Place: Retro Diner
Lunch: Some sort of Philly cheeseteak (no peppers), fries, Coke
Retro Diner is some locally owned place in a slot at one of those uppity outdoor lifestyle centers, the kind with odd shops, lawyer offices, and apartments. And a Super Target. Of course.
They have awesome counter seating. And no customers. I was the only customer there during my entire lunch.
The cheesesteak came with liquid cheddar (you have the option of that or regular Swiss) on a lovely buttered and toasted hoagie roll. The fries were perfectly cooked crinkle cuts. If I had a bottle of Arctic Circle fry sauce on me, it would have been perfect.
Five weeks to Utah.
(sigh)
Rumor has it we're getting a Denny's again. The rumor has been spawned by the new Denny's signs at the Love's truck stop. It's still 'rumor' because their big highway LED readerboard said "DENNY'S OPENING TUESDAY OCTOBER 19" on Monday and Tuesday.
Didn't happen.
Then it said "DENNY'S OPENING WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 20" on Wednesday.
Didn't happen.
Then it said "DENNY'S COMING SOON" Wednesday afternoon and this morning.
I'll believe it when I see it.
We haven't had a Denny's in this market for probably a decade. The route that got us this one isn't very simple. Flying J went bankrupt. Pilot acquired the Flying J chain out of bankruptcy. Pilot already had a truck stop near our old Flying J. The FTC made Pilot sell some of the conflicting truck stops. They sold them to Love's. Loves took the full-service restaurant chunk of the property and turned it into a Denny's. Actually, Pilot has an agreement with Denny's to convert their restaurants to the Denny's brand, so this may have already been in the works when Loves bought it.
The long empty fast food chunk of the property, once a Hardee's, is still empty. I wouldn't mind them putting a Hardee's in again, but it's probably not feasible because Flying J eliminated the drive-thru lane when they reworked the building and landscaping after Hardee's closed.
We had three Denny's when I moved here. They were all old and poorly maintained. One of them was kind of cool because it had never been remodeled and still had orange vinyl seats right up to the day they demolished it. One of them closed after being the scene of a brutal murder. That building is now a pricey Italian restaurant. The weirdest Denny's conversion I've ever seen was in Illinois or Ohio, I think. They turned it into a Wendy's. One very odd looking Wendy's.
It's been at least three years since I set foot in a Denny's. I recall that I wasn't impressed the last time. Denny's, like most of the family restaurant segment chains, sometimes have a good after breakfast menu, and sometimes don't. On that occasion, they didn't.
But it's right on my work commute route, so I'll probably have breakfast there once in awhile.
Assuming it ever actually opens.
