Brat's Brothers Gourmet Sausage Grill - Sherman Oaks, CA

When I saw kaesespaetzle on the menu on Brat's Brothers web site then I knew that it would be worth checking out.   Kaesespaetzle are potato based noodles usually served with cheese. It is a classic Swabian dish.  When I got there, they actually had what I would characterize as Jaegerspaetzle or "hunters spaetzle" which is the spaetzle with a mushroom gravy sauce instead of cheese. So, that's what I went for.... But, not before ordering a bier.

I found it charming when the very nice Mexican-American chick wearing a dirndle with tatoos and Toms sneakers brought over a refreshing beverage in a genuine brewery supplied glass. 

They have quite impressive selection of German biers on tap.  I had an Erdinger Weissbier.  It really hit the spot.  It had been ten years almost exactly since I moved back to the states from Germany.  The German bier gartens were one of those things that I really miss.  It wasn't just the bier, it was the whole atmosphere.   Wow, how I miss that.

They had Erdinger, Hoffbrau, Spaten and. Franziskaner brand beer on tap. These are all the national brands which to the Germans are very ordinary but, for us "Ami's" are not at all ordinary.  It was definitely a treat.  A normal $6 genuine German bier on tap is $4 during happy hour.  

When I visited Brat's Brothers, they had just moved locations, which explains how they might have gotten on Diners, Drive-Inns and Dives in the first place because this restaurant was none of those.
It is a nice place with outdoor seating to enjoy Southern California weather. Inside in the center of the restaurant is a 30 foot single slab of wood of a table that people are supposed to sit around European style, only this one is 3 feet across versus the real deal foot and a half width.


I almost want to withhold a triple-d rating because they really no longer qualify under any of the three "d's."   But, I think that just like what they did for the homerun king baseball player that is later found to have taken steroids, I'll issue a grade with an asterisk.

I'm giving Brat Brothers a 7*.   Here's why. The food was good but, probably not as good as any mediocre German restaurant that it was trying to be.   The menu was trying to be a straight copy of a Bavarian restaurant.   My opinion is that Triple-d restaurants have to be something unique and noteworthy unto themselves.   Although I really enjoyed Brats Brothers and would go there again, it wasn't unique.

I found the atmosphere to be artificially produced. For example, there were two sets of lederhosen under glass cases on the wall.  That's like hanging your underwear up in a restaurant.  There is just something wrong about that.

So, check out Brat's Brothers if you want some good food and good bier but, don't go there looking for a triple-d experience.

Brat's Brothers Gourmet Sausage Grill
13456 Ventura Blvd
Sherman Oaks, CA 91423
(818) 986-4020
www.bratsbrothers.com

Silk City Diner & Lounge - Philadelphia

The Silk City Diner & Lounge was all about atmosphere.  It was part diner with good comfort food and friendly service, part bar because you could belly up to a bar inside and order whatever alcoholic drink that you wanted and part night club because it was dimly lit with red lights and from the looks of the posters downstairs, they must have live music there sometimes. 

I was there in the early evening during the week.  The neighborhood was definitely a little on the rough side.  There was evidence of the local businesses hardened against night time raids with graffiti inscribed riot gates held in place with heavy chains.  So, the restaurant might not have been a dive but the location definitely was.

The food was really good.  It was surprisingly refined for such a rough neighborhood.  I had the fish and chips.  The fish was tempura fried.  The oil was fresh and the tempura frying was executed by someone who knew what they were doing.  It also came with some really good coleslaw and a chunk of cornbread.  The cornbread was actually a jalapeno cornbread that they called a "corn muffin."  I didn't expect cornbread this far north of the Mason-Dixon line but, theirs was very good.

I'd rank Silk City a 9.2 out of 10 on the DDD scale.  The whole place just had its own vibe that appealed to me. 

Silk City Diner & Lounge
435 Spring Garden St
Philadelphia, PA 19123
(215) 592-8838
www.silkcityphilly.com

Patricks Road House - L.A.

Patrick's was so nice that we didn't want to leave. It sits right across the street from L.A.'s Santa Monica beach. You can get a table outside in the cool California air blocked from the direct sun by a tall hedge of trees.  The restaurant is decorated like someone's Grandma's house with lots of old eclectic stuff everywhere.

I would characterize the food as healthy comfort food.  It is pretty much normal American food but some of it was cooked in a healthy California way.   Some of it was just straight up comfort food.

I had the fish tacos and a salad to begin with.   Both were what I've come to expect from California cuisine; not too big portion sizes and really fresh vegetables and sea food.

My lunch partner had an omelet that must have had every ingredient that the farmers market had for sale that day. He was really happy with it and it looked pretty good.

We found ourselves ordering coffee and banana cream pie afterwards.  We loved the food and the place and really didn't want to leave.   The bananas and the cream were both pretty good but, the pie crust was downright decadent. It was really flakey and buttery. Well worth the empty calories.

I'd give Patricks an 9 on my triple-d scale of enjoyment. They get big points just on location alone. Most triple-d restraunts are located in kind of sketchy areas. Not this one.  It does have a walk-up window which, I suppose qualifies it as a drive-in.  It is kind of divey and kind of like a diner but, not really.  Well worth checking out at any rate.

Patrick's Roadhouse
106 Entrada Drive
Los Angeles, CA
(310) 459-4544

Gloria's Cafe - L.A.

The correct answer to the question "do you want plantains with that?" is a resounding YES!  The plaintains at Glorias are wonderful.

I have never had plantains like these before.  They are cooked to make some kind of sweet glaze over the tasty little bannana-ettes.  The outside has a very thin almost candy coating while the inside is a sweet, gooey, slightly fibrous goodness.

If you order the appetizer plate of plantains then they come with re-fried beans and sour cream.   The sweet plantains mixed with the creamy sour cream and sticky re-ried beans comes together in a heavenly concert of flavors and textures.

What Bolero is to music, Gloria's plaintains is to mexican food.  Just as the bolero music starts off slowly with a simple one-piece rhythm which builds up and up as other musical instruments are added, the culinary experience is similar.

First, you go straight for the fruit and kind of only recognize the very sweet and unique flavor of the plantains themselves.  Probably because in the US it is kind of an exotic food still.  The American palette isn't used to it.  After you are over the sweetness then you recognize the fact that they didn't serve the fruit alone and decide to explore the options.  So, you dip a fork-full of plantain into the sourcream to give it a go.

The creamy-sweet mixture reminds you of milk and cookies.  A fleeting thought about the triple-digit number of calories you're inhaling in this indulgence runs though your head.  "I'll try it with the beans.  Beans have protein and that's good."  The rationalization worked.  You try the 3-ingrediant mixture.  "Ay Carumba, that's good!"

Gloria's gets a solid 8.5 on the triple-d scale of awesomeness.  The plantains were obviously the star of the show in my opinion.  The rest of the meal was pretty darned good, too.  I had the Bistec Encebollado which was steak strips with onions.  Very tasty indeed.  Not, enough to make me want to tear up my return ticket back to Texas but, pretty darned good.  Definitely worth checking out.
 

Gloria's Cafe
10227 Venice Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90034
(310) 838-0963
www.gloriascafela.com

Hightstown Diner - Hightstown, NJ

I went to the Hightstown Diner in Hightstown, NJ last November.  I didn't blog about it back then because it was kind of unremarkable.  I've been to a lot of Jersey diners over the years and I found this to just be another Jersey diner, which is a little disappointing.

True Triple-D'ers demand more.  We don't hunt down triple-d restaurants like the lion hunts down one antelope from a whole herd just just to come away with something mediocre.  We want to be blown away in culinary delight.

The relative mediocrity of this diner didn't stop them from marketing the he** out of the fact that they had a visit from Guy Fiere.   They had huge signs all over the place.  The menu looked like an advertisement for the Food Network more than a menu.

One consolation for me is that I have not lived anywhere near New Jersey in a long time.  So, any indulgence in Jersey comfort food is a good one.  There are diners in the rest of the country but, they are not the same.  I can't quite put my finger on it.  Maybe it has to do with the atmosphere or what they represent to me.

I have a lot of memories from the misspent part of my youth rolling into diners after having rolled out of a bar late at night.  Many diners are open all night because they cater to shift workers and drunk college students.  If you want scrambled eggs and toast at 3am then go to a diner.  They're open and that request would not be anything out of the ordinary.  It's also an interesting mix of people there in the early hours of the morning.  It is not quiet at all because not everyone lives a 9 to 5 life.

I don't think that I've had more than two drinks in a row at a bar in the past 15 years that I can remember.  I certainly have not hung around long enough to see it close for the night.

I had a soup and sandwich while I was there.  The navy bean soup was good.  No complaints.  The roast beef sandwich was just what I expected it to be.  It was very good but, just like every other diner in the state.

I'm giving this a two on the Triple-D scale because it was not a disaster, just hum drum.  If I was starving and close by then I'd stop in but, I would not make another trip out of my way.

Hightstown Diner
151 Mercer St.
Hightstown, NJ 08520
(609) 443-4600

Corey's Catsup & Mustard - Manchester, CT

If you think that you might have an unhealthy addiction to salt and vinegar anything then stay FAR away from Corey's.  I tried the salt and vinegar french fries ("freedom fries," if you prefer) and I almost had to be taken out in a straight jacket because they were so good that I could hardly stop eating them.

One order of fries results in the waitress bringing a huge pile of the heavenly spuds in a mini wire-wastepaper basket.  Everything was perfect about them.  The fries were just the right amount of crunchy and you could tell that they used fresh oil and good quality potato.  The oily, salty, vinegary blend was perfect.  What the Boston Pops is to fireworks on the 4th of July,  Corey's is to string potatoes on your plate.

The pretzel roll ("bretzel broetchen") used to be one of my favorite things to eat when I lived in Germany.  But, they are almost impossible to find in the US.  Central Market has them but, they are not anywhere as good as the real deal from a German bakery.  So, I was really excited to see it on the menu.  I thought that the chicken on a pretzel bun was going to be the star of the show for my meal tonight but, I was pleasantly dead wrong.  It was good but, it got upstaged by the spud.

I'm giving Corey's a 8 out of 10 on the triple-d scale.  In typical triple-d style, it was kind of divey.  It was a neighborhood bar restaurant.  The two waitresses that I dealt with were extremely nice and attentive.  High marks for service.  I was obviously wow'ed by the fries but, the chicken sandwich was just good.  On the triple-d scale, we're looking for culinary experiences that blow us completely away.  I would recommend that people check this place out.  I think that anyone would enjoy it but, it was not a bucket-list worthy restaurant.  


Corey's Catsup & Mustard
623 Main Street
Manchester, CT 06040
860.432.7755
http://www.catsupandmustard.com/

Arnolds Country Kitchen - Nashville, TN

Arnolds definitely put the "dive" in Diners, Drive-Inns and Dives but, the food was really good.  It was comfort food and comfort environment at its best.  There were family members yelling at each other, miscallaneous stained posters on the wall and cutomers coming in being greeted by their first names.  It felt like home. 

I had the roast beef with macaroni and cheese.  The meat was cut right in front of me off of a big hunk.  The combination of juicy protein with the savory cheese was down home comfy.  Luckily there were paramedics in the house to revive me from my comfort food induced coma.  Also, teh chess pie helped out.  Chess pie is a sweet tangy, vanilla creation with cinamon on top.  I asked what was in it and I remember hearing "vanilla wafers" somehow.  I don't really understand how they were included but, whatever they are doing, I'm okay with it.

Well worth checking out if you are in the neighborhood.  I'd give this an 8 out of 10 on the Triple-D scale.

605 8th Avenue South
Nashville, TN 37203
(615) 256-4455

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