Have you had great food from dumpy cafes? (beer, restaurant, health)

[Suesbal]

Have you eaten great food at cafes that were so run down and dirty you were surprised the health department didn’t close them?

[Lodestar]

After WWII a Navy cook who married a local girl opened a cafe in our little town.

I waitressed and washed dishes there as a young girl and babysat their two boys. Years later it was the only cafe left in town and people were so distressed when the youngest boy wanted to sell.

The townspeople pitched in and helped him out financially and he extended it to also serve as a small grocery store with the basics.

Eventually he brought a bride home and those folks have managed to make a living running it. All the recipes are the original Ma and Pa home cooking ones you could get when it first opened and the old walnut wooden booths and bar and stools remain the same.

Every Sunday you can get a turkey dinner with all the trimmings and all week homemade pies and cinnamon rolls just like his mom made.

It's old and maybe a little tired-looking but clean. A gem. But it might be the kind of place outsiders would pass by.

I know what you mean, though. We lived temporarily in Tillicum WA and in Aurora CO and found in both places Asian restaurants with original food to die for but were they rough! Dirt and spilled beer everywhere. Didn't stop us from patronizing them. You just had to not look too closely or go at night when it was dark in there.

We have one in town that's been here for years and people love the food but I don't know how she manages to keep her license. She's a Cambodian refugee who is a little mentally ill from all that she's been through but everyone loves her.

The place looks like it's never been dusted and she saves the used paper napkins, refolds them and reuses them.

If you linger sometimes she'll come out of the kitchen and sit right down with you and tell you her story. It's hair-raising.
In her earlier years she took in sewing at night, ran a side Asian grocery store next to the, much smaller then, restaurant and sent the little ones out into the neighborhoods on Saturday mornings with baskets full of fresh egg rolls for sale until the city put a stop to it.

Depending on how much business she's had you'll get a generous serving of fresh or an extra generous serving of not-so-fresh. "I give you extra rice, Honey."

She managed to send every one of her kids to the local college. Quite a success story with her determination and a lot of help. Maybe no one has the heart to shut her down?

[tickyul]

Chinese-Buffet that looked like filthy Frankenrestaurant..........food too yummi.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Not from a place that was filthy dirty, but certainly a lot of good food from dumpy little places that could have used some new paint and maybe some new upholstery on the banquettes.

[Sonny3]

Not much but have had some at dumpy taverns.

[Ohiogirl81]

Of course. You've heard the terms "greasy spoon", or "dive", etc.?

[Taz22]

I can recall a few places, Mexican or Chinese where the food was good, they weren’t dirty so much as run down and in need of updating. Surprisingly, I didn’t get sick, maybe those hot chilies warded off stomach germs.

Fast forward to recently, I got sick eating at a local farm boy restaurant. The place is expensive, food ordinary but wildly popular with locals. Getting sick just says the place wasn’t clean.

[silibran]

We had good Mexican fare in a little cafe, in a little town out west in the back of beyond. One of the customers began chatting with us about our trip, as it was obvious we were not locals. She was persistent and I was evasive. It turns out she had a valid reason for asking about our trip, but you could see the ears of the other patrons turning our way every time she asked questions.

We cut our meal pretty short. It was an uncomfortable situation. And it was too bad because the food was good.

[Threestep2]

Originally Posted by silibran

We had good Mexican fare in a little cafe, in a little town out west in the back of beyond. One of the customers began chatting with us about our trip, as it was obvious we were not locals. She was persistent and I was evasive. It turns out she had a valid reason for asking about our trip, but you could see the ears of the other patrons turning our way every time she asked questions.

We cut our meal pretty short. It was an uncomfortable situation. And it was too bad because the food was good.

And that had what to do with good food at a greasy spoon? Someone talked to you.

[NORTY FLATZ]

https://www.coronadondcafe.com/a-bit-of-history