My Jersey Diner Tour continues!

After a restful night at the hotel near Newark International Airport I headed out to continue my travels in New Jersey and try some of the iconic diners that are all over the state.  I headed north to the town of Lake Hopatong, which is in the Jefferson Township.  I stopped at the "Jefferson Diner".  My first impression was that on the DDD episode the diner looked as if it were standing alone on a hill.  In reality the diner is in a strip mall, but it is very unique as it has it's own silver diner look and in fact all the shops and restaurants have their own unique look and designs.  Parked outside was a red 1967 Corvette and I learned that it was a production car that was owned and used by Page Productions, which was the first producer of DDD.  The diner owner told me that Guy has contacted them and wants to buy it back and I think ultimately they will but the Jefferson wants a return visit by Guy.

Jefferson Diner in Lake Hopatong, NJ

Guy's 67 Corvette at the Jefferson Diner

As I entered the diner it was very cool, silver stainless steel on the outside and wood and neon on the inside.  I was seated at a corner booth and was given the huge menu.  I decided on a special meal that had Guy's picture next to it.  I ordered the "Happy Waitress" which was created by a Jefferson Diner long time employee and was an open sandwich Grilled Cheese with tomatoes and bacon and came with waffle fries and a soft drink.  It was very good, although I wish I had asked for the tomatoes on the side. 

The Happy Waitress

After finishing I was able to get my book signed by the owner and spoke for a few minutes with her.  the Jefferson has been featured on a few different shows: Triple D; Unwrapped; and a TLC show which she couldn't remember bu tit was a "reality show: that she didn't care for!  From the Jefferson I headed to my next stop.  I headed into Hackensack to probably the smallest place I have been to on the DDD adventure that I have been on.  "White Manna Hamburgers" is a place that is alot like the old Little Tavern Burgers were in the DC area.

As you enter the White Manna there is a small counter, the place seats maybe 15 tops and does a rousing takeout business.  You order your slider/sliders from the grill girl and your choice is with or without onions and with or without cheese.  They then place the meat on the grill and cook the onions into the meet and steam the potato rolls into the meat.  They are inexpensive and delicious.  I ordered two sliders and a soft drink and the cost was under 5 bucks!

My Sliders Lunch

As I got my book signed by the girl on the grill, some of the other guests started to ask me about my travels and I always like to share the stories because I have alot of fun and like to tell others about it.  I thanked the staff and headed out.  The next stop was another classic Jersey style diner in the town of Clifton.  The "Tick-Tock Diner" is a large stainless diner and has the motto's "Eat Heavy!".

I went int and this place is huge with a large dining room and there is the classic lunch counter area as well.  I ordered the Kielbasa Pirogis.  It came with a choice of soup as an appetizer and I chose the Matzo Ball Soup.  It was very tasty and a nice start to the meal.  The Pirogi plate came out with 6 large pirogis, which are basically Polish Raviolis stuffed with a soft cheese.  The pirogis were surrounded with grilled onions and sauerkraut and topped with sliced Kielbasa sausages.  I am a big fan of Pirogis and was not disappointed.

Matzo Ball Soup

My Tick Tock meal

Sometimes when I ask the manager or employee to sign my DDD book, I get a sort of cynical look and even after explaining what I do there is still some trepidation from the staff and at the Tick Tock, this was definitely the case.  I did succeed in getting my book signed  and was glad for that.

As many of you know I love to take cruises!  My travel agent is Nancy and she lives in this area of New jersey.  I have used Nancy for many years and although we know each other pretty well, we have never met face to face.  I wrote to her a few days before taking to the trip to see if she'd like to meet up at a diner for dinner and actually meet.  We decided upon a place that wasn't too far from where she livers and where I was staying.  "The Ritz Diner" in Livingston, NJ is where we decided to go.  I met with Nancy and her husband Joe and their 12 year old son Lex for a very pleasant dinner.  The Ritz is another of the classic Jersey diners, with great food, huge portions and very reasonable prices.

We were seated in the back area i a round booth and then had a really great time talking about cruises, and travels.  I also learned about the world of Pokemon cards and learned that there is very competitive worldwide group of Pokemon players and Lex has been veyr successful at the game, it seemed like a very cool past time!  We all got different meals.  I decided on the very reasonably price Lobster Ravioli, which came with a huge chopped salad, which was a meal in itself.  All the meals came with a plate of Challah Bread and Rolls and a bowl of vegetables.

Lobster Ravioli

Nancy's Chopped Turkey Salad

Lex's Burger Platter

The food was wonderful at the Ritz.  Before ordering dessert, the manager came out and signed my book and talked to us about Guy's visit and how much fun the staff had with Guy.  On the episode Guy featured the desserts at the Ritz.  We ordered different desserts.  Nancy got her favorite, which is Carrot Cake, Joe and Lex tried Chocolate Fudge Cake and I got a Chocolate Cannoli, which was awesome.

Nancy's Carrot Cake



Joe's Chocolate Fudge Cake



My Chocolate Canoli

I must say that this was one wonderful dinner, great food and wonderful conversation with someone I have talked to for years but never had the pleasure of meeting.  I hope that we will be able to meet many more times in the future.  We said our goodbyes and I headed back to the hotel to recharge for my last day on this tour.

One of the places in Jersey that I have always wanted to go to is "Mustache Bill's Cafe" in the beach town of Barnagat Light.  It is on the Jersey shore and I did try to get there a few years ago.  the problem is that this cafe is open only seasonally and during the beach season is only open a few days each week.  I am bummed because it might be an elusive place for me to get to. 

I headed out on my last day that would end in my driving home.  My first stop was in the town of Linden, NJ.  The Bayway Diner is the first place that Guy ever filmed at for "Diner's, Drive-ins, and Drives" so this is a place that I really wanted to experience!  I drove to the Bayway and as I approached it there was a lack of activity around and I had always read that it was a very busy place.  I parked and walked up and hen noticed the "Closed for Renovations" sign on the door, what a bummer!  I had checked the website the prior day and it said nothing of this, but I did make the attempt!

The Bayway Diner

From the Bayway I made my way south to the town of Edison, NJ.  My final stop in New Jersey was a very cool place called "The Skylark Diner and Lounge".  This wasn't really the classic diner that you find all over "The Garden State" but really seemed like an Art Deco Coffee shop from the 1950's or 60's that you might have found at New York International Airport-Idlewild now known as JFK Airport.  Inside the Skylark were very cool art deco lighting fixtures and large posters depicting travel and dining.  The waiters wore button down white shirts and pencil neck ties, very Mad Men! 

The other thing I really noticed at the Skylark was that it lacked the huge menu that most of the diners in the area have.  They have separate menus for each meal and the Skylarks breakfast menu is pretty extensive.  I chose the Carolina Grits breakfast.  It consisted of a large bowl of grits with ham, sausage and cheddar cheese mixed into it.  It was very good and really hit the spot! 

After getting the main hostess to sign my book I headed south back home and my new DDD location visit count is 273 and the goal of getting to 300 in the next few weeks looks pretty good!

My own "Jersey Diner Tour" Day 1 (with a quick start in Annapolis

During the summer of 2012 Guy featured a place in Annapolis and I knew that since it's so close to where I live I would have to make a quick stop there and check it out.  I met my friend Tammy at "Davis Pub" a small neighborhood restaurant in what I would describe as a residential area.

Davis Pub in Annapolis, Maryland
 

The place is small and there was a very lively crowd here or a Wednesday night.  I gt a small table inside met with my friend.  We decided to share a Crab Pretzel appetizer then get dinner.  Now truth be told I love crab, I think that if given the choice between crab or lobster, it will be crab all the time!  The pretzel was cut in half and topped with a delicious creamy crab spread.  For dinner I got the Barbecue Sandwich, which is one of the specialties and the sandwich that Guy cooked on the episode.  The sandwich was ok, not real special .  I enjoyed Davis Pub, but if I have to have a go to place in Annapolis, I would choose Galway Bay.

Barbecue Sandwich

Davis Pub's Crab Pretzel

 

I knew that as October came around I wanted to make a trip somewhere to try some more places as I was at 264 visits and I wanted to get to 300 by years end.  I looked a several areas to travel to.  Getting on planes has been tough as I fly standby and alot of the places I wanted to get to have had very full airplanes.  I looked at Buffalo, Syracuse, Atlanta and no luck.  I decided to look to a place that Guy featured during the second season of the show, New Jersey and it's iconic diners!  I plotted out a driving tour and I wanted to include a place in the Bucks County area of Pennsylvania. 

I headed north out of Leesburg and after about 3 hours I was in Bucks County and intro a small town called Wrightstown to a place that looked alot like a Manor House.  "The Pineville Tavern" is nice homey place.  The walls of the tavern are adorned with signs and knick knacks and made it a very nice setting.  On the episode Guy cooked homemade ravioli with the chef and was presented with a large extended fork, for clamping the edges of the ravioli, so I knew exactly what I wanted.   

My Ravioli Lunch

I ordered the Lunch portion which was just the right size.  I found the service to be friendly but slow on some things.  The meal was ok, the raviolis reminded me of the home made ravioli that my grandmother made, so I did really enjoy them.  the bread made it nice to sop up the sauce, although the sauce needed some spices or something but Parmesan cheese really did help.  The staff was excited to hear about my travels and that made it a very pleasant visit. 

I left and headed into Jersey and the Newark area.  I have never really been to the area and after hearing so many jokes about Jersey being the concrete flatlands between Philly and NYC, I was taken aback  by the rolling hills and pretty fall colors.  A real eye opener!  After checking into my Newark Airport hotel I headed to the "shore" and try a place in the town of Belmar.

I headed to "10th Avenue Burrito Company".  It is located in a strip mall and has both inside and outside seating.  This place has a very cool atmosphere with a Harley Davidson type of feel.  One of things that I find great at some of the places are featured on DDD is the DDD icon on the menu showing which items Guy cooked while there.

I choose the Spicy Mac and Cheese with Chorizo Sausage.  The meal came with a small salad topped with an avocado ranch dressing.  The huge bowl of Mac and Cheese arrived and it was filling and totally delicious!  There were huge chunks of Choizo Sausage throughout the bowl.  I told my server why I was there and asked if I could get my book signed and she went and got Brian the owner and chef that Guy cooked with to come and sign the book.  He was excited to come out and sign and we talked for awhile about the filming and also about my travels, he is a great man! 

Spicy Mac and Cheese at 10th Avenue Burrito

My meal!

As I finished (or made a good attempt at it) he waitress came out and told me they wanted to give me a t-shirt!  WOW, very cool!  A great meal and free swag, what could be better!  For the record, they made my Mac and Cheese less spicy and t was still very spicy, so for those of you who love heat this is a great choice, because it s delicious and has a kick.  If you are on the Jersey Shore you should definitely make the 10th Avenue Burrito Company a stop on your trip!

I headed back to the hotel to rest up for day 2 of the "tour"

DDD hits the Windy City

In the spring months of 2012 my older brother Tom was informed that he would be awarded the Samuel Smith Award from the American Bar Association (ABA) during their annual meeting in August in Chicago.  As I looked at my schedule I saw that I was  off that weekend and decided that I was going to try to get there to be there for him.  I did some rearranging so I would be able to get there a few days early so I could get to some of the many DDD locations in the Chicagoland area. 

I arrived on a Wednesday two days prior to Tom's award reception.  I worked overnight and caught a 6am flight to Ohare arriving a little after 7am.  After getting the car rental I took off for what would be a full two days of visiting DDD locations and seeing some friends that live in the area. 

I headed towards Chicago's south side as the first day would be going to places more to south.  My first stop was a neighborhood place, "The Depot American Diner" is a small diner that has very reasonable prices and is decorated with photos of classic diners from all over.

The service was very efficient and friendly.  I decided to try the Grilled Cheese plate which included fries and Cole slaw.  It was probably the most unusual grilled cheese that I have ever had as it wasn't grilled at all, but the "club style" sandwich was toasted and was pretty good.

My Grilled Cheese at The Depot

Before departing I was able to meet the owner and get her to sign my book.  She told me that Guy was in town for the big rock fest that was happening on the weekend at Lincoln Park.  I didn't get to meet Guy on this trip hope hope that I sometime I will be able to.  I left and headed to the town of Willowbrook to try a place that I was totally expecting to be a small shack type of place but to my surprise I arrived at "Dell Rhea Chicken Basket" to a nice restaurant-lounge in the classic diner type of building.  I got there when it opened and opted for the Lunch Buffet as it seemed the most economical and I got to try all of the specialties of the house.

 I tried the signature Chicken and biscuit with some mashed potatoes and Italian Sausage.  All was delicious and very filling.  This place is popular, within 30 minutes of opening it was full! 

My Dell Rhea lunch

I was able to meet the owner and chef and he was so nice.  He told me about the filming and that now on Thursday's for lunch he has the DDD lunch Buffet that features all of the food that he cooked for Guy for their DDD segment.

Sometimes it's tough to go to so many places in short time and I just need a break and this was one of those times.  I was tired and full so I decided to head to my hotel and get some rest as I had been up for almost 24 hours.  I had to make sure to meet up with a friend for dinner and wanted to get some rest before that.  After some time to rest it was back on the road during Chicago's wonderful rush hour traffic back to the south side to meet my friend Nicolette at one of her favorite places, "Chuck's Southern Comfort Cafe".  This place which I was told had started out as a classic Barbecue shack as grown out if it's original location and taken over a Banquet hall and the place was jammed.  We started out sharing an order of Jalapeno Corn Bread baked in a skillet.  I am not one for spicy food and this was not that spicy but did have a bit of kick and was awesome.  I ordered the Pulled Pork plate that had sides of Barbecue Beans and Mac & Cheese.

Chuck's Pulled Pork Dinner

The Pork was great and beans were very good too, but the real star of the plate was the Mac & Cheese, which wasn't gooey but had a few types of cheese but I think that the kicker of it was the cream cheese, oh man it was awesome!  Chuck came over and talked with us for a few minutes while he signed the book.  Chuck runs a festival each summer called "Chuck Fest" at the small soccer stadium nearby that is home to the Major League Soccer Team called the Chicago Fire.  The fest is a celebration of Barbecue and Music, with all types of music featured.  It is a very popular festival.  I enjoyed both Chuck and spending time with my friend, it's great to be able to share a meal with great friends.

My second day in the "Second City" would be mostly in the northern side of the city.  I headed off to have breakfast at a very unusual place (at least for me) "Tre Kroner" is a Swedish Cafe.  It is in a very residential area and really blends into the neighborhood.

The place is decorated in Swedish paintings and photos.  One wall is decorated with Swedish children's characters and in the bathroom is a huge National Geographic style map of Sweden.  I chose the Swedish Pancakes, spelled Pankakes in the menu.

My Tre Kroner breakfast

The crepe thin pancakes were topped with powdered sugar and accompanied with Ligonberry compote which was very tasty and was a nice tart taste to go with the sweet sugar.  After finishing and getting the book signed I headed out.  On my way to the next stop I drove through Lincoln Square and looked up and saw another DDD place that had just been broadcast on the show just 3 nights before!  "Chicago Brauhaus" had yet to open for the day but I stopped to get a picture of the place and the square and fountain that has been dedicated to the owners.

Chicago Brauhaus Fountain in Lincoln Square

Dedicated to the Owners and Founders of the Chicago Brauhaus

I was bummed that it was not open but now I know one place that I have to return to when I am in Chicago.  I continued onto the next place.  "Glen's Diner" is under the Elevated Subway Train Station on Montrose Avenue.  The windows are decorated with blackboards of all the specials for the day and the awning over the windows has a number of clever sayings and phrases.  Now I need to digress a bit.  I can't eat full meals at all the places as now only would I get bigger than I already am but I really can't afford it financially.  I got to Glen's and looked at the  menu and not only did the regular meals look good but all of the appetizers did too! 

Glen's Diner (under the EL)

I chose the Rainbow Trout dip and it was great, a creamy dip with alot of trout meat mixed in and served with a side of Ritz crackers.  There a slight bite of Horseradish that really gave it a great taste.

Glen's Rainbow Trout Dip

Gen came out to sign my book and he also searched for the business card of Guy's company because he said that Guy needs to know about my passion, I totally agreed with him!  He could find the card but it was great to have some time talking with him, he a very nice man and it rubs off on his staff that all were friendly and accommodating.  One of the coolest things at Glen's is his Cereal Box wall.  Glen's is open on the weekend and this is one of the specialties of his weekend breakfast menu.  I found it totally cool!

Glen's Cereal Box Wall

I moved on to a place that when I saw it shown on DDD originally I KNEW that I had to go to.  After passing by Wrigley Field, home of Chicago's beloved Cubs (except to White Sox fans) I got to a place that might be named for the food that are served, but is actually named for the two Chefs-Owners of the place.  "Big and Little's" is a small place serving unusual and very tasty food.  the place was jammed and as soon as I walk in I recognized both of the owners, known as Big and Little.  Little is the main chef and he took time away form the open kitchen to sign my book, thanks so much, Little (also known as Gary).

I ordered the Soft Shell Crab taco and it was unreal, so tasty.  I knew they were putting out some great food here, but was floored on how great it was!

 
Big and Little's Soft Shell Crab Taco

After that I headed back to the hotel to meet with a friend that works at Ohare and decided to make a quick stop at a famous Chicago food stand that was featured on DDD in one of the first few episodes shortly after it debuted. "Paradise Pup" is a classic Chicago joint that is small and always busy

There was a pretty long line out the door, but it moved fast and it turned out to be well worth it.  I ordered they're classic Cheddar Char Burger.  This was an awesome burger!  I met the owner and he took time to sign my book during the busy rush and then I was asked by a number of the patrons about my travels and that is always fun for me.

Paradise Pup Cheddar Char Burger

After a nice visit with my buddy Dan I as pretty tired and wasn't sure where to go.  I had been planning to go to a famous barbecue joint in town called Smoque, but after looking at my GPS I saw that another place I had wanted to try was not only closer but not on the rush hour traffic routes so I headed to the northwest part of Chicago to "Hackney's on Harms".  It derives it's name from the family that runs it - the Hackney's and that it's on Harms Road in a residential area, and I'm not kidding, there are houses all around it.

I remembered this place from the show and there was only one thing for me to get.  The signature "Inside Out" Hackney Burger.  It is a 1/3 lb. burger that is stuffed with Cheddar and Bleu cheeses.

The "Inside Out"

Filled with Cheddar and Bleu Cheeses

The burger comes with endless fries and Cole slaw and a choice of roll, I chose the Pretzel Roll.  An awesome meal!  The son of the founder came over and signed my book and pointed on in the book that his parents at their first house is in it.  A nice guy as were all of the employees that I encountered there.  The parking lot was full but it didn't seem crowded because they have inside and outside seating.  I opted to eat inside but the outside seating is in a garden setting.

Now here is the crazy part of the trip.  i woke up about 3am and couldn't fall back sleep.  After about 25 minutes I decided to "screw it" and got up and headed to a DDD that is open 24/7 & 365!  The "White Palace Grill" is in the middle of the city and I remember it so well, because the owner of the place said that he doesn't have a key to the place because it is never closed and the only reason they have a lock on the door is because they have to by city ordinance!

I had the only drive during my entire trip that I didn't hit some kind of traffic, of course I was driving between 330a and 4a!  I arrived and there was a alot of business at the place.  I took a booth and ordered the Midnight Train, White Palace's version of Chicken and Waffles.  While waiting for my meal I was just amazed at the steady traffic into the place at that time of the morning.  The meal was very good, three large chicken tenders with a Belgian waffle. 

The Midnight Train at the White Palace Grill

I headed back to the hotel to get a little rest before going to pick up my niece, Rebekah at Ohare and take her downtown to my brother's hotel for the ABA reception.  Before she arrived I was contacted by one of my old bosses at United Headquarters and he invited me to come and visit so after getting a pass for both myself and Rebekah we headed to what had been called The Sears Tower (for a long time the tallest building in the world) but is now called Willis Tower.  After getting the tour of the offices and having a nice visit with Steve, we headed to Tom's hotel and then I wanted to get to one more DDD place.  We picked up Rebekah's mom (my sister-in-law) Elaine headed to a place north of the city.  "A Taste of Peru" is a small eatery that is total Peru!  Rebekah had done some missionary work in Peru a few summers back so I saved this one for her. 

Rebekah majored in Spanish but was reluctant to use it.  Our waiter coaxed it out of her by the time we left and she really loved the fact that she could get her favorite soda from Peru, Inca Kola.  We decided that amongst the 3 of us we would get two entrees and share them.  While we waited they brought out bread with a thick yellow sauce.  It was a slow burn sauce.  The heat grew in intensity as you ate it.  We ordered the Pollo en salsa de Mani, which is Chicken in Peanut Sauce, and Lomo Saltado, which is shredded beef with veggies and french fries over rice.  Lomo Saltado, according to the menu was Guy's favorite during the filming.  Both entrees were delicious, but the chicken in the peanut sauce was UNREAL, oh my goodness I could have eaten several plates of that.  I can highly recommend that!  

Pollo en salsa de Mani

Lomo Saltado

Elaine, Rebekah and I at "A Taste of Peru"

That was the end of my DDD visit to Chicago.  Later that night we went to the reception where Tom received his award and then went to a group dinner to a place called Francesca's on Chestnut, which specializes in Italian and it was great.  I flew home the next morning and now have visited 263 DDD locations with hope that I will get to 300 by the end of 2012.