Lucky's

A few people in Wilmington have professed their love to me for Corner Bistro, a restaurant in Wilmington serving eclectic American cuisine. While, I’ve never had anything bad at Corner Bistro, I’ve never had anything memorable, either. After three attempts to love Corner Bistro as much as everyone else, I gave up.

Well, here go the owners of Corner Bistro. They open up a diner on Concord Pike in Wilmington right around the corner from Corner Bistro. The new venture is Lucky’s Coffee Shop and Restaurant, which takes the place of what was the Ranch House. Never went, but the Ranch House was apparently a scuzzy diner.

I’m hearing good things about Lucky’s, but then I never read anything bad about restaurants in Wilmington’s local media, which makes their opinions suspect. I’m gonna give Lucky’s a go, because, like I said, I’ve never had anything bad at Corner Bistro, just…well, I can’t remember what I had.

The interior of Lucky’s got an overhaul when it switched hands, and is now taking cues from Starr’s Brady Bunch-influenced Jones in Philadelphia – stone accent wall, retro fixtures and chairs. Booths with coat racks and tables with bright red vinyl chairs fill the large rectangular dining area. A long diner counter stretches along one wall, where a motley crew of lunch ladies and fresher faces retire between taking orders. A partially open kitchen allows you to see when your order is up...and languishing until the servers figure out which plate is theirs.

Sitting in the pod chair looking at the marshmallow couch by the entrance.

The interior is retro, without being sickeningly slick. The only sickening décor detail is the lettering on the wall leading to the bathroom – “Listen to the music and let your body flow.” What? I just imagined people uncontrollably pissing and shitting themselves upon entering the restroom area labeled “restroom/disco” with the owners' trademark disco ball spinning overhead.

I get the disco ball thing. You have one at Corner Bistro in front of the bathrooms, too, but this saying on the wall at Lucky’s needs to go. I overheard the confused table next to me wondering out load what was up, too. Leave the disco ball, just drop any mention of letting bodies flow while people are eating.

The diner and bistro blended menu at Lucky’s is extensive. Not only do they offer breakfast and lunch diner basics, there have offerings like tortellini and hummus not normally found at diners. Often, I find myself at a diner and not in the mood for eggs or pancakes, so the variety is welcome. The vegetarian menu is also impressive in its variety.

I try the Garden Vegetable Bowl with broccoli, spinach, carrots, and mushrooms over roasted tomato and parmesan cheese grits, thinking I’ve finally found a vegetarian rendition of Southern shrimp and grits. First thing you’ll notice is that none of the vegetables mentioned in the menu description are on the plate (carrot garnish doesn't count).

Then you’ll notice that the vegetables are not over the grits. "Big deal," you say. By saying the vegetables are over the grits, you imply that they are cooked to compliment, enhance, and be eaten with the grits. These vegetables were a side. They also had absolutely no seasoning. Steamed, unseasoned cauliflower – I don’t think there’s anything blander. This is the first time I can remember not eating food served to me, and I’ll eat anything.

How were the grits? The worst grits I’ve had in recent memory. The grits were lumpy, and if the tomatoes were roasted you fooled me. The tomatoes seemed to be just diced tomatoes thrown into cooked grits and simmered a bit. The parmesan was the only saving grace.

After spying a huge sticky bun on another table, I ordered one since I was still hungry. The cinnamon buns are split and heated on a grill, then smothered in sauce and topped with walnuts and raisins. The server dropped off a handful of butter packets to slather between the roll, but I declined the heart attack. Obviously, no one bothered to taste the nuts, because this lot of walnuts was extremely bitter. Had the nuts not been so bitter, this pastry would have been a winner

My partner ordered an egg and cheese burrito wrapped in a spinach tortilla with a side of home fries. There was nothing exceptional about the burrito. Inside the tortilla were eggs and cheese. He did like the extra crispy home fries, simply because he prefers crispy home fries.

When you have a meal of an atrociously bad entrée, a lackluster breakfast, and a pastry with bitter nuts, you don’t ordinarily go back for seconds, but I had to go back to see if things could get better.

For my second visit, I ordered two Asian-influenced starters from the vegetarian section of the menu, not knowing how large they would be – a soup and a soba noodles dish.

I was hoping the soup would arrive first, as that is the norm, but the Japanese soba noodles tossed in peanut sauce and served with bell peppers and mixed greens arrived first. The noodles had an uneven distribution of tangy peanut sauce – gloppy on the bottom, dry on the top. This is minor nitpicking, but, again, the menu description was not accurate. The mixed greens on the menu turned out to be a monoculture of spinach. And I can think of a few garnishes – scallions, cilantro, and cucumbers – that could better compliment and bring more flavor to peanut noodles than roasted peppers. The noodles were much better than the grits, thankfully, but they were no better than soba noodles found in the grab-and-go section of a grocer.

The Asian Dumpling Soup with three vegetable dumplings served in Thai ginger broth arrived last, and I’d be kind if I said the soup was lukewarm. The dumplings are filled mostly with cabbage, and are innocuous in flavor. The broth, on the other hand, packs a wallop of flavor with intense sweetness and spiciness. My lips were pleasantly burning. My only complaint with the soup, other than temperature, was the three sticks of raw red pepper floating in the soup. They look gorgeous, but I was forced to use a knife and fork to cut them into bite-sized pieces (the dumplings can be easily cut with the side of the soup spoon). Don’t make me cut my soup!

After two trips, I’m not impressed with Lucky’s – other than the fact that they have many vegetarian, non-traditional diner options to choose from, which I truly do appreciate that they cared enough to offer. Maybe they should scale the menu back, though, and make a few excellent dishes instead of many mediocre dishes.

Lucky’s Coffee Shop and Restaurant
4003 Concord Pike, Wilmington, DE 19803
302-477-0240
Open daily, 6 a.m.-10 p.m.

Silk City Diner

Searching for Sunday brunch someplace new, we ended up at the newly revamped and reopened Silk City Diner on the edge of Northern Liberties. This decision was not influenced by the recent visit to Silk City by Food Network's bleached-blonde Guy, the winner of a previous The Next Food Network Star, to film for his series highlighting diners, but this visit was by default – the place we wanted to try was closed for vacation. Whaa? The whole staff of a restaurant is not allowed to go on vacation. You do it one at a time, so things keep rolling. Anyway...

I had never been to Silk City, a bar with connecting diner, before it changed hands and reopened this year for either dining or for late night binge drinking and dancing, so I can’t say if the "new" Silk City is better or worse than the "old" Silk City. I suspect in six months, if not already, people lamenting the death of "old" Silk City will have dried their tears.

The front door to Silk City leads into a mosaiked and glassed foyer where one must decide to take the door to the lounge, the bar, or the diner. Too old and wise to even think about drinking at 11 a.m., we chose the door to the diner. Our ten minute wait was extremely reasonable, considering waits at other brunch hot spots (hello, Morning Glory and Sabrina’s). While waiting in the foyer we enjoyed eau de bar, otherwise knows as piss, vomit, and the soap used to wash it away. No worries, once you step up into the diner, the smell dissipates.

I must admit, having a diner connected directly to a club is absolutely genius. When I find myself famished from a night out, I can stumble up the stairs, nosh, still keep my alcohol level at party with the stocked bar in the diner, and then fall back down into the lounge for more dancing. It’s one stop shopping, really.

The long metal dining car is filled with racing-stripe leather booths lining the front and side walls, and a long, blue-tiled counter with a red Formica top and swivel stools against the back wall. The bar in the diner is stocked with beer and alcohol at the ready with your Lager or Mimosa.

The brunch menu has your standard breakfast and light lunch offerings such as pancakes, eggs, and burgers, but is taken up a notch, as most restaurants in Philly, and any where, are required to do to stay in the game. I saw some interesting things on the menu that I would have liked to try, like the French toast stuffed with scrapple and topped with an egg, if only there had been some way to turn that scrapple into tempeh. I did not see one mention of tofu or tempeh anywhere, as an add-on or in an already existing dish. My suggestion would be to keep a block of tempeh in the fridge (it keeps forever), list it as a side, and vegetarians will be able to eat 80 percent of the menu with this one simple substitution. (We always feel slighted when paying for that omitted meat.)

I decided to get the heuvos rancheros – no omissions required. The dish came out with eggs, beans, salsa, and cheese on top of two blue and red fried tortillas with lettuce, sour cream, and canned (?) jalapeños on the side. I requested the eggs scrambled, since I hate runny yolks, and scrambled and dry they were – to the point of rubberiness! There was nothing spectacular about these huevos rancheros, but nothing wretched either.

My partner ordered the corn waffles topped with salmon, eggs, spinach, and hollandaise sauce. I was interested in this dish, but skipped since I did not see a viable soy substitution on the menu, but I should have just sucked it up and omitted the salmon, because... this dish is the shit! (I know this because I took a bite off the edge without salmon.) The corn waffle is essentially corn bread batter cooked in a waffle iron, and fits the bill perfectly for when the devil sitting on your right shoulder tells you to get a sweet waffle, but the angel on your left shoulder tells you should eat something more substantial. My partner also requested his eggs scrambled, but, unlike me, he received eggs cooked perfectly. The mildly sweet cornbread, protein-rich eggs and salmon, and the fat-laden hollandaise sauce cover all your morning cravings. Oh, yeah, there's some home fries on the plate, too.

Silk City’s food scorecard – one great dish and one so-so dish – is even, but they pulled ahead with speedy and friendly service. In all fairness, I might need to give Silk City's food another try – perhaps for dinner or a late night snack after an apertif in the conjoining lounge.

Silk City Diner, 435 Spring Garden St., Philadelphia, PA 19123 215-592-8838
4 p.m.-2 a.m. (food from 5 p.m.-1 a.m.)
Sunday Brunch, 10 a.m-3:30 p.m.

Waffle House

Philadelphia, and the immediate surrounding area, is missing one of my favorite dining establishments ever – Waffle House. For those that don’t know, Waffle House is a chain diner specializing in breakfast foods and American classics. Waffle House started as a single diner in the suburbs of Atlanta in the 1950’s, and has grown to 1500 restaurants today. The Southeast has the highest density of Waffle Houses, although they have spread to many, but not all states. Georgia's so full of these places, that there’s even an exit off of I-20 near Atlanta with four Waffle Houses – one on every corner!

There are a handful of Waffle Houses surrounding the Delaware Valley area, but they are not close. Type in a search for Waffle House with my current Wilmington zip code and the closest Waffle House that pops up is in Maryland, about a 45 minute drive away. Philly doesn’t fare any better. Type in a search for Waffle House with my old South Carolina zip code and 24! pop up, all under 15 miles away.

I have been to three Waffle Houses that are currently near me, if you can call a 45 minute to 1 hour drive near. I miss the convenience of having Waffle Houses near me, because that’s what they are – convenient. They’re always open (always) and ever present – or, at least, they used to be ever present in my old state.

A spend-the-night party (much-alcohol party) out in Lancaster a few weeks ago gave me the opportunity to swerve off PA highway 30 into the Waffle House parking lot across from the outlet mall amusement park in Amish land. To me, the Waffle House trumps ogling the Amish and rummaging racks of clothes any day, and is the only reason to stop on this retched stretch of highway.

My partner didn’t know I had such a boner for Waffle House, and was befuddled when I rashly swung into the Waffle House parking lot. Oh, did I forget to mention my eternal, never dying love of Waffle House? Perhaps that’s because there’s No. Waffle. House. Near. Us. Well, now that you’ve ripped open that painful wound, the story is going to gush out.

Where should I start? I guess high school. 24-hour diners play a starring role in any teenager’s life that cruises around at night looking for a cheap place to hang out before, during, or after hanging out with friends and getting loaded. There was one Waffle House in particular that was on “our side” of town that we frequented the most, but there were Waffle Houses on the other side of town, too, when we found ourselves out roaming the entire city. In trying to pin down the gang, we’d first drive to Christine’s house (her mom worked 3^rd shift) to see if people were drinking there, then we'd search the State Park to see if acid was being eaten out in the woods, finally we’d check the Waffle House for the famished troops. (Cell phones would have been so cool.) The Waffle House was great – open 24 hours and omnipresent, so no matter when or where we were, we always had food; super cheap, so even crusty teenagers could afford to eat; retro-cool, so jokes about the yellow, brown, and orange décor, the country music-filled jukebox, and the poor staff that had to (and still do) wear the diner get-up always entertained.

It was the many pit stops at Waffle House during high school with friends that fostered my addiction to my two favorite menu items – the waffle and the hash browns. Waffle House makes the best waffles, and I’m sticking to that. They have to. It’s called Waffle House! Make sure your waffle isn’t under cooked, and you’re golden.

The hash browns take a little knowledge to order correctly, and that I have. Waffle House has a list of different ways you can order hash browns: Scattered = scattered on the grill, not cooked in a metal ring; Smothered = slice of American cheese melted on top; Covered = with diced onions; Chunked = with diced ham; Diced = with diced tomatoes; Peppered = with jalapeño peppers; Capped = with mushrooms; and Topped = with chili. It’s fun to order in this diner lingo, and also hear the waitresses shout out your order in the lingo. I always order my hash browns scattered, smothered, and covered on a dry grill, so as not to be too greasy, and specify crispy, or else they can come out a little raw if the place is hoppin’ (it always is) and the order are flying. Top the hash browns with black pepper and ketchup from the condiment caddy sitting on the table, and dig in. The savory hash browns are the perfect companion to the sweet waffle, and, together, the two cure any craving you might have.

It was in college that I really fell in love with Waffle House. After a night of drinking and who knows what, my reckless roommate suggests we drive three hours to Atlanta in the middle of the night. I concede that this is a brilliant idea, since I have a boyfriend that lives there any way, so we pack nothing and head out on a drunken driving adventure. (Not recommended at any age.) About two hours into the trip, we decide we’re hungry, and pull off an exit with a Waffle House. The place is inexplicably slammed for being out in the middle of no where and at such a late hour. We wait forever to get a table, and when we do, the sassy, but ever-polite waitress tells us the horror story of the other waitresses walking out earlier, leaving only her and the one short-order cook. We sympathize and tell her not to worry, we’re cool. It was this night that I witnessed some of the most skilled cooking I’ve ever seen. This lone short-order cook choreographed fried eggs, bacon, steak, hash browns, and every other piece of food coming out from behind the counter at breakneck speed perfectly. He was fast, precise, and had flair – he cracked eggs and tossed the shells over his shoulder, without so much as a glance backwards, and hit the trash can ever time. I was amazed, and amused with the floor show. I had great respect for his skill. I was in love.

Then there was the time that I was really in love with a Waffle House short-order cook. This love affair also occurred during college. His name was Robert, and, God, was he cute! Cooks at Waffle House are rarely cute, but he was young and hot. I would actually drive to the outskirts of town and hang out at the Waffle House to play cards with him and chat him up during his slow times. When he cooked, I would almost faint. He had a girlfriend, and I had a boyfriend, so I just went there for fantasy fodder. He was awfully sweet (hot), and I enjoyed hanging out with him. He even gave me a Waffle House keychain that I have to this day. The best gift he gave me, other than standing in front of me, was one of his work shirts that had Waffle House embroidered on it. He had to sneak that one to me, because he could have gotten in trouble. Such a sweetie – and hot!

Well, after that last paragraph, I’m sure you think I’m mental. But wait. There’s more! For over ten years, I carried a brochure that listed all the Waffle Houses in the United States in my purse. Whenever I ate at a Waffle House I would circle the location on the brochure. (Note the comment for the Waffle House Robert worked at. I’m slightly embarrassed, but I was young.) I’ve circled Waffle Houses in South Carolina, Georgia, Texas, Louisiana, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. The only problem is that the ‘90’s saw the biggest growth of Waffle Houses, and new establishments were popping up all the time. There were so many new Waffle Houses that they quit printing the brochure. My brochure quickly became outdated, and practically useless. So, it came out of my purse when I left the Southeast, and currently lives in a safe place with other memorabilia. I still have it, because that’s how much I love Waffle House. There. My secret love affair is finally out.

*Along with warm climate, close proximity to Waffle House is now on my list of requirements when relocating to a city. How could I have been so absentminded and not checked for Waffle Houses when I moved to Pennsylvania/Delaware?

Waffle House, Everywhere but here
Open: 24/7/365

(What's The Story) Morning Glory

I had heard about the long lines for Morning Glory’s weekend brunch, but was hoping that the cold, miserable rain had kept people away. Nope. Not only did I have to wait, (40 minutes to be exact) I had to stand outside in the rain for most of my wait. The diner is smallish and doesn’t have a waiting area inside.

The food had better be good because a.) I had to stand in the rain. b.) I had to wait a long time. c.) I was now very hungry. d.) While waiting inside, I was subjected to watching a patron 2 inches away eat with her mouth open. I was ready to r-i-p them.

The diner sits only about 50 people at the counter and tables. If you’re sitting at the counter you get to watch the grill cook and get knocked by people waiting for a table. It’s the more “adventurous” area of the restaurant. No matter where you sit, counter or table, the noise level is extremely loud when the place is packed to capacity. As we were leaving around 1 o’clock on a Saturday, the crowd seemed to thin, but only slightly. I’m not sure when there’s no line or it’s quiet - probably never.

I ordered the salmon, asparagus and goat cheese frittata sans the fish. Accompanying sides included a buttermilk biscuit, spiced warm apples, and grits. The frittata was the size of a Frisbee golf disk – way more than I needed since I had sides. The frittata was too fluffy and dry. The biscuit was huge, but not in the traditional, round biscuit shape. They bake their biscuits in a sheet and cut them into squares. The apples were cinnamon-y and a different, but welcome, addition to breakfast. The grits were white – I prefer yellow – and just like any grits cooked at a diner. All of my sides rocked, but the frittata was dry.

An aside: Grits should be eaten immediately after cooking so that they are still a little gritty. This cannot be done at a restaurant without making individual batches as they are ordered, so when eating grits at restaurants, they are always overcooked. Grits are better at home.

A companion ordered the tofu scramble. Again, the sides rocked, but the scramble left a lot to be desired. The scramble was not really scrambled, but cubed silken tofu with a one-dimensional curry sauce.

Lets just lay down the rules for silken tofu right now. Silken tofu can be cubed and used in miso soup and other Japanese dishes. It can be whipped and used in desserts, baked goods, or dips. It can be frozen to change its texture and then crumbled to resemble scrambled egg. Um, that’s about it. Otherwise, I never want to bite into a squishy cube of tofu.

While I’m at it, let’s lay down the rules for curry. Curry must be made from fresh, whole spices in order to get a flavor that has dimension. Curry powder does not cut it. Curry usually doesn’t come off that well unless someone’s mother from India makes it.

So, that’s all the ripping I’m going to do on Morning Glory. Now, I’m going to sing such high praises that if I could carry a note it would shatter glass.

Their macaroni and cheese is the real deal! They won me over so hard, that I’ll wait in any freakin’ line to have this side dish of theirs.

They followed the rules exactly on making the mac and cheese. They used elbow macaroni, not some fancy-schmancy shape. They used LOTS of cheese. Their choice of cheeses was not mild. It was greasy and it was g-o-o-d.

The regular menu and daily specials menu has all sorts of delicious sounding sweet treats like carrot cake pancakes with cream cheese frosting and cherry and pineapple pancakes. Unfortunately, no one at our table went the sweet route. Next time I go for brunch I’ll get one of the tempting pancakes and a side of mac and cheese. Yep, I think that’s the way to go.

Morning Glory Diner
735 S. 10th St., Philadelphia, PA 19147
215-413-3999
Tues.-Fri., 7 a.m.-9 p.m, Sat.-Sun., 8 a.m.-3 p.m.
cash only

Honey's Sit n'Eat

Honey’s Sit n’ Eat is a casual breakfast and lunch spot in Northern Liberties with a Jewish and Southern influenced menu. Seemingly an odd combination, but I was excited as I’m from the South and my partner is Jewish. It’s a great combination, if you ask me and the owners of Honey’s Sit n’ Eat – also similarly coupled.

Grits and latkes unite!

The interior is charming and homey with pine floors and massive I-steel beams overhead strung with dried herbs. Large windows open up to the street in the warmer months. Old wooden hutches line the wall behind a rough plank-topped lunch counter with yellow gingham-covered stools. Hipster staff gives it a cool, bohemian vibe.

Jewish and Southern menu offerings include: matzo ball soup, Reuben’s, lox, green bean casserole, potato pancakes with apples, biscuits, bagels, brisket, chicken fried steak, and mac and cheese. There are standard breakfast and lunch choices like breakfast burritos, pancakes, and tuna melts.

I visited for Sunday brunch on two occasions. The first time I ordered off the menu. I had the vegetarian chicken-fried steak, which comes with a biscuit and gravy. The veggie-fried steak was a crispy latke covered in a thick and bland white gravy – nothing some pepper and salt wouldn’t cure. I was expecting seitan or tofu, but the latke was a pleasant surprise. The biscuit was pretty good – a bit heavy, but baking a light biscuit is a difficult science.

What I had was plenty, but I couldn’t resist ordering a side of mac and cheese - sides will cost you, but seconds are free. The mac and cheese was made with a mixture of cheeses, but I prefer sharp cheddar. It was also topped with crumbles of fishes – the cheesy cracker snack. Very odd. Not bad, but nothing to repeat.

The second time I ordered off their daily special menu. I had a tofu po' boy with bbq mayo. Cubed and fried tofu came on a long crusty roll with a smidge of lettuce and sauce. A small side of health salad – pickled cabbage, carrots, cucumbers and green tomato - accompanied the sandwich along with the standard dill pickle wedge. Fries were extra.

Why does tofu always have to be cubed? I wish people were more creative with tofu. Thinly sliced tofu would have worked well. I also thought there should have been more sauce on the sandwich, which leads to my only complaint about the restaurant – the service.

I’m not sure what service system they have. Is it communal or do I have one server? The person who seemed to be our server was very pleasant, but not around that often. The person who seated us was tending to tables as well. Someone working in the kitchen delivered our food.

In an attempt to get a side of bbq mayo, I tried to make eye contact with any one walking past our table. The person who seated us was most present, but she never made eye contact with our table. After I had finished everything on my plate except for the sandwich, I finally had to blurt out, “Excuse me.” She apathetically came to the table and barely grunted when I asked for a side of bbq sauce. She came back not with a side of the bbq mayo that comes with the sandwich, but with some other bbq sauce. Perhaps that was my fault for not specifying, but I just assumed that she would bring the accompanying sauce. I gave up and just ate my otherwise delicious tofu po' boy.

I like the fact that Honey’s offers vegetarian and even vegan options. The last time I went they had two vegan soup specials. I do wish that there were more vegetarian options, but I realize they’re not catering only to vegetarians. If only they made the matzo ball soup from the menu vegetarian. Maybe it will make the specials board.

I also like the fact that owner Ellen Mogell and her partner Jeb Woody try to use high quality ingredients like local, organic produce and locally made foods when possible. Many items like jam, pancakes, and sausage are made from scratch.

Service is lackadaisical but the food is good. I’ll definitely be back. I can deal with moody service from hip kids. I liked the nice server better, though.

Honey's Sit n' Eat
800 N. 4^th St., Philadelphia, PA 19123
215-925-1150
Tues.-Sun. 8a.m.-4p.m.
Cash only