Rainbow Drive-In - Honolulu, HI

The rainbow diner is supposedly President Obama's favorite place to eat in Honolulu.  There was a picture of him chowing down here on one of his visits here.  

I don't know what the President ate, but I had the mahi mahi sandwich with tarter sauce and some fries. The Rainbow Drive-In is most definitely a dive and most definitely a drive-in.  Although oddly enough, there is no drive up window.  You have to park and get out of your car.  Most people seemed to be doing take-out when we were there. I like it.  I was not blown away with the food but, it was pretty good.  It is an old time fast food place.  Your food comes wrapped in paper and in a paper bag.    

It was very popular with the local population.  The line to order was probably a good 15-20 minutes. It was also raining on the day that we visited here which doesn't seem to happen much.  They seemed to do a pretty good business selling t-shirts with their logo on it.  I'm guessing that they have a mini cult following here.

The atmosphere was even more laid back than the rest of Hawaii, which is saying something.  

I would rate the Rainbow Drive-In a 7.0.  The food was okay and the atmosphere was okay.  

Rainbow Drive-In
3308 Kanaina Ave
Honolulu, HI 96815
(808) 737-0177
http://www.rainbowdrivein.com/

Jefferson Diner - Lake Hopatcong, NJ

I had an uneasy feeling when I started to see billboard signs for the Jefferson Diner 2 miles out complete with the Food Network logos.  I was afraid of all talk, no action.  They had obviously bought a replica red camaro like Guy's car and had it parked outside as if Guy might be inside.

Luckily despite the glitz outside, I was wrong.  The Jefferson Diner was a typical New Jersey diner on steroids.  It had the stainless steel cladding everywhere, circular vinyl stools, everything that makes up an old-time diner.

I got a soup and sandwich.  The seafood gumbo was more like a vegetable soup with seafood bits rather than what I think of as a gumbo. That is to say that I think of the spicy Cajun gumbo.  I don't know if maybe they eliminated the spice for the more plain northern preference.  The warm gumbo on a cold day went down well.  The chicken panini with dried tomato was also pretty good.  Redemption!

Service was very good. Waitress volunteered to take away my phone so that I could eat in peace.
ide.  I'll give her points for having a sense of humor.

Like most diners, they have a tempting desert case on your way in.  It truly looked incredible. I was however good so, I have only a visual report on the sweets to give.

I enjoyed it and would recommend it.  I rate Jefferson Diner an 8.6.

Jefferson Diner
5 Bowling Green Pkwy
Lake Hopatcong, NJ 07849
(973) 663-0233

http://www.jeffersondiner.com