O'Rourke's - Middletown, CT

Posted By Michael Stern on December 18, 2008 1:04 PM

Brian O’Rourke’s diner just keeps getting better and better.

It’s located at the far end of Middletown’s Main Street, where the dawn air swirls with the wake-up scents of hot coffee, frying spuds, and cologne of working people ready to start their day. You can claim a seat at counter or booth and eat the most basic kinds of blue-plate fare, including masterful omelets every morning and noontime fare that can be as simple as a pancake-flat grilled cheese sandwich for $1.25 or as copious as a Rueben sandwich with French fries for $4.75.

Among O’Rourke’s good everyday dishes are the steamed cheeseburger (a central Connecticut passion), 3-way chili “Seeley style” (named for the diner’s most devoted patron, J Seeley), fish and chips, and a “tuna smelt” sandwich with red onion, bacon, and steamed cheese.

The homemade soups are spectacular; there are always two or three from which to choose, including such recent springtime wonders as potato-caraway and cream of Portobello mushroom. As we plowed through lunch in our booth last March, we watched a small club of leather-clad bikers occupy one end of O’Rourke’s counter and chat with one another about the extraordinary creaminess of the mushroom soup, sending their compliments back to the semi-open kitchen.

In recent years, Brian O’Rourke has been more and more inspired to create meals to suit special occasions, ranging from stunning Sunday brunches to holiday fare that is truly world-class. Around Mardi Gras time, his daily lunch menu features moist blackened catfish, shrimp and crawfish jambalaya with hefty red Creole sauce, and an andouille sausage and chicken gumbo that he told us he learned to cook at the elbow of Paul Prudhomme.

Overall Rating

soup

Omelet

Swordfish Cakes

Brown Bread Muffin

Bacon & Eggs

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Posted By Linda Roger on October 26, 2010 10:51 AM

We found O'Rourke's to be one of the friendliest diners we have been to. As I watched the waitress make a yummy looking chocolate shake, she poured the remainder from the blender into two glasses to give to me and my sister in law. Brian came out of the kitchen to talk to us about breads, and give us samples of a new plum crumble that he was working on. And this was after my family and I all had delicious lunches...from the fish sandwich to the Irish BLT, none of us were dissappointed.

If we weren't from Australia, we would make this a regular stop...!!

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Posted By Rich Anthony on January 14, 2009 3:11 PM

Went for dinner. This is a diner. Whoever heard of diner prices at $17 or $18? So we ordered sandwiches. The Reuben was so dry it could choke a horse; no taste, no dressing on the Reuben, no sauerkraut, just awful. The coleslaw had so much back pepper, it burned your mouth. The corn and cauliflower chowder looked and tasted terrible. Main courses offered were seafood, more seafood, and more seafood, and then lamb...

Now for the waitress: I asked, how does the turkey sandwich come? Hmmm, what do you mean? Lettuce, tomatoes, mayo I asked? She says, I don't know, I never had it... As we paid, we were asked about the food. We told her and said we would never be back for dinner. The person couldn't have cared less; gave us NO satisfaction.

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Posted By Joseph Rogo on December 11, 2008 12:09 PM

After watching D,D & D's trip to O'Rourke's I thought I would give it a try. Now believe me, I appreciate a good diner and understand the diner/waitress "what'll ya have" stuff. But I have to tell you, the waitress here was waaaay out of line.

From the time I walked in she was just plain rude. Hey, I'm a big boy, I can take it. But right after me two elderly women came in and she was just plain mean to them. She yelled across the diner at them like they weren't part of the human race. The table behind me were arguing about whether to leave any tip at all. They ended up agreeing on two bucks. The rest of the staff... wonderful. No sign of management on site. I got the feeling she didn't like all us strangers coming in and filling up the restaurant.

My breakfast was good: two poached eggs over brown bread with ham, bacon, hash, and fingerling potatoes. I didn't care for the brown bread too much, but the hash was excellent. The big problem was the price tag. Not worth $13.00. Not even close. Not with all the kitsch in the world.

In the TV segment it appears the owner is on-site a lot. If he condones this kind of behavior towards his customers, shame on him.

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