Diner Time – No, Really!

When DH lived in New Jersey and I would come to visit (this is BW time – before wedding) we often went to eat at one of the many diners in the area.  New Jersey is a mecca for diners and at one time we were on a quest to hit as many as we could that had been featured on any of the Food Network shows.  Since moving here to Ohio, we have not gone to any diners until the other day.  DH decided we were going to do something different and suggested we find a diner and go check it out.  Well, that meant I went online to a review site and researched a few places.  Having narrowed it down to two, the next deciding factors were location and menu.  As both places had somewhat similar menus (I mean it is diner food) we settled on the one that was easiest to get to without our getting lost.  Starliner Diner it was!

  

Very easy to get to – very easy to whip past it like we did if you are not familiar with the area.  It is a very inconspicuous little place but very popular; could tell by the number of cars in the little parking lot.  We knew from reading reviews that the place had “interesting” decor inside and indeed it did.  The Starliner is sort of a Cuban diner in that they offer Cuban twists on the meals as well as some items that are Cuban like the Cuban sandwich and toast choices which included Cuban bread toast (oh yeah!).  They had the specials of the day listed at the front.  Interesting, huh? The diner is divided into three parts.  The host area where you can stare right into the kitchen and two eating areas to the left and right.  The one on the right includes a full bar.

Kitschy and eclectic just do not fully describe the decor in this place.  Truly I am at a loss for words to describe the decor, it is just unique!  I had a good time though pointing out things that I recalled from my childhood days which as we were told by our server, a lot of people do.  Have no idea why so many of these old clocks but hey! They are cool.  There was even an old jukebox in the place but I don’t know if it plays or not.  The menu was cute too as it came in two parts, the regular menu and the specials of the day menu which was basically a hand written sheet of notebook paper slid into a holder.  I opted to just have a regular scrambled eggs with ham and taters meal with the Cuban bread toast and DH had the Cuban burrito.  Both plates were good and filling.  Sorry about no pictures, we were hungry.

       

Say hello to our two new friends, Patti and Shaun, who we met when we came in.  They were very friendly and chatted us up suggesting things for me to take pictures of and what the best eats were.  They were fun to talk to and hopefully we will see them again when we return one day; they were just one of the many regulars.  As it turned out, our server was a fan of my hometown baseball team so that was just awesome to me.  I wonder what the specials of the day will be the next time we go, because there will be a next time.

I wonder if this fridge opens or is just for decor?  Mom had one like it when I was a wee little one; seeing a Philco again made me smile.