Your favorite "Ma and Pa" restaurants

[SirKrunch]

Thought this might be an interesting topic, thinking about the situation with Hooper, Nebraska... and how the highway there is being widened and built to now bypass the town. Post here some of your favorite diners, pubs, etc... Nothing chain type, this is for locally owned and operated places.

I'm going to start off with Starbucks. NO, not the coffee joint... but an old style restaruant out on the East end of Nevada on old 30 (better known as the Lincoln Highway). Some of the best fried pork tenderloin sandwiches you've ever had! But they're only open during the warmer weather months. Too bad really, but understandable too.

[cabman701]

I've got 2.

Charlie Parker's which was featured in an episode of "Diner's, Drive In's and Dives" on Food Network... some of the best breakfast food around. They make pancakes as big as pizza's. Check out this website with info and some pictures: http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Overvie ... RefID=6248

And Star 66 Cafe. I eat there probably at least once a week or every other week. Their menu is huge, the food is good and the prices cheap. Lot's of travelers going north to Chicago or South to Saint Louis end up here since it is connected to a truck stop.

[luke]

In Saint Helens, OR, there is a drive-in with outdoor seating that was originally a franchise of a chain; the owners went on their own when the franchise expired, changing the name to Dari Delish.

An overview of restaurant.

They serve old-style burgers, fries, chicken strips, hot dogs, and of course, soft serve ice cream.

Also of note is the neon lamp sign out front.

The 2 ice cream cones on the sign flash alternately.

Facing west with sign in mid-flash.

A closeup in mid-flash.

A view of the other side with one cone lit.

[gedunk]

In Bakersfield there's a Mexican restaraunt named Don Pepe's on the southwest corner of Real Road and Wilson.

As a native Californian who grew up eating the authentic stuff from south of the border, this place is tops. They've got just about any type of Mexican food you may want, and will do specials not on the menu. They'll even make you a burrito even though burritos are Ameican, not Mexican food. Blame that ghastly Taco Bell for that invention.

[AndrewFields]

These are all Portland exclusives and places I've been going to for years. Click on the title to see the place on Street View.

Thanks for starting this. Now I want to get back home and chow down at my favorite joints.

Beaverton Sub Station - Forget Subway! Here you can get a 6" sub that fills you up like a Subway 12" and tastes 10 times better for only $4.50! $5.75 if you throw in a large drink which I usually do. Run by the nicest guy named Chuck. Ever since I discovered this two years ago, I have not eaten at a Subway since!

Skyline Burgers - This place may look old and somewhat dumpy from the outside but inside it's clean and all business. This restaurant has been on this location in one capacity or another (it started out as The Speck) since 1937! A Portland tradition if there ever was one. And the perk? This place is only a mile from my house!

Phil's Meat Market - Sure they sell cold cuts and raw meat but they also do fantastic Bento in white rice. The owner of this place has known my dad since 1974 and my mom since 1980. I've known their whole family since I was just a baby. I love coming here for lunch. Chicken bento is just $5 (it used to be $4).

P.S. The red Corvette Z06 parked outside the store is his and he's promised me I'll get to drive it this summer.

Philadelphia's Steaks & Hoagies - This is the place I go to get my Philadelphia cheesesteak fix when I'm 3,000 miles from the real deal. Independently owned by the same man since the early 1980s, I come here AT LEAST once a week when I'm home. Everybody knows me and my order and they'll even throw mine on if they see me at the back of a long line. How's that for service?