Best Diner Within Walking Distance

dailyheights wrote:

The Usual has a great neighborhood feel but the food is pretty average. Vote: The Usual.

I will never go to the Usual again after my sister and I had the RUDEST WAITRESS EVER a few weeks ago.

First she was testy because it took us too long to order (apparently conversation before breakfast is a no-no there); then she literally threw us out before we were even done because she wanted to seat the one party waiting at the door; THEN she brought the party to sit down at our table before we had even gotten up to leave; and FINALLY she refused to help me find something I thought I had left behind in my haste to vacate, forcing me to instead interrupt the table of new diners to see if they'd seen it ... considering how accommodating we were to her rude requests, I thought we at least deserved an ounce of courtesy in response. But no.

alafairnadia wrote: [quote=bewitched][quote=alafairnadia]oh. I'm a spaz. did we ever find a scanned carneviento menu? would be worth putting on my treo ... I have antonios and grand plaza saved already.

I picked up a menu over the weekend and can scan it for you. I don't know how well it will OCR -- layout other than straight across paragraphs tends to result in text all over the place.

maybe I'll just photograph it with the treo ... (I have devolved into total dorkdom)

you can also download it from menupages.com

Tom's Diner is the best, Suzanne Vega Wrote the song about that place, They have a signed copy of the lyrics framed on the wall. they just need to be open for dinner and sunday brunch. sheesh can't they just hire a evening staff and a compitent manager to over see things when Gus is singing in the choir on sundays? he'd doubble his income...

Plus anyplace that has a glowing apple and rose tree is cool with me, even if it is a fake one, ( the real ones are hard to come by)...

ana.log wrote: [quote=alafairnadia][quote=bewitched][quote=alafairnadia]oh. I'm a spaz. did we ever find a scanned carneviento menu? would be worth putting on my treo ... I have antonios and grand plaza saved already.

I picked up a menu over the weekend and can scan it for you. I don't know how well it will OCR -- layout other than straight across paragraphs tends to result in text all over the place.

maybe I'll just photograph it with the treo ... (I have devolved into total dorkdom)

you can also download it from menupages.com

OMIGOD! I thought they only did Manhattan restaurants! Awesome. Thanks for telling me 'bout that!

MikeWalton718 wrote: Suzanne Vega Wrote the song about that place.

Myth?

metulj wrote: [quote=MikeWalton718] Suzanne Vega Wrote the song about that place.

Myth?

"Tom's Diner" was written in Tom's Restaurant, it's really about Tom's Restaurant, on 112th Street and Broadway in New York City, and it was really written from the point of view of my friend Brian, who is a photographer, and had made a comment to me one day that he felt that as a photographer, he saw his whole life through a pane of glass, and always felt like he was the witness to a lot of things, but was never really involved in them. So I was sitting at Tom's Restaurant one morning, and suddenly I guess I got this weird feeling, it came over me, and I thought, 'well, if I were Brian today, how would I be perceiving these different things? And in a way it was supposed to be slightly humorous, and not entirely to be taken totally seriously. And also I thought of it from a male point of view. I'd originally heard it with piano in back, but I don't play piano, so it's a capella.

Suzanne Vega, "Portrait of an Artist", 1987

apollonia666 wrote: Purity is at Underhill and... Dean, I'm pretty sure.

Is it still open? I was sitting in Tavern on Dean a couple of weeks ago in the evening and Purity had the lights off and the gate down.

apollonia666 wrote: Purity is at Underhill and... Dean, I'm pretty sure.]
Is it still open? I was sitting in Tavern on Dean a couple of weeks ago in the evening and Purity had the lights off and the gate down.

It has been closed for some time now but Im not sure if they are closed for good. I still wouldn't eat there even if they open up again - just my opinion though

The Purity/s were dumps no matter what location they're on. The Union and 7th was horrid, and I'm talking really awful after it was bought from the old owner/s, and the 7th and 7th is a tad cleaner but the food is just as sucky.

metulj wrote:
MikeWalton718 wrote:
Suzanne Vega Wrote the song about that place.


Myth?

Quote:
"Tom's Diner" was written in Tom's Restaurant, it's really about Tom's Restaurant, on 112th Street and Broadway in New York City, and it was really written from the point of view of my friend Brian, who is a photographer, and had made a comment to me one day that he felt that as a photographer, he saw his whole life through a pane of glass, and always felt like he was the witness to a lot of things, but was never really involved in them. So I was sitting at Tom's Restaurant one morning, and suddenly I guess I got this weird feeling, it came over me, and I thought, 'well, if I were Brian today, how would I be perceiving these different things? And in a way it was supposed to be slightly humorous, and not entirely to be taken totally seriously. And also I thought of it from a male point of view. I'd originally heard it with piano in back, but I don't play piano, so it's a capella.

Suzanne Vega, "Portrait of an Artist", 1987

Go figure, there are some articles on the wall of Tom's in Brooklyn that refute that claim and they have the signed lyrics on the wall and our waiter insists that it was this Tom's not the Seinfeld Tom's. But who am I to say, I wasn't there. it's tough to refute her own words... go figure... :roll:

ana.log wrote: [quote=dailyheights]

The Usual has a great neighborhood feel but the food is pretty average. Vote: The Usual.

I will never go to the Usual again after my sister and I had the RUDEST WAITRESS EVER a few weeks ago.

First she was testy because it took us too long to order (apparently conversation before breakfast is a no-no there); then she literally threw us out before we were even done because she wanted to seat the one party waiting at the door; THEN she brought the party to sit down at our table before we had even gotten up to leave; and FINALLY she refused to help me find something I thought I had left behind in my haste to vacate, forcing me to instead interrupt the table of new diners to see if they'd seen it ... considering how accommodating we were to her rude requests, I thought we at least deserved an ounce of courtesy in response. But no.

that sounds horrible! and also unlike anything i have ever witnessed at the usual, which i have found to be an incredibly friendly place.

i certainly can understand your not wanting to go back, but if other people are still interested in giving the place a try, i'd like to say that i love it. it is one of my favorite neighborhood grits, not only because they have good grits.

mike was one of the first people to welcome me to the neighborhood and gave me his card with instructions: "the neighborhood is safe, but don't be stupid. and if you ever get lost and don't know where you are, call us and we'll tell you how to get home." which i really appreciated. johnny is a little quieter, but also very kind, i have found.

When I was sitting in the morning at the diner on the corner and waiting at the counter for the man to pour the coffee, can you believe that he only filled it halfway and before I even argued he was looking out the window at somebody coming in?

Even so, I'm voting for Toms.

sweet tea wrote: it is one of my favorite neighborhood grits, not only because they have good grits.

um, that should read: it is one of my favorite neighborhood places.

did i mention that i like their grits?

sweet tea wrote: [quote=sweet tea] it is one of my favorite neighborhood grits, not only because they have good grits.

um, that should read: it is one of my favorite neighborhood places.

Well, 'tis a bit gritty, truth be told.

poh wrote: When I was sitting in the morning at the diner on the corner and waiting at the counter for the man to pour the coffee, can you believe that he only filled it halfway and before I even argued he was looking out the window at somebody coming in?

Even so, I'm voting for Toms.

Has anyone heard Michael Stipe doing that song? Hilarious!

nope, haven't heard it. but have you heard Richard Cheese do it?