Neanderpundit

Wednesday 20 Feb 2008

i love small towns

16 comments Og | Uncategorized

16 Responses to “i love small towns”

1. on 20 Feb 2008 at 8:57 am   Nathan
   
   

   Amen to that. Some of the best meals I ever ate were in little crossroads Mom-n-Pop diners in north-central Indiana back in the ’70’s.

2. on 20 Feb 2008 at 9:44 am   Petey
   
   

   My town of 2,800 in Northern-West-Central-Illinois doesn’t have a McDonald’s (Thank God). We did have a Mean Gene’s Burgers for a while, but it closed. There is a Subway in town. The old lunch counter type Diner was bought out several years ago.

   The local grocery store (yes, it is still open) has a really good deli counter. Hot case meals for $3.79. Just about like the diner. We have a sorta casual dining restaurant and bar (they bought out the old lunch counter-now this is where all the farmers go for coffee in the morning). And we do have a good pizza place, too. It is a part of chain, of like 3 places within about 25 miles of each other. It is in the old storefront of the local lumberyard.

   But hey, we have 9 churches in town. And still have our own high school (the only merger is with the little Swedish historic town 7 miles away-that only has 150 residents).

   Small town America. I made it a point to move back, otherwise I would have probably killed someone.

3. on 20 Feb 2008 at 1:41 pm   Dick
   
   

   You guys up North have the diner thing down. Something we never really managed down here.
   But we do have some great mom and pop BBQ joints.

4. on 20 Feb 2008 at 5:09 pm   Slash
   
   

   One of my favorite diners is Latif’s in a town named Turlock in California’s Central Valley. This diner has several nougahyde-upholstered booths, two u-shaped counters, a glass case filled with candy where the register sits, and a room upstairs where the Rotary Club meets. You can always depend on getting good, solid food there and a selection of pies for dessert.

   George H.W. Bush swung through the Central Valley while campaigning for his first term. He stopped for lunch at Latif’s and made quite a sensation. There is still a brass plaque on the back of the counter stool in which GHWB sat and framed photos on the wall commemorating the event.

5. on 20 Feb 2008 at 10:16 pm   Guy S
   
   

   We still have a dinner *breakfast all the time*. Also have a Burger King (we are far too small for MickyD-thank god!) and a local bit of history called “Sam’s Drive-in”. In the warmer months they bring your food out to the car, nice legs and a smile, make the burgers and root beer go so much better.

6. on 20 Feb 2008 at 10:45 pm   Jim
   
   

   McWhat?

   Oh, you mean that place that sells stuff sorta like food.

   Only worse.

   Jim
   Sloop New Dawn
   Galveston, TX

7. on 21 Feb 2008 at 1:32 am   mts
   
   

   In Rochelle, Illinois they had a lunch counter in an old Rexall on the town square. Every day they had a different meal. Not a different special, the one and only meal of the day. If it was Thursday and you were there on a stool, you were eating spaghetti. If you wanted chili, you should have come Tuesday. I never had a slice of peach pie as good as theirs.

8. on 21 Feb 2008 at 8:59 am   Rey B
   
   

   If you come down 31 all you see is our McDs and Subway. In the summer Eby’s is open and there is a little Pizza place on the main drag as well as Granny’s Kitchen and a couple of bars. Come on over.

9. on 21 Feb 2008 at 10:16 am   og
   
   

   exactly, jim. almost like food.

10. on 21 Feb 2008 at 11:16 am   John Parker
    
    

    I actually have to disagree with Dick on this one, there’s several nice, little, old-fashioned diners in the outer ring of the DFW area. I live just a couple of miles from two of them. Friendly, competent, and fast waitresses combined with solid home-style cooking. I’m getting hungry again just thinking about it.

    Dick’s absolutely right on the BBQ front though.

11. on 21 Feb 2008 at 1:24 pm   Dick
    
    

    John,
    give me names and addresses.
    Kelly and I’d kill to find a decent diner around here.

12. on 21 Feb 2008 at 1:26 pm   Dick
    
    

    Besides Momma’s Daughters’ and The Mecca over on H&H. Those are more lunch type than anytime.

13. on 22 Feb 2008 at 9:31 am   og
    
    

    yeah, I would have killed for a BBQ place.

14. on 22 Feb 2008 at 11:20 am   John Parker
    
    

    My local favorite is the Ballard Cafe on Ballard Street in Wylie. It’s a left turn right off of SH 78/Lavon Drive east bound. The other one is the Country Junction which is right on 78 in Sachse. It might fall off of the radar though … the management just changed and I can’t recommend it until I’ve given them some time to settle and tried it again. Another good place is Hubbard’s Cubbard on Main Street in downtown Garland, but they only do breakfast and lunch. For lunch and dinner only, there’s also Babe’s Chicken Dinner House … not quite diner style, but similar in a lot of ways and with really great food.

15. on 22 Feb 2008 at 3:13 pm   Dick
    
    

    Crap, wish I would have tried those places when I lived in far north Rockwall. Now I’m in the mid-cities section, out by the airport. Babe’s has been around for years and I know the greatness of their food.
    Looks like I’m making the drive to Wylie.
    Thanks.

16. on 25 Feb 2008 at 11:00 am   John Parker
    
    

    Glad to help you out. I’ve got several friends that have lived in the mid-citeis area for years. I’ll ask them about diner-ish restaurants in the area.

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