The Rainbow Coffee Shop: Good Eats, Cheap. The Service Not So Much....

After attending an annual party at a friend's house in the boonies of Hancock County, our host generously allowed everyone to stay the night rather than try to negotiate the myriad country roads and turns required to safely get back home to Indy.  There was one legendary occasion several years ago where one regular attendee tried to drive home after one too many and wound up getting arrested in New Castle, of all places! This year the festivities ended relatively early and we got to bed at what even my Great-Grandma would say was a decent hour, for a Saturday anyway, thus we were awakened by the crowing of a rooster at 5:30 a.m., were hungry and dehydrated, and rather than wait for everyone else to rouse from their respective stupors, we drove to the bodacious burg of Morristown and, seeing that the Copper Kettle wasn't open yet, we spied the Bluebird Coffee Shop, Restaurant, and Dinner Theatre at 158 E. Main Street.

There was a huge dining room with a buffet table for the restaurant, but only the coffee shop on one side of the place was open at that early hour on Sunday, and there were already ten or twelve locals in there chewing the fat, er, talking, that is, while they also were actually chewing the fat....  There was only one waitress, so I guess she can be forgiven for being a little slow to get us a menu.  I had the Three-Egg Cheese Omelet with sausage, onions, green pepper and tomatoes added, along with a side order of fried potatoes and coffee, and She had a Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Sandwich with hash browns and iced tea.  It was all decent but not outstanding:  Being of Southern extraction, I always expect a spicy breakfast sausage, but this stuff was kinda pale-looking and bland, but it tasted okay otherwise.  My fried potatoes were underdone, perhaps owing to the cook having to get a bunch of orders out as quickly as possible, but the hash browns  were DEEELICIOUS, browned and seasoned quite nicely, and the coffee and tea were good, too.

The really delightful thing about this breakfast was the price-- $13.65!  The base price for the omelet was $3.50 plus 25 cents each for the sausage, onions, green peppers, and tomatoes.  Her Sausage & Egg Sandwich was $2.50 and the has browns and fried potatoes were $1.50 each.  WHAT A DEAL!!!  When we were ready to pay, however, the waitress vanished for an extended period, so I wound up just leaving $15 cash (a 10% tip, sorry Mabel!) so we could amscray.  I've heard they have a breakfast buffet from 6-11 a.m. during the week that is quite good, and the Fried Chicken Dinner is supposed to be good, too.  Maybe we'll check that out after NEXT YEAR'S party...

UPDATE, 12/16/2013:  There was a big fire there yesterday that started in the Long Branch Saloon next door.  I don't know the extent of the damage, but I bet the Bluebird will re-open at some point....

Carol's Cornerstone Cafe- Small Town, Big Taste.

Early on a Saturday afternoon, the Little Woman and I were on the way to attend a party at a friend's house in the boonies near Greenfield, IN, and decided to eat a small meal before imbibing.  We happened upon Carol's Cornerstone Cafe, 301 E. Main St. in Greenfield and decided it would be a good little adventure to begin the weekend's festivities.  We went to one entrance and saw a sign that directed us to the door on the front (Main Street) side of the building.  We went in that door and stumbled into a kind of 1950's diner museum in progress.  There was a '56 Ford station wagon and another old car (I think it might've been a '53 Dodge but don't remember for sure) as well as old furniture, a gas station sign, and assorted knickknacks strewn around haphazardly, but it was all roped off, so we proceeded down the hallway and found the actual restaurant, which has that cozy country charm you'll find in numerous small-town homestyle eateries.  We had to sit in the small dining room near the front door (which is on the SIDE of the building) because all the main dining room tables were reserved for a big gospel sing-in they were having later that day.

We waited a good little while, until one of the locals said we should sound the little hotel bell on our table, but just as I was about to smack it the waitress appeared.  I ordered Liver & Onions with fried potatoes, and She had the Deep-Fried Cod with french fries and cole slaw.  The meal came out surprisingly fast.... Quite a few of the menu items were deep-fried, thus I believe they must have that process down to a science, because the four pieces of cod were freakin' EXCELLENT!  They had a light, buttery breading that complemented the flavor of the fish so splendidly that they were better than most of the cod pieces (not to be confused with codpieces) I've had in any number of actual seafood restaurants.  She very generously gave me one piece but slapped my hand away when I tried to steal another one, and She's usually not that protective of fish in any form, so that tells ya how good it was.  The fries were nothing special but were fried just right, and the creamy fine-chopped cole slaw approached the quality of KFC's, the standard by which I judge all slaws. 

My Liver & Onions were good but not outstanding-- the liver could have been browned more, for my taste, and it could've used more onion.  My fried potatoes were very good, though-- I like 'em browned as much as possible without being burned, and they had accomplished that quite well.  The crowning glory was that the whole meal cost us like $17.  Dang! Eat up, y'all!

Joe's Shelby Street Diner: The Best Parts of the Diner Tradition Live On.

Joe's Shelby Street Diner, at the corner of Shelby Street and Standish Avenue, is a true diner of the old-fashioned sort-- long counter with like 15 stools and two or three small booths in the main room, 5 or 6 booths in a side dining room that was added some years ago.The decor is sort of a mock 50's deal, with a neon Coca Cola clock, posters with Marilyn Monroe and James Dean, etc. but it's not so much that it's overwhelming, and although dishes on the menu have 50's names like the Big Bopper Omelet or something like that, you don't have to use the cutesy monikers when ordering.  Ownership of the place changed a few years ago, and though I liked the previous guy, the current proprietors have actually improved the food and service.  It's your basic diner food, prepared on the griddle out in front of everyone, and it has always been perfectly prepared-- I've never had a bad meal there, and the portions are beyond decent. Their one sort of unusual item is the Tower of Onion Rings, a little wooden stand that looks like a mini-coat tree, with several big, fat, heavily-battered onion rings hanging on each rung. We seem to get the same waitress every time we go, and she is as nice as can be, always accommodating if you want something different done with yer grub. The price is low enough to warm this cheapskate's heart, too.  LET'S RUMBLE!