Diner Breakfast Complaints

=== sprinkled w/ cheap paprika for color. Totally tasteless, don't know why they even bother - most people leave them on the plate to be discarded. What a waste!===

What is funny as one place I have been told to put just a little on the plate as they do not eat the potatoes. Well yeah, that's understandable if all you use is a little garlic powder, paprika and butter flavored oil.

===It sounds like these diners are serving a reconstituted dehydrated sliced or shredded potato. They are a crappy product. The problem is probably a labor situation===

Of all the jobs required for prep, slicing, chopping or shredding potatoes, the task will fall on a dishwasher. It is so easy.... A caveman can do it.
There are plenty of potato products that are available in every form and I avoid them. However I cannot create proper hash browns from scratch, no matter how I try. I will buy the pre-shredded, packaged potato. The only folks who use dried potatoes are the U.S. Military. The last time I saw dried potatoes was 30 years ago in the Navy.

Now, as far as diner complaints go, I have a couple to throw back at the customers.
Do not ask for an egg whites only. Keep that dietary restriction at home.
Most diners do work with what is pre-prepped. Do not ask for a Western omelete sans peppers or a Vegetable omelete minus tomato.
I have had to make an egg white omelete with vegetables that do not include tomato, forcing us to prepare and make a quick melange of vegetables on the griddle somewhere between the eggs and pancakes. The frustration is that orders are backing up as you create this and the customers do not like to wait.
No seperate checks.
If you want crisp bacon, ask for it. Every diner has a bacon press or two...

mark

Ingredients:

1 lb Russet baking potatoes, peeled and grated
3 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper

Equipment needed:

Large stick-free frying pan (at least a 9" diameter bottom)
Potato ricer

Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large stick-free frying pan on medium high heat.

While the pan is heating, use a potato ricer much like you would a garlic press, and press out as much moisture as you can from the grated potatoes. If you don't have a ricer, you can use paper towels to absorb some of the moisture from the grated potatoes, but it doesn't work nearly as well.

When the oil heats up to the point of shimmering, but not smoking, add the grated potatoes. Spread the potatoes out along the bottom of the pan. They should not be too thick in any one place, no more than 1/2 inch thick. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on the poatoes. After a few minutes, lift up one edge of the potatoes and see how done they are. When they have fried to a golden brown they are ready to flip. Use a large spatula to flip the potatoes over all at once, or divide the large potato cake into halves or quarters and flip. Again, when golden brown, they are ready to serve.

Serves 4.

My complaints echo a few others' posted already:

Watery orange juice that costs $1.50-plus for a small glass.

Requesting crisp and drained bacon and it still comes limp and under-done.

Barely-toasted, limp toast.

Undercooked home fries.

Poached eggs that have either barely been cooked or that are almost hard-boiled.

===Barely-toasted, limp toast.===

In a perfect world, diners should have a combination jukebox/ toaster at every table.

mark

Non-dairy creamer, if they don't have half and half or cream, I ask for some milk.
Hard shriveled up sausage links.
I ask for my scrambled eggs light so they are moist, but sometimes I get them watery (undercooked).
Other food mixed in with your food, such as: a piece of onion in your scrambled eggs.

quote:

doggydaddy Posted - 05/28/2007 : 11:17:22
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===Barely-toasted, limp toast.===

In a perfect world, diners should have a combination jukebox/ toaster at every table.

Greatest idea I have ever seen.............................. a toaster at every table, .............. there was once a restaurant in LA ( I believe on Wilshire Boulevard ) that had just that....... a toaster at every table and I always wondered why breakfast joints never picked up on that idea.........

quote:

Originally posted by sizz
a toaster at every table, .............. there was once a restaurant in LA ( I believe on Wilshire Boulevard ) that had just that....... a toaster at every table

Does Johnie's Coffee Shop, Wilshire and Fairfax ring a bell?

quote:

Originally posted by Adjudicator

Adjudicator for the win!

My complaint--overcooked omelets. The cooking that doesn't get into the hash browns seems to go into the omelets.

Mine is not having my over medium eggs cook correctly,
I always get them over easy. What's with that. Also
since many places can not get it right I always order
scrambled.. hate cold eggs that taste like rubber.

While I love diner food, especially breakfast, it’s really hard to find a place that can do it all well. Certainly breakfast potatoes should be standard well done fare, but for everything else, I’ve got to admit I’m so fussy about the “perfect breakfast” that it’s hard for ANY place to do it all 100% right every time.

I usually order

Eggs over hard (I don’t mess with scrambled eggs out, no matter where—too difficult, and except for poached eggs over toast, I don’t really care for runny yolks. Sunny side up just wierds me out)
Bacon crisp or sausage patties well done. Country ham is great when I can get it, but I want it browned and chewy, not just warmed through.
Hashbrowns very crisp – I’ll agree with those who hate gummy, underseasoned potatoes.
Wheat toast dry – I hate toast swimming in butter that someone has added with a brush, and would rather add a bit of jam at the table.

It just occurred to be that while I love a bloody rare steak, insist upon pork chops with a bit of pink hue to them, and adore sushi, all foods very much undercooked, I must have my breakfast stuff cooked to death….wonder what’s up with that…..

My biggest complaint would be the small glasses of milk you get when its ordered. I've ordered chocolate milk and its come out in a glass so small, my kids would have ordered two of them.

quote:

Originally posted by lindsey

TWO WORDS.............HASH WHITES! What is with these cooks that think cooking hashbrowns on one side......then plating them is Aok??? These suck....and I always have to order them well done......repeating...cooked on BOTH sides! There should be a law against this!!!!!!!!!

Beat me to it! We call them Hash Beiges. We were in MI for a long weekend & ate at several "dinery" small places. Not 1 single place could make edible hash browns.
2 more: Lousy eggs benny. Bad sauce, cold eggs. yuk
Listen up folks, if the eggs look done in the pan or on the griddle, you blew it. Overdone. Nothing worse than overcooked scrambled eggs.

Unless you're like me and insist on scrambled eggs and omelets brown, firm and well done. No soft stuff, no gooeyness, no snot. Now that's the way to cook scrambled eggs. I see the way Gordon Ramsay serves up his idea of scrambled eggs and I want to vomit.

My biggest complaint about breakfast is fast becoming the ridiculous increase of price in the last 10 years. There was a time not long ago you could have a square breakfast (meat, potatoes, eggs, bread and juice or coffee) for somewhere around five dollars. Now, the children's breakfast prices are even higher than that.

Unfortunately, some of our chain breakfast entities have started pushing pricing up close to what you would pay for dinner. Now, a lot of the Roadfood/Mom and Pop places are stepping up their prices since there are a flurry of folks willing to pay $10 for an omelette at IHOP/Denny's/Village Inn, etc.

I guess I better get used to it just like I had to get used to:

ground beef at 3.99/lb.
10lbs of potatoes at 3.99!
bar and grill chicken wings $.30.

The cheap ingrediants the upper crust didn't want 30-50 years ago, the food producers and grocery stores figured out we would pay what they ask for it. Nice choice, pay or not eat.

The best hashbrowns I have ever had are at the George Webb diners in the Milwaukee area. My husband orders them extra crispy and has never been disappointed and that says alot. He is very picky about his hash browns. George Webb's is the BEST. Their eggs are also exceptional (and have flavor). In fact, my picky husband's standard order there is: 3 eggs over easy, double hash browns extra crispy, double order of french fries extra crispy, toast, bacon and a bowl of chili. Try it sometime!

quote:

Originally posted by GLINIECKI

The best hashbrowns I have ever had are at the George Webb diners in the Milwaukee area. My husband orders them extra crispy and has never been disappointed and that says alot. He is very picky about his hash browns. George Webb's is the BEST. Their eggs are also exceptional (and have flavor). In fact, my picky husband's standard order there is: 3 eggs over easy, double hash browns extra crispy, double order of french fries extra crispy, toast, bacon and a bowl of chili. Try it sometime!

Hope he works out.

I recently took my daughter to breakfast at a diner. I ordered my favorite - eggs benedict. We had been to this particular place once before, and I'd had the same thing and liked it.

This time, I don't know if they were rushed or what, but the eggs were nowhere near cooked. It was hidden at first by the Hollandaise sauce, but once I cut into it, BLECCH!

GLINIECKI,

Welcome to Roadfood! My eyes are bulging out just considering the feast your husband eats for breakfast.
I have a healthy appetite but am no match for your husband. If I ate all that, I would be full for a day and a half at least. I am really impressed.

Grizzly,

You are not alone in observing constant price increases. Around here it is a price creep, more than a price spike which seems to be what you are experiencing. Here in River City, you can still get a full breakfast with all the items you mentioned for $5.69 with unlimited coffee. Ten years ago it was $5.00. Not a bad creep for a decade, but the increase only happened in the last two years.

Happy to see another George Webb fan!! My husband and I have never had a bad breakfast there-and especially the hashbrowns.They always get my eggs just right-over medium IS over medium.And we love the hashbrowns well done with cheese...

I once had a waitress tell me that "No matter how long we cook the hash browns, they aren't gonna get any crisper than that!!" Allllrighty then! HMPH
I'd like to add that those hashbrowns were definitely HASH BEIGES!

GLINIECKI, not the most common name. I had a Milwaukee Sentinel route with a Tony Gliniecki on Milwaukee's NW side. If he's a relative tell him Mike says hi.

I completely agree with alot of the posts in this topic..especially the ones about the undercooked bacon...there is nothing worse! I love the toaster at every table idea! Diner owners definitely need to realize that there is a difference between scalloped potatoes, home fries and hash browns...and they should learn how to make each one! I know I'm going to get it for even thinking of posting this next line on here, but it has to be said: I have not yet had a hash brown at a diner that even comes close to the ones they make at Mickey D's. I love that they are crispy on the edges and just soft enough in the middle. I know, I know...people are never going to take me seriously after this one...but I can't help it..its the ONLY thing I actually like from there for breakfast.

I have found a local diner that meets my needs. My new favorite is Dewey's Diner 51 Fuller Road, Albany, NY.
It is a very old family owned diner with a long history, just the kind I like. The diner dates from the 1930's and when you walk in you are walking into history.

When you walk inside, you are greeted with genuine enthusiasm and made very welcome. Every customer is
presented with the Times Union newspaper upon seating. There is a reason for this as orders are done from scratch and take a bit longer and the newspaper occupies your time.

This is not to say the food takes a long time, but it is not fast food. Instead, it is fascinating food. My sacred home fries are done from scratch from real cubed potatoes and are cooked till done. Simply wonderful. You also have ample opportunity to meet and greet the friendly regulars which is always a plus in my book.

My other complaint against diners was sausage and I have no complaint here. This diner also cuts the sausage in half but it is large dinner sized sausage and quite satisfying. I guess when you are family owned and have been in business since the 30's you learn some things.

I am glad I found them. Oh, the breakfast special including everything mentioned is under $6.00. It does not get any better than that.

I second Dewey's I think it started up to serve the Truckers who had truck terminals up behind where it is located i.e. Dorns, M&M etc.
I used to help the dispatcher by picking up the long haul drivers from Deweys and bring them to the terminal, and I have got to say one of the best food feelings I ever had, was to enter that diner at 2:00 a.m. on a January morn, and get hit with the smell of fresh brewed coffee and sizzling bacon.

Right next to Deweys there was another diner I forget the name, but it wasn't as popular.

quote:

Originally posted by sizz

quote:

doggydaddy Posted - 05/28/2007 : 11:17:22
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===Barely-toasted, limp toast.===

In a perfect world, diners should have a combination jukebox/ toaster at every table.

Greatest idea I have ever seen.............................. a toaster at every table, .............. there was once a restaurant in LA ( I believe on Wilshire Boulevard ) that had just that....... a toaster at every table and I always wondered why breakfast joints never picked up on that idea.........

I hate "RAW" toast... I'd rather have it burnt than barely singed...

as for the toaster at every table idea... there will always be some yahoos who will stick just about anything in there, including forks and fingers (how do you want your Coke toasted???)... Breakfast after the bars close would truly be a memorable event...

santacruz,

The other diner next door is Inga's Diner. Many years ago there was a waitress that worked at Dewey's
named Inga who started up her own place right next door. Inga is long gone, but the diner bearing her
name is still there. I used to be a regular at Inga's, but when a favorite waitress was mistreated by a
new owner and quit so did I. I wrote about this under the heading Key Employee Quits...

In the old days, both diners were quite similar but drifted apart over time. Inga's under successive owners
tried to be more upscale while at the same time cutting corners. Dewey's still family owned has kept its
character, old fashioned, real country and authentic.

You are correct that both places are favorites among truckers as well as locals. Hours are limited though
both operate from early morning to about 2 PM. Neither would be open at 2 AM these days though.

quote:

Originally posted by Kiowa1

quote:

Originally posted by sizz

quote:

doggydaddy Posted - 05/28/2007 : 11:17:22
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


===Barely-toasted, limp toast.===

In a perfect world, diners should have a combination jukebox/ toaster at every table.

Greatest idea I have ever seen.............................. a toaster at every table, .............. there was once a restaurant in LA ( I believe on Wilshire Boulevard ) that had just that....... a toaster at every table and I always wondered why breakfast joints never picked up on that idea.........

I hate "RAW" toast... I'd rather have it burnt than barely singed...

as for the toaster at every table idea... there will always be some yahoos who will stick just about anything in there, including forks and fingers (how do you want your Coke toasted???)... Breakfast after the bars close would truly be a memorable event...

My thought about the toasters, exactly. Not to mention what children will do with a toaster and a glass of water.

I wonder about those places that have make-your-own waffle bars. There was one at the grad student/faculty cafeteria when I was in law school. One day I saw my Corporations Law prof attempting to make a waffle. Knowing that he liked to wash his Prozac down with vodka I quickly finished my lunch and left before the fire alarm went off.

We have a diner we like very much, except: they give you a choice of hash browns or home fries. Hash browns seem to be frozen, home fires seem fresh, but the hash browns are usually cooked and crispy, the home fries usually not. So it's crispy frozen taters or mushy fresh ones.

Most of the home fries/hash browns in Baltimore are pretty bad. It seems you get boiled potatoes that are cut and thrown onto a grill. There is never enough oil and they must over load the griddle, so most of the potatoes never get browned. You end up with either undercooked starchy or over cooked mush.

I also find the sausage quality is lacking. More often than not you get livery tasting meat that is loaded with gristle.

Not enough bacon, EVER...comeon, 3 slices of bacon never gets the job done, I'll take 12 thanks !

Breakfast is my favorite meal and diner breakfasts are my preference. I grew up in the NY metro area and there were many good diners.

However, I now live in the metro DC area and diner-type breakfasts are very difficult to find. The Double T (Baltimore and Frederick, MD.) is pretty good, but no where do I find a breakfast that has both good potatoes and homemade corned beef hash (not canned).

I had odd potatoes with breakfast at the Woodside Deli this morning in Germantown, MD. They were boiled, cut up with the skin on and looked like they had been finished with some kind of seasoning and maybe butter or margarine that combined to make almost a very thin liquid coating on the potatoes. They had some cut up onions with them and did not taste bad, just not what I had expected -- no crispiness or browning at all.