My wife and I are in Ligonier, PA for a wedding. We spent the morning and early afternoon driving to Greensburg, Latrobe, and then back to Ligonier, visiting used book stores, thrift stores, and antique shops. After a busy morning, we were hungry and started looking around Ligonier for some place to eat.
Right in the center of downtown Ligonier is a roundabout that is named The Diamond. Not sure why. I am guessing someone thought it sounded nice. The roundabout itself is more oval shaped.
Tucked away in one the corners of the Diamond is a little cafe named Diamond Cafe. Clever name. They didn’t have a menu displayed outside or anything, but then none of the local restaurants seemed to. So we stopped inside to see what kind of food they had. We sat down at a table to peruse the menu. Pretty generic food offerings for a cafe. The breakfast meals sounded appealing. A couple eggs, toast, bacon, and maybe some hash browns might have hit the spot. But since it was afternoon, I am not sure they would have been offered. So I looked at some of the other items. I kind of decided to try the Bacon Cheeseburger. I thought it was kind of generic, but maybe it would be good. The menu also seemed to suggest that Elvis music is played on Sunday. Too bad we were there on a Saturday.
As we sat waiting for the waitress to come take our order, we checked the dining room. It was not particularly big. Maybe about 8 or 10 small tables. The decorations in the dining room were interesting. They have a large electric train that runs around the ceiling of the dining room. There is a large collection of post cards frames on the wall from all over the world. Are these places that the owners have visited maybe? There was a small sign saying they are not a fast food restaurant, and that all the stuff was made fresh, and thanking us for being patient. I saw a few 57′ Chevy’s and thought about my mom who used to collect them. One looked pretty old. Behind the counter I saw an old green shake machine, and decided that a milk shake could be really good.
Okay, enough about the atmosphere. You probably want to hear about the food. Well, I wish I could tell you. After about 10 or 15 minutes of sitting there watching the waitress come in and out of the dining room taking orders, and bringing food to other customers, she hadn’t even acknowledged that we were there. I even found myself timing how long it took the train to make it’s way around the dining room…about 50 seconds. I understand that this is not a fast food restaurant and that the food takes time to prepare. But you can’t even start preparing it until the orders are taken and given to the cooks. We got fed up with waiting, and being ignored, so we left and ate at the Ligonier Tavern. I am sure the food at the Ligonier Tavern was much better than what we would have gotten at the Diamond Cafe. And the service was very good, unlike here at the Diamond Cafe.
So if you are ever in Ligonier, PA looking for someplace to eat, I can’t recommend the Diamond Cafe.
If you do want to check them out, they are located at 109 W Main St, Ligonier, PA 15658. (724) 238-3111
My wife and I were staying in Statesville, NC in order to visit the Hiddenite Emerald mine. We got in on a Monday afternoon, and started looking for some place to eat. I checked out the phone book looking for any BBQ places. I love finding some hidden diamond of a BBQ place. I found a place named Carolina Bar-B-Q. I did a search on Google for reviews, and they seemed favorable. So we decided to have dinner there.
I used my GPS and easily found the place. It looked just like the pictures on the web. The inside wasn’t was I would have expected. For some reason it reminded me of the inside of a Dairy Queen. There were various military flags, and some hillbilly related stuff. There was a small brag wall with celebrity pictures.
But what is important in a BBQ place is the food. We both ordered the Barbecue Pork Dinner which the menu said were the “original dinners that made us famous!”. We each got two sides, and a choice of dinner rolls or their hushpuppies.
I chose baked beans and potato wedges, and the hushpuppies. My wife chose green beans, french fries, and also hushpuppies.
The food took a little while, but not too long. A family who came in after us, got their slightly before we got ours.
The barbecue pork was actually just shredded pork on the plate. There was BBQ sauce in a bottle at the table. I squirted some on, and mixed it in. The sauce had a smokey flavor, but was nothing special. I was actually kind of disapointed. I guess I had my hopes up. I remember eating at Dreamland BBQ in Tuscaloosa, AL, and was blown away. Even Dinosaur BBQ in Rochester, NY is very good. But Carolina Bar-B-Q was nothing extraordinary. The prices weren’t too bad though. The hushpuppies were very good. I have never seen them up north. I think the last time I had them was in a BBQ in Gatlinburg, TN. But overall the food was just okay. Not bad, but nothing special.
Carolina Bar-B-Q is located at 213 Salisbury Rd, Statesville, NC 28677. (704) 873-5585
I have lived in the Rochester area for over 13 years now. I have eaten Dinosaur BBQ many times, but I have never actually gone there for a sit down meal. Often I will eat leftovers from catered meeting at work. Sometimes I would stop in and get a couple pulled pork sandwiches to go. I stopped doing this when the nearby parking garage changed their evening and weekend rates from 45 cents an hour, to a flat fee of $4. It just seemed like a rip off to pay $4 to park for 20 minutes so I could get food.
Anyway, my niece was in town, and we decided to take her downtown to Dinosaur BBQ. It was during the day, so the parking fee wasn’t a problem. Fortunatly there was room in the parking. I was concerned they might be full.
They were pretty busy, but there was an open table, and we were quickly seated. The walls are covered with license plates, and move posters.
There were a ton of BBQ choices. I ordered the pulled pork and rib combo. My wife order a sampler which had chicken, pork, and beef. My niece ordered some kind of portabello mushroom sandwich.
Our food came after abit. I thought the pulled pork would be on a sandwich, but it wasn’t. It was good anyway. The ribs were great. I sampled my wife chicken, and beef, and they were good. Everything was very good. I have always enjoyed Dinosaur’s macaroni salad. And today was no exception. One thing I miss however with the salt potatoes. Apparently they don’t do them everyday in the restaurant. They do them for the catered stuff though.
While not the greatest BBQ I have ever had, Dinosaur BBQ ranks in the top 3 or 4 at least.
Dinosaur Bar-B-Que is located at 99 Court Street, Rochester, NY 14604. Phone 585-325-7090.
They also have a location in Syracuse, NY, but I have never visited that location.
We were staying at a place called Uncle Howie’s General Store. They serve some food such as pizza, but I asked about any good restaurants in the area. They said there was one about 20 minutes in one direction, and another about 20 in the other direction. They also mentioned one that we should avoid. The Oxbow Inn was one of the restaurants they suggested. And since it was in the direction of a place we were going to visit, we chose it.
The Oxbow Inn was very easy to find. The parking lot was packed, but we found a spot to park. We went inside, and got our name on a waiting list. The girl said it would just be a few minutes (actually it closer to 10 or 15 minutes). We waited in the bar area. The place was filled with many local people, as well as many seasonal visitors. Signs on the walls of the bar area advertised a raffle for a rifle, a fishing tournament, and bingo down at the fire hall. Another sign on the wall said to file a complaint, press the red button…which was strategically placed in the trigger of a miniature bear trap.
After a bit, we were seated. We were given the specials. I decided to order one of the specials which was scallops and linguine in a heavy cream sauce. My wife ordered the sesame chicken. Along with our meals, we also got the soup and salad bar. I got some of the potato/garlic soup which was very good, and reminiscent of clam chowder. We both got salads.
Then our entrees came. The bowl that mine came in was huge. I ate the scallops first, and they were very good. Then I began to eat the linguine. It was also very good. The heavy cream sauce was like an alfredo sauce, but thinner. My wife’s sesame chicken was also very good. It came with rice and veggies.
I was full long before finishing my entrée. My wife too was filled up. They had some wonderful looking desserts, but we were full.
The Oxbow Inn is located on Route 8 near Piseco, NY 12139. Phone: 518-548-7551.
Dick’s is a classic restaurant in the Seattle area. I can’t remember when I first ate there, but it was a long time ago. When I was in my late teens, my friends and I would go there and order 3 Dick’s Deluxe burgers and a shake each.
Whenever I get back to town, I try to visit one of the Dick’s Drive In locations. There are five of them:
Wallingford, 111 N.E. 45th St. 2
Capitol Hill, 115 Broadway Ave. East 3
Ballard, 9208 Holman Road N.W. 4
Lake City, 12325 30th Ave. N.E. 5
Queen Ann, 500 Queen Anne Ave. N.
Today my wife and I visited the Wallingford area. I am not as young as I used to be, so I only ordered two of the Dick’s Deluxe burgers, and of course a chocolate shake. The burgers tasted slightly different than I remembered, but were still very good. The shakes are great.
If you are ever in the Seattle area and looking for someplace quick to eat, check out any the Dick’s Drive In locations.