead of cheese sauce. On the other hand, I can get it any day without having to resurrect your grandma!

[bermudagourmetgoddess]

Far from a Sausage McMuffin I would never eat one of those...I would rather keep Grandma's tradition alive!

Not to mention she lived and ran a pig farm, so our sausage was homemade.
I still make it to this day.

[amedemonet]

Grilled cheese with sausage is my favorite breakfast. I add hot sauce to it too. And I got more than one weird looking ordering it..
http://spooninandforkin.com

[krisrishere]

Patty Melts - done right though: thin beef patty, swiss cheese, sauteed onions, thousand island dressing on grilled rye.
Eggs and Corned Beef Hash
Pepper and Egg Sub
Reubens

[JungMann]

Generally I'm going to order breakfast (sub onion rings for potatoes please); but if I'm feeling adventurous, I'm easily swayed by a tuna melt.

[bermudagourmetgoddess]

Corned Beef Hash with poached eggs
Sausage gravy over anything!

For lunch I have to agree ...Patty Melt, fries with gravy and a Big Glass of Fresh Iced Tea

[Deenso]

Patty Melt
Fries with peppery brown gravy

[melly]

I also love creamed chipped beef on a muffin with a poached egg on top. I also love hot roast turkey or hot roast beef with gravy all over and mashed potatoes.

Breakfast...chicken fried steak and eggs...with crispy hashbrowns! Lot's of coffee.

Meatloaf with mashed potatoes and corn...has to been corn kernels.

[Quine]

Blueplate specials! OMG I once had a collection of those, the very heavy, divided plate, mock blue willow pattern. It was Great fun to serve a dinner party on those. Alas, they were lost when the house burtn down.

So, growing of in NJ, diner state of the world, diner food is breakfast. Home fries, turned, grilled, crisped from a few hours on the side of the grill. Early AM or so late it's the next day's early AM home fries were to be avoided. Still breakfast, but fries with gravy. Diner gravy is diner gravy 24/7.

I am a gravy person at a diner, I usually order something like a Hot Turkey sandwich, or lt least mashed pototes( or fries) with gravy. One NJ diner waitress broke it down to perfection when I ordered mashed with gravy; "Yellow or Brown?"

My fave breakfast at a diner : home fries (of course, comes with it) Corned beef hash with creamed chipped beef, with eggs sunny -side up, on top! Rye toast.

[Lucia]

Grilled cheese
Meatloaf
BLT
and a sundae or pie a la mode to finish

[Passadumkeg]

Another NJ special: Taylor Pork roll on a Kaiser roll w/ cheese and a fried egg.
Albuquerque, The Frontier, a green burrito
Allentown, Pa, scrapple (w/ maple syrup) and a fried egg
Maine Diner, Wells, lobster pie
Brunswick Diner, Maine, lobster roll or burger
Rockland Cafe, Rockland, Me, fish cakes and beans
Chester Pikes Galley, Sullivan, Me, Lobster Benedict, corned beef hash, home fries, key lime pie. (Worth the trip!)
O'Rourke's Diner, Middletown, Ct., everything (even the slider)!

[gordeaux]

greek skirt steak

patty melt

reuben sandwich

[GodfatherofLunch]

Taylor Ham and cheese on a hard roll
Home Fries w/onion and peppers, all crunchy and crispy on top.
Breakfast at 3AM
Monty Cristo
Club Sandwich

[lynnlato]

I adore O'brien home fries (HF w/ onions & peppers). And, you're right, club sandwiches are a diner staple too. Also...

-onion rings
-cream pies (chocolate, coconut cream, Boston)
-Reuben sandwich
-Liver & onions
-Cod fish dinner

*There is an artist, John Baeder, who creates the most amazing paintings of diners from across the country. I attended his exhibit in Charleston SC last year and was blown away. Here's a link to his work: http://www.johnbaeder.com/Main.htm. The website doesn't do his work justice - but the exhibit made me want a patty melt and an order of onion rings in a big way. I loved the Big Boy piece, and this one is also a favorite of mine: http://www.johnbaeder.com/Oils/2001-O...

[GodfatherofLunch]

Just thought of one additional item,chicken croquettes. Only diner cooks know how to do these right.

[alkapal]

lynn, the first baeder web link you typed should not have a period adjacent to the "htm".... it invalidates the search. i always have to remember that when putting any kind of punctuation near links.

so the site address is: http://www.johnbaeder.com/Main.htm

the paintings are quite photographic in their realism. thanks.

[Will Owen]

We know John from Nashville, where he's lived for many years, and have attended a lot of his gallery openings. The killer one was in downtown Nashville, and instead of the usual wine & cheese & grapes doodah, the gallery got one of John's subjects, an old guy who sold soul food out of an old Metro van at the Nashville Farmer's Market, to pull his truck to the curb outside and serve fried chicken and fried potatoes. You haven't lived until you've seen the cream of a city's art patrons sitting on a curb eating greasy (and GOOD) fried chicken with their fingers!

When John had an opening at the Kopeikin Gallery in LA featuring paintings of taco trucks, we certainly had our hopes up, but it was not to be: "They wanted a $1500 upfront payment!" he said indignantly. Well, sure - they'd be tied up outside a gallery on Wilshire instead of raking in the bucks on Figueroa!

His ability to render quilted stainless steel in watercolor just about dropped me to my knees, and still doe.

[alkapal]

will, did the people lick their fingers? (i wouldn't be able to resist).

i'd love to see his painting in person. maybe he needs a show at the national museum of american art here in d.c.!

[Will Owen]

LOTS of finger-licking going on. The guy was not handing out chintzy little paper napkins, either - they were the big heavy ones, and lots of them. I was sitting next to Nashville's #1 real estate closings lawyer, in a very sharp suit as always, and he was happily munching it down and managing it very gracefully.

I think John would be more than happy to have a show in the National! He is not at all shy about wanting all the exposure he can get...

[lynnlato]

Will, how interesting! I agree, his quilted stainless steel, and shiny stainless are mind-blowing. I could admire his work for hours. My husband grew antsy... I wanted to stay and gaze. Amazing.

[Will Owen]

The first piece of that I saw was actually a small watercolor sketch, just matted and unframed, at the first show we went to in Nashville - Mrs. O (who wasn't quite Mrs. O yet) had the "Diners" book and had introduced me to it, but this snippet caught and held me. I think I actually could have afforded it; I wish I'd gotten it then. I was astounded at this level of realism being achieved in watercolor on rough paper.

[lynnlato]

Thanks, alkapal, for the the fix! :)

[Midlife]

Absolutely agree with Liver & Onions. I'm the only one in my entire family who even likes it and the only time I can have it is when my wife is traveling or when we go to a local 24-hour diner-style resto. I had it when I was a kid and have always loved it, but I'm the only one. A local IHOP has had in on their menu in the past, but I try to avoid IHOP in general.

[TampaAurora]

My dad used to tell me that we were going to "The Liver Emporium" when I was being difficult. Never failed to quiet me down, until I was old enough to know there was no such thing and it became the family joke.

[alkapal]

the "liver emporium" is really funny. nowadays, i'm sure kids wouldn't know the word "emporium", though. ;-).

[TampaAurora]

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium is a fairly recent movie (2007) so some might. I'm in my mid-20's, so to many people on here I would still be sitting at the kids table.

[Sra. Swanky]

Godfather, you got my order exactly! Especially the breakfast at 3 AM -- those were the days! *sigh* :o)

[goodhealthgourmet]

the only time diner food tastes even better than at 3 a.m. is the morning/afternoon after a night of hard partying, when you've finally managed to drag yourself out of bed! i suffered many hangovers during which a plate of hot, crispy home fries (hold the peppers, please) was the only food i could even think about keeping down.

i'm guessing the only 3 a.m. breakfasts in the Swanky household these days involve breast milk ;) how's the new bambino/a, and how are you feeling?

[Sra. Swanky]

Ghg - You're right on the money!! :o) The baby's definitely on Mommy's 3 AM college day's eating schedule and yup - the baby prefer's the "house white" in the Swanky household! Andy's worth each and every odd hour. He's doing wonderfully and I'm feeling great. Thank you so much! :o)

[jenhen2]

Grilled cheese with tomato, fries and a coke. Delicious!

[curiousgeo]

Breakfast plates including corned beef hash or ham steak, with eggs, hash browns and coffee. Agree with the hot turkey sandwiches mentioned earlier. Also meat loaf, chicken fried steak, roast beef or roast pork with mashed potatoes and gravy. All great comfort meals.

[goodhealthgourmet]

as viperlush said, it's gotta be a classic Jersey diner:

- extra-crispy/well-done home fries with plenty of pepper
- cheese fries with gravy
- and though i can no longer eat them, a tuna melt on toasted rye with Swiss.

oh man, now i'm craving diner food!

[lynnlato]

Yes! the melt sandwich on rye w/ Swiss, but I prefer the patty melt! If you're gonna be bad, you might as well do it right. :) A burger w/ sauteed onions, swiss & rye grilled 'til gooey. Mmmm. I also like chicken salad melts too.

[danhole]

The patty melt was the first thing that came to mind! True diner food. For some reason I don't think of CFS as a diner type food, but then again I don't remember it being served at the old time diners back in the 60's, 70's, up north. And around here it is served everywhere so . . . I remember the hamburger steak with a pat of cheese melted on top, Salisbury steak and mashed potatoes, meat loaf, breakfast served anytime and pie!

[lynnlato]

Salisbury Steak? I LOVE Salisbury steak w/ mashed potatoes and brown gravy! In fact, my sister and I were just reminiscing about Salisbury steak we used to have at a diner back home in PA. I've been craving it now for a couple of days. The last time I had a craving for it, here is the recipe I used:

Salisbury Steak w/ Mushroom Gravy

1.5 lbs lean gr. beef
1/2 onion, chopped
1/4 cup bread crumbs
8 ozs sliced mushrooms
1 Tbl Worcestshire
1 Tbl. horseradish
1-10oz. can beef broth
1 egg, beaten
2 tsp. cornstarch
2 Tbl. water
1/4 tsp blk pepper

Combine beef, pepper, egg, bread crumbs, horseradish, onion and worcestshire in a bowl. Once combined, form into 6 patties. Brown in non-stick skillet over med-high heat for 5 mins per side. Drain off fat & add broth & mushrooms. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat & cover & simmer, 10 mins. Remove patties and keep warm. Combine water and cornstarch & add to pan. Bring to boil and cook until gravy thickens.

[lynnlato]

Forgot to mention that the diner we frequented back home had CFS, but it was the only place I knew of to get it in the area.

[danhole]

Since I grew up around Indiana/Illinois, and then moved to Texas in 1970 my diner memories are mainly from up north. Salisbury steak was a biggy and thanks for the recipe. Another favorite in Indiana was a breaded thin veal chop, no gravy. mashed potatoes with gravy, and green beans. I have never had a veal chop like that ever again. It was not a schnitzel, I don't think, but man was it good. And the pies!

Down here in Tx chicken and dumplings is a diner favorite, as well as smothered pork chops and collard greens.

[givemecarbs]

Back in the day, I would always order the ground round patty at the Howard Johnson's in the suburbs of Trenton. And I would order it medium rare. Yum. Tasted like a steak to me, flavorful, and of course tender! No gravy wanted or needed. The sides were just background noise. Oh and a milkshake or ice cream soda. Howard Johnson's had a Good soda fountain. Not sure if HoJo counts as a diner. Soon after I discovered the joys of breakfast before bed and after hitting the bars at the many diners in the surrounding area. Scrambled eggs, home fries, rye toast and ham or sausage. MMmmmmm.

[lynnlato]

Shut up! I completely forgot about the ground round - wow, you have really taken me back in time w/ that. LOL

[Catskillgirl]

They also had a barbecued beef dish that I can still taste 25 years later. Yummy. Of course having dinner at HoJo's was just an excuse to order ice cream for desert!

[TampaAurora]

Open face turkey sandwich with turkey gravy!
Pancakes and scrambled eggs with fried potatoes.
Omelets with mushrooms.

[Whosyerkitty]

Burgers, breakfast, soup, pie.

[ccbweb]

I agree with the open face turkey sandwich with gravy and mashed potatoes. But, I don't get it at diners, I make it at home. One of my favorite things to eat.

[charlesbois]

mine is diner-specific. The hippie hash from the fleetwood in ann arbor michigan. Big bunch of veggies (broccoli, tomatoes, green peppers, onions, mushrooms) cooked on the griddle and served with hash browns. A true delight.

At random diners, I'll generally stick to breakfast all day. i do like a good biscuits and sausage gravy too, but you have to know where to order it generally.

[chilihead]

The Fleetwood, now there's a flashback. I remember in the 80's seeing on their chalkboard the phrase "It's not an adventure, it's just a job."

[tinymango]

i actually prefer the hippie hash from abe's coney island in neighbouring ypsilanti. theirs has tomatoes, peppers, onions, feta, and mushrooms (i think this is accurate..) oh god, at three in the morning after a night of drinking....

that was a few years ago, though.

[viperlush]

Classic Jersey diner:

Happy Waitress
Cheese burger deluxe
Waffles w/strawberries and whipped cream

Always coffee and gravy on the side w/ fries

[Morganna]

What is "Happy Waitress"?

[viperlush]

Open face grilled cheese, bacon, and tomato

[Morganna]

Hmmm why does that make the waitress happy? ;D

[thinks too much]

It varies from diner to diner. I've also seen a tuna melt described as a happy waitress.