That last post inspired me to follow up with a Top Five Diners list. See what you think:

1. Middlesex Diner, Middlesex Township, PA — My all-time favorite diner anywhere. And that’s my favorite diner meal pictured above (with the Harrisburg paper in the corner): Those wonderful fat sausages with what Pennsylvanians call home fries, which are basically kind of chipped/shredded fried potatoes. Man, I wish I could find those sausages to cook at home.
2. Stage Deli, NYC — Pictured below. OK, not strictly a diner, but a classic (and kind of touristy) New York deli. But I don’t order those sandwiches with the celebrity names. I just order diner-style food there: The fat sausages are almost as good as at Middlesex. Also, they give you very generous portions — they’d better, because this is far and away the most expensive joint on the list. By the way, I once had breakfast here with ex-state GOP Chairman Katon Dawson, back during the 2004 convention.
3. Shoney’s, anywhere — A very satisfying all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet. Especially those moist, diced potatoes, which are fantastic with bacon. One of those great simple combos you have to try to get how good it is. I usually have thirds. I’ll put some other things on my plate, but it’s really about the potatoes and bacon.
4. Silver Diner, Maryland or Virginia — I wrote about this back on the previous post. Yes, it’s very commercial, with all the carefully designed period decor and menus and such, but the food meets the test.
5. Fay’s Country Kitchen, Carlisle, PA — This one’s not for the food. I only ate there once, and they were out of link sausage (I had hoped, given the proximity, they’d be as good as at Middlesex), so I had some mediocre patty sausage, and it wasn’t impressive — Jimmy Dean boring. But my wife, who’s eaten there a lot, maintains that the food there is good normally. I’m including it because I had a classic diner moment there with a waitress, and based a column on it, which you can read here. That waitress embodied, I believe, the reason Hillary Clinton beat Barack Obama in Pennsylvania.

I almost included the Minit Stop convenience store in Bartlett, TN — but it’s not technically a diner; its meals are mostly takeout. And it would be sort of like nepotism, and I run a clean blog here: My brother-in-law runs the place, and he and my father-in-law are partners in the business, of which the hot food deli has become a growing part.

Also, Lizard’s Thicket is a pretty reliable place for me, but it’s not strictly a “diner” either. And it’s so generic here in the Midlands that it just didn’t seem like a cool pick; Top Five List King Barry would have mocked me. The Shoney’s pick, by contrast, is so corny it’s hip.

So what do you think? Where are your favorite hash-slinging joints?

Related Posts

• This was pretty good, but the Mick Jagger one was funnier
• Vote ‘no’ to all those questions on the ballot
• Open Thread for Friday, July 28, 2023
• Sometimes there’s some good news in this world
• Should Trump be criminally prosecuted?
• How I’m going to vote today
• The ‘barbarism’ of the death penalty in S.C.
• You see, he’s the PRESIDENT, so I want him doing PRESIDENT stuff…
• Teague: Redistricting South Carolina: Nearing the end
• Well, I’ve got it. What now?