The Country Diner is on SR 11 in Walesboro, IN, between Seymour and Columbus. That is, I think it's in Walesboro, 'cause that's the last "Entering" town sign we saw on our way northbound before arriving there on our way back on January 3rd from a New Year's Day trip to Louisville. (Hey, if Word don't call it a run-on sentence, it ain't one!) It's a little yellow-tan concrete block building kind of in the middle of nowhere. We'd been hungry ever since leaving the Derby City, but every one of the little independent places I'd looked for on the way were either closed for good or didn't open until later in the day (I was especially peeved that Youa-Carry-Outa in Sellersburg wasn't open for lunch. What better lunch could you have than Chinese food prepared by redneck white people?)
The Country Diner was thus a welcome little tropical island in the middle of miles of frozen countryside suffering record low (-15) temps, at least we thought it would be. After parking our truck in the lot with all the other trucks and SUV's (not a single car to be seen), however, we discovered the concrete block walls were not well insulated, as everyone in there huddled at their tables still wearing their heavy coats. I sighed a bit, thinking I would see my breath hang in the air; I didn't, but I still felt cold. "Coffee, STAT!" I cried, but the 19 to 21 year-old Norma Jean Baker lookalike waitress only smiled blankly. When the coffee did come, though, it was quite good. We suddenly discovered that in sitting down at the one open table in the place (which was the longest one in the room) we were poaching on the local Liars' Bench, because a really old guy came in and sat right down with us, looking at me as if we were Native American warriors and he expected the cavalry to arrive at any moment. Luckily another small table in the corner opened up, and the waitress smiled with relief when we offered to move. Soon afterwards the cavalry did arrive, in the form of 5 more geezers in Carhartts and gimme caps who proceeded to the Liars' Table and began making all kinds of noise, but it was kind of entertaining to see 6 near-cadavers so animated.
The menu was your basic diner grub: sandwiches, soup of the day, chili, burgers, and tenderloins with fries or tater tots. She had a grilled tenderloin and I had a bacon cheeseburger, and though maybe they were nothing special they were quite good, especially since we'd been hungry all morning. The tenderloin was rather thick, not pounded out paper thin like most places, which made it more like a pork chop sandwich. The bacon burger was 'way decent, with bacon cooked just beyond limp and meaty so that it was just crispy enough to be good on a sandwich. The thing that struck me most about the food was it was all so danged fresh-- soft buns, fresh crispy lettuce, just-ripe tomatoes and onions. Add some grease and salt and you would've had the equivalent of a Five Guys burger.... Oh, yeah, the fries were the big crinkle-cut kind, like twice the size of White Castle fries, so they were THE BEST FRIES I've had in a long time. The only bad thing about the place (besides the frigid temp) was that they don't accept credit cards... but they will take checks! For you younger folk, a check is a piece of paper issued by the bank-- Oh, never mind! Anyway, I'm telling ya we'll be going back there sometime, y'all!
UPDATE, 02/25/2014: The check we wrote to the place took 2 and 1/2 weeks to clear our bank in Indy! I dunno if they wait till they get a bunch of checks before they go to the bank, or the overland stage from Seymour to Induhnaplus failed to stop there in Daleville or what, but I think that's the longest delayed check I've ever gotten from inside the Hoosier State! It was worth it to have as a souvenir of a fun time, though....
The menu was your basic diner grub: sandwiches, soup of the day, chili, burgers, and tenderloins with fries or tater tots. She had a grilled tenderloin and I had a bacon cheeseburger, and though maybe they were nothing special they were quite good, especially since we'd been hungry all morning. The tenderloin was rather thick, not pounded out paper thin like most places, which made it more like a pork chop sandwich. The bacon burger was 'way decent, with bacon cooked just beyond limp and meaty so that it was just crispy enough to be good on a sandwich. The thing that struck me most about the food was it was all so danged fresh-- soft buns, fresh crispy lettuce, just-ripe tomatoes and onions. Add some grease and salt and you would've had the equivalent of a Five Guys burger.... Oh, yeah, the fries were the big crinkle-cut kind, like twice the size of White Castle fries, so they were THE BEST FRIES I've had in a long time. The only bad thing about the place (besides the frigid temp) was that they don't accept credit cards... but they will take checks! For you younger folk, a check is a piece of paper issued by the bank-- Oh, never mind! Anyway, I'm telling ya we'll be going back there sometime, y'all!
UPDATE, 02/25/2014: The check we wrote to the place took 2 and 1/2 weeks to clear our bank in Indy! I dunno if they wait till they get a bunch of checks before they go to the bank, or the overland stage from Seymour to Induhnaplus failed to stop there in Daleville or what, but I think that's the longest delayed check I've ever gotten from inside the Hoosier State! It was worth it to have as a souvenir of a fun time, though....
No comments:
Post a Comment