FueledByLOLZ

Park Wayne Diner (Wayne)

A few weeks ago, I was up north and decided to go to the Park Wayne Diner. This isn’t to be confused with the Wayne Hills Diner which I went to last year. Funny enough, this is the only diner in that area (including a personal favorite: Pompton Queen), that we didn’t fly too. It was weird to drive through because it felt like such a long flight.

Atmosphere: A
You couldn’t ask for a more stereotypical New Jersey Diner. It has a big, metallic, shiny exterior and the interior is filled with multiple red tables and booths. Out of the diners I’ve been too, this definitely has one of the most stereotypical diner atmospheres.

Service: B
For a weekend morning, it wasn’t as busy as I had anticipated. That was okay by me! The waitress didn’t bring us a lot of refills, and it felt as though they might be understaffed for the day. She was friendly and gave us several recommendations which I can always appreciate. It wasn’t bad service, but they needed more servers.

Coffee: B
The coffee was brewed hot every time, but it was nothing to write home about. The cups were also a bit smaller than I wanted. It wasn’t bad but it didn’t stand out either.

Food: B
The menu at the Park Wayne Diner is huge. They have a dozen pages. Since they are open 24-7, they serve anything anytime. Those are my favorite types of diners, but it’s not as common as it used to be. Believe it or not, 24-7 diners are becoming harder to find.

I decided to order the arugula, spinach, and cheese omelet with a side of grits. It was one of the biggest omelets I’ve ever had, plus it was stuffed filled to the brim.

The grits, however, were boring and bland. Since it’s rare to find grits in the Northeast, I was hoping they would be more interesting, but they tasted like they came from a box. Yes, I realize that I’m not in the South but there are plenty of restaurants that serve excellent foreign cuisine, and I don’t live there either.

Cost: $
For the omelet, grits, and coffee the cost was $12 which wasn’t expensive for the portion size.

Overall thoughts:
You won’t find a more stereotypical NJ Diner then the Park Wayne Diner. Overall, I enjoyed my experience there and will definitely be back next time we go hiking up that route.

Summary:
Atmosphere: A
Service: B
Coffee: B
Food: B
Cost: $8-15
Overall: B

Closeby Diners I’ve reviewed:

Pompton Queen (one of my top 5 favorite NJ diners!) and Wayne Hills
Also relevant: Flying to Pompton Plains

Questions for you:
What’s your favorite type of omelet?
Where can I find southern style grits in NJ or Philadelphia?

Scenic 90s Cafe (Pensacola)

While in Pensacola, my husband I decided to stop at the Scenic 90s cafe. When we moved from Texas to New Jersey, we actually had lunch there previously. Even though it was about 3 years ago, I remembered I really enjoyed it.

Atmosphere: A
The atmosphere of the Scenic 90s Cafe is everything you can picture in a diner. The outside is retro and shiny. It looks like an old rail car. The inside has plenty of booths, tables, and a full-length bar. You couldn’t ask for a more picture-perfect diner.

Coffee: A
The coffee was one of the best I’ve had in awhile. The waitress refilled it often, it was piping hot, and it tasted great. I couldn’t have asked for better coffee.

Service: A
The waitress was very pleasant. She refilled our drinks quickly, and our food came out quickly too. I was shocked because even though it was a Saturday at lunch time, our food came out within 15 minutes. You can’t beat that!

Food: B
The Scenic 90s Cafe has a smaller diner menu. They have several omelet and breakfast options and a few different diner staples such as sandwiches and fried fish. Their menu is one single trifold versus 10-20 pages like many diners in NJ.

I chose the Cajun Omelet with a biscuit and fresh fruit. The omelet had Crawfish tails, Andouille, onions, peppers, and Cajun seasoning. It was spicy, and I enjoyed it. The fruit cup was fresh, and it was obvious it didn’t come out of a can.

Cost: $
For my coffee and omelet, it was $13. Most items on the menu are inexpensive and they have several specials as well.

Overall thoughts/Would I come back?
I enjoyed the Scenic 90s Cafe, and I would definitely go back. The diner itself is very stereotypical and has everything you need in a diner. The Scenic 90s Cafe is a great stop in Pensacola, and I highly recommend it.

Atmosphere: A
Service: A
Coffee: A
Food: B
Cost: $8-12
Overall: A

Other Diners I’ve Ordered Eggs/Omelets at: Amys Omelet House, Angelos Diner (Pitman, NJ)

Questions for you:
Do you like Cajun food?
Have you ever been to Florida?

Marietta Diner

While visiting Atlanta, I wanted to check out a new diner. It’s for the blog right?When asking for recommendations, the Marietta Diner kept popping up, so I decided to check it out. After running the

When asking for recommendations, the Marietta Diner kept popping up, so I decided to check it out. After running the Polar Bear 5k, I arrived around 11 am. Every parking space was filled, and I thought it might be a long wait because there were several parties waiting outside. Luckily, they had a small booth for two, and we were immediately sat.

Atmosphere: A
The Marietta Diner has the stereotypical shiny and metallic exterior. It’s all chrome. The inside is massive, and it’s one of the biggest diners I’ve ever been too. It is clean, and despite being busy, no one was sitting on top of each other.

Service: A
The waitress was kind. She refilled our drinks, and our food was brought out quickly. Even though it was so busy, we were in and out of the Marietta Diner within an hour. The speed was impressive!

Coffee: B
The coffee was good, but there was nothing unique about it. I could have used a larger cup. Luckily there was plenty of whipped cream.

Food: B
The Marietta Diner has every option you can imagine in a diner. It would fit right in in New Jersey. Someone mentioned their Greek food was good so I decided to order a Greek omelet. I was surprised the Greek Omelet didn’t come with Gyro, so I added that too.

The omelet came with hash browns and a biscuit. The biscuit was delicious. There was nothing unique about the hashbrowns. The Omelet itself was good except I found they didn’t add a lot of Gyro meat. I thought they had forgotten it at first! The food was good but I do wish there was more gyro meat in the omelet.

Dessert: A
The dessert case looked like one of the best dessert cases of any diner. I’m not usually a person who orders dessert at lunch, but I could not pass up their red velvet roll. There was a lot of frosting and the cake was moist. The red velvet roll was great, and despite leaving stuffed, I was glad I ordered it.

Cost: $$
For my coffee, omelet (with Gyro) and red velvet roll it was $29. They charged $5 for the limited amount of Gyro meat I received which was not worth it.

Overall/Would I come back?
I liked the Marietta Diner, but their menu is overpriced. When I go back to Atlanta, I might go somewhere else. To pay nearly $20 for an omelet is worth it to me personally. I would stop in for cake.

Summary:
Atmosphere: A
Service: A
Coffee: B
Food: B
Dessert: A
Cost:$15-20
Overall: B

Questions for you:
What is your favorite type of Omelet?
What’s your favorite post-race treat?

Marathon Grill

After Kevin and I’s long run last weekend we got brunch. I’m an avid user of foursquare and a quick search of restaurants brought us to the Marathon Grill. It made sense to go with a name like marathon. It’s technically classified as an upscale diner, so I thought why not review it?

The Marathon Grill has several locations in Philadelphia. There is no parking but I had already found a garage for the run.

We arrived at the Marathon Grill around 9:30am. For a Sunday the restaurant wasn’t as crowded as I anticipated.

Atmosphere: A

The inside is clean and modern. The walls are decorated with bright colors and bird cut outs. It reminds me more of a hip and trendy restaurant.

The waitress was extremely nice and refilled my coffee and water a lot. After running I was extremely thirsty for both coffee and water.

Coffee: A

The coffee was a local Philadelphia brew called Chestnut Coffee. After doing research, I realized Chestnut Coffee is not far away and I’ll be visiting their coffee store soon. The coffee itself is slightly nutty. Personally I like flavored coffees the best so I drank a lot. The whipped cream was good as well!

Food: A

The Marathon Grill has multiple options from omelets to cookie dough pancakes to lunch items. The problem was I wanted everything.

I ordered the smoked salmon omelet, which came with smoked salmon, tomatoes and goat cheese. I ordered a side of fruit and their multigrain bread!

As you can see from the photo they did not limit the goat cheese! It was oozing out of the omelet. The omelet was a three-egg omelet and was probably 50% cheese. It was definitely one of the best omelets I’ve had in a while.

Cost: $

The cost of the omelet was $12.50. The quality of the food and the ingredients they used made it 100% worth it.

Overall thoughts/Would I come back?

Yes I will definitely be back. The food was great and you could tell they use high quality ingredients. I want to try the cookie dough pancakes as well as the design your own salad. (This is basically me inviting anyone close by to go right now! Ha ha)

Cliff notes:
Atmosphere: A
Coffee: A
Food: A
Cost: $10-20
Overall score: A

Questions for you:
What is your favorite type of cheese?
What do you like to eat after a run?

The Edison Diner

T and I were racing in Northern Jersey a while ago and decided to stop somewhere to eat post race. Of course when we are in a new area we google diners. The Edison diner is located directly off of exit 9 on the turnpike. When we got there around lunch time on a Sunday, it was crowded. Despite getting the last parking spot, we only had to wait about 10 minutes for a table. As I have mentioned before, diners are like black holes. When the parking lot is full there is somehow always room in the restaurant.

Atmosphere: B
The Edison Diner is easy to locate from the highway. It’s a nice building outside with a large sign that says”Edison Diner”. If you can figure out the jughandle turn, it’s a cute diner along the main road.

The inside is a typical diner. There are several booths and restaurants. We sat in a (very small) two person booth. Personally there was not enough room for me but we didn’t have to wait too long for a seat. I wanted to sit at the bar but I’m always starving after a race so that waiting never happens.

Coffee: B
I always wonder if all coffee tastes better post race or long run. There was nothing to write home about about this coffee but it wasn’t bad.

The whipped cream melted before I had a chance to photograph.

Food: A
The menu is huge. We were both pleasantly surprised. We had not looked at the Edison diner menu beforehand but we assumed it would be the typical diner fare. While looking through the menu, we quickly realized there were over 100 items.

The Edison diner had over 50 omelette choices so I was determined to try one. I ordered a feta cheese omelette with spinach, onions and chicken. It was a Greek salad with eggs…or something like that. It came with a side of sour dough bread and hash browns. The omelette was perfect and I have no complaints. It was not the prettiest meal at all (neither was plate actually) but it was really good.

Cost: $
For my omelette and coffee the cost was $11. It’s a cheap diner and with the amount of food you receive, it’s a deal.

Would I come back?
Overall thoughts: B
I thought the Edison diner was good. I was impressed with how quickly we found a table, ordered and received our food (because of how busy it was). This diner is now about 90 minutes from my house so if I’m in the area, I’ll be back but I wouldn’t drive 90 minutes to get there.

Cliff notes:
Atmosphere: B
Coffee: B
Food: A
Cost: $7-14

In summary the Edison diner is a great and quick stop right off of exit 9 on the New Jersey turnpike. I would recommend stopping.

Questions for you:

What is your favorite post race meal?

Do you like to sit in restaurant booths or small?

Majestic Diner Review (Long Island area)

While visiting my brother Matt in the New York City area last week, we discovered a little gem of a diner. Diners are one of my favorite types of restaurants because they are barely ever crowded (if they are then the food is out pretty quick), they normally have huge portions and I’ve honestly never had a bad experience with a diner. Greasy spoons are kinda my thing.

That being said, we saw the Majestic Diner and I knew we had to give it a try.

The first time we had gone to Sunken Meadow Park to run a nice (and quite hilly) 10 miler and then came back to where we saw this diner. I immediately honed in on the Greek salad and it had all my favorite credentials (2 huge pieces of pita bread, double dressing, grape leaves, salmon and duh feta cheese…I think everything I like about salads…are the actual not salads). It did not disappoint and we were stuffed afterwords. We literally waddled onto the train.

Matt wanted to pose with his Cheese steak sub which was also great.

We had scoped out the breakfast options too (none of us were in the mood for breakfast the day before) and decided we had to stop back in the morning before dropping Matt off. It was honestly the best decision we made.

I got the lox (salmon) omelet with rye toast and also pancakes. I had nothing bad to critique the restaurant on food wise. The food was amazing, the portions were huge and kept me full for an entire 8 hour drive home and well… I don’t often eat pancakes at restaurants as well (because I enjoy to make my own) but these were extremely good too. It was a little bit expensive but it was worth it. The only negative response I had was that I went periods without coffee but I can’t complain too loudly about that.

So would I recommend the Magestic Diner?

Um, well my budget is very lucky that I do not live near there because I would be at this restaurant every day trying everything. They have so much options. It is a little bit pricey but well worth it.

Questions for you: What is your favorite greasy spoon?

Dates with Legends Part 2

It seems like forever ago, but really this week is really flying by due to packing and finishing up loose ends. Hopefully whoever has them is done with finals…or doing well. Last weekend I went to hang out with Laura in Rochester. I honestly had one of the greatest weekends I’ve had in a long time and I’m really glad that I did.

After our nice shakeout run in the AM (and barely avoiding the rain) we headed to one of our favorite restaurants. I know I would be a regular here if I lived this close. Jine’s restaurant is always pretty busy when we go (but we always go during brunch time after a run on weekends) but they do serve some of the best brunch. You know how I like my omelets since I can’t cook them. The two times I’ve been to Jimes, I’ve gotten a Lox Omelet with pita bread.

Both times, it’s been exceptionally good. I don’t have too much to say other than the food was excellent (and I highly recommend it) as well as the waitress who we had was so kind and really took an interest to us. We were literally chatting for about 10 minutes. Even when it was busy, she made time to chat and really take care of us.

We went to the Rochester Lilac Festival, a big festival that is…well centered around Lilacs. They had crafters, venders, food, music and even a road race…but that is next weekend. I was really eye balling the funnel cake and fried dough but knew it probably wouldn’t be the greatest idea before a race the next day. I love me some fried fair food but I’ll have to wait until there are some events in VA I suppose.

And also went to Highland Falls, a gorgeous view in Rochester. Am I really still in the city here?

After hanging out, gossiping, shopping at target and doing stuff for a while we decided to get ready for our date at TRATA. The Restaurant at the Armory is a tapas style restaurant that you can get a bunch of small dishes (or just one large entrée for yourself) and share with each other.

The restaurant itself is three floors tall and had some of the coolest decors I’ve seen in any restaurant.

We opted to first try the duck quesadilla which was extremely delicious. I can’t even begin to tell you how good the quesadilla was and when we had it I was more than excited to try the steak salad next. I could have filled up on a few of those alone really.

The steak salad was also really good but there isn’t really a bad way to make a steak salad I suppose and with goat cheese I was in love. My only little issue was I probably could have eaten 3 times the amount that was given.

But that was okay because it gave me room for the world’s BEST Guinness cake. The cake was so rich and delicious, and I ate the entire thing (then I was full LOL).

Caught in the act. I'm not even sure Laura knew I got her. — Caught in the act. I’m not even sure Laura knew I got her.

Would I recommend TRATA? Absolutely, the atmosphere, the service and the food was amazing. I would say you are probably going to spend a good amount of money (our meal together was around 70) but it’s certainly worth it and a nice treat. Heck, I would personally just go there for dessert and a beer the cake was that good. So Guinness cake and Guinness?

All in all, I had an amazing weekend and I can honestly say that I will absolutely miss Laura to death. (Yes, I’m sappy admitting that on my blog). The LOLZ is a sappster.

Questions for you:

Favorite beer?

Mine is Guinness…followed by heinakin. I’m certainly a dark brewed person.

Have you ever been to a fair or festival?

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