Through the process of exploring local diners and chatting
with owners, I’ve discovered some common themes for endurance and success: Keep
prices fair and consistent; keep menus consistent and predictable, while
allowing for evolution as tastes change; enjoy working with people; treat staff
and customers respectfully; appeal to all walks of life; serve breakfast all
day. By design, Country Club Diner hits the mark on all these criteria.
The eatery has
been in business at the same East Avenue location since 1934, which was considered
part of Brighton at the time, thus more “country-ish”
than the city. The diner’s owner since 2005, Tom (who prefers to not share his
last name, and whose father previously owned the diner from 1972 to 1993) says
that his location is key, but adds that being able to keep up with what people
want is equally important.
In his eyes,
the longevity of diners depends upon maintaining a 1950’s-style menu, he says,
but also the adaptability to change with times. In the case of Country Club
Diner, that means fresher food and a greater diversity of omelets and salads.
Serving breakfast
all day is also a big deal. That’s what makes a diner a diner and distinguishes
diners from other places, Tom says. “People also have an expectation of
fairness here. People know what to expect. We are that middle-of-the-road for
everyone. We’re not fast food, we’re not high-end food, but we are good food.”
Country Club
Diner sits rather inconspicuously across from the East Avenue Wegmans, tucked
up against another larger building. As does any diner worth its salt, it has
stools at a counter, as well as about 25 booths. Its cleanliness sparkles, and
so do the servers, who exude affability, attentiveness, and efficiency.
Any
respectable diner also makes superb soups. New England-style clam chowders are
no harder to find in this town than chicken French, but Manhattan-style chowder
is rare. Country Club not only offers Manhattan clam chowder ($3.25/cup; $4.25/bowl),
but offers it every freakin’ day as a menu staple.
Acidic and briny in the best ways, every spoonful had both vegetables
(potatoes, carrots, celery) and chopped clams. Tom wasn’t entirely sure of the
origin of this menu anomaly, but says it had been offered as long as he could
remember and he decided to keep it going.
I also
downed a cup of the soup du jour ($2.79/cup; $3.59/bowl), Italian Wedding Soup,
which had a rich chicken flavor, a heartiness that belied its brothy nature, and brimmed with pastina,
carrots, and abundant tiny meatballs.
In addition
to soup, I indulged in a classic patty melt on buttery, grilled marble rye ($7.25),
which Tom sources from a baker in Pennsylvania. The patty was cooked to order,
slathered with chopped sautรฉed onions, and draped with melty Swiss cheese. I
opted for a side upgrade: homemade macaroni salad ($2.49). Creamy and
scrumptious with large chunks of crisp green pepper and al dente macaroni, such
attention to detail on a side dish illustrates the way Tom runs this diner.
My
girlfriend Molly ordered grilled Swiss cheese with bacon ($5.25) on the same
marble rye. The bread was golden and delicately crispy, the bacon was crispy, and
all of it melted together in warm, salty goodness. Her sweet potato fries ($2.99)
were crisp outside, tender inside, and oddly yet pleasingly reminiscent of a
good fried cake.
Fortune
smiled upon me when I met my friend Melody for lunch on another day and Country
Club Diner was offering cheeseburger chowder as its soup du jour. Loaded with
ground beef and finely diced hash brown potatoes and carrots, this thick,
creamy, cheesy chowder was like eating a gooey cheeseburger with a spoon.
Lunch also
included a hearty turkey club sandwich (again, on marble rye — consistency,
right?), replete with thick-sliced, house-roasted turkey breast, skillfully
crisped bacon, fresh lettuce, and typical “meh” restaurant tomato slices. I
opted for French fries ($1.50) instead of customary chips, along with a side of
brown gravy, which was too bland for my tastes. Melody thought her hot meatloaf
sandwich on traditional white bread (with real mashed potatoes, $7.89) was under-seasoned
and a little dense, but she cleverly compensated for that by topping it with
some of my cheeseburger chowder.
My breakfast
visit with my breakfast crew (Molly and her two daughters) included a
strawberry waffle ($6.45) that Norah ate quicker than I’d ever seen her eat
anything, and a Belgian waffle ($4.95) that Jocelyn proclaimed was the best
waffle she’d ever tasted. “It’s mildly crisp outside, fluffy and tender inside,”
she said.
Molly, a
food service veteran, appreciated the warmth of her Swiss cheese omelet
($5.25), noting that omelets usually cool off quickly. She added that the
kitchen staff here knows what they’re doing: The orders are accurate and come
out quickly and efficiently. I savored the balance of spinach and Feta in my omelet
($6.59), which wasn’t quite as browned as I had hoped for, but the home fries,
which could’ve used some more seasoning, were browned and crackling, as
ordered. My three slices of Canadian bacon ($3.05) were lean, tasty, and nicely
charred.
If you need
one more reason to eat at CCD, it’s pie. The pies come from Special Touch
Bakery, a non-profit, non-denominational organization that teaches vocational
skills to those with developmental and intellectual disabilities, who make pies
entirely from scratch from fresh ingredients.
Country Club Diner is located at 1743 East Avenue, and is
open daily from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. 271-7710.
This article appears in Dec 19-25, 2018.
