StarView Diner

Located on the White Horse Pike in Somerdale, their dominating sign caught my eye one morning while I was heading out to Blackwood for a summer class. The big, bubbly, WordArt-esque lettering took me back to days of handing in middle school lab reports that had to have a cover sheet. The pink/fuchsia and turquoise lettering made it stand out more than any other sign on the short stretch of road. My first thought was that the establishment was wonderfully tacky. I was hoping it was more wonderful than tacky, and since the parking lot was usually filled every time I took that route at 9:30 on a weekend morning I figured they must be doing something right behind their doors. We arrived at the StarView a little after 7:00 on a humid evening and greeted by smiles of the hosts and waitresses. We were promptly seated at the first booth in the diner and given menus. As soon as we were seated we noticed how the place seemed to be filled with regulars. Everyone was on a first name basis with everyone else, and everyone was in high spirits.

After my Monte Cristo during my last diner escapade I needed to go back to my standard: two eggs over medium, sausage, home-fries well done, wheat toast, and coffee, black. Let's face it, it doesn't get much better than that. I'm going to take you through this review as if you were in my seat. Let's start with the home-fries. They listened to my request of having them come out "a little extra crispy" and they gave me a healthy amount, too. But then, I slid three of my sausages away from the potatoes and noticed there was a gaping hole on the back left corner. A cover-up had taken place right under my taste buds! It's OK though, I got over it quickly once I salted them up and dug in. They were nice and well done on one side which made up for what seemed to be slightly under-cooked potato throughout. On to the sausage. Let me just say that they weren't the all stars of this meal. They didn't possess any unique quality that would make them stand out from sausage links bought at your local grocery store. Maybe I'll go for bacon next time. Now it's time for the eggs, which from the outside looked like they were cooked perfectly. Unfortunately, appearances aren't everything since they were cooked more on the over easy side. I always hope that an egg cooked incorrectly at a diner is a fluke, but once it happens, it makes me weary to try their food a second time. On a positive note, the extra egg on my plate was great to soak up with my toast. Mmm. Their coffee was, in a word, bland, even though our waitress was quick with a refill.  For me, the service outshone the food, which after some terrible service at other places, was a nice breath of fresh air. I still want to try their bacon.

This, vs.

...This

Reflecting back, I thought this place was pretty weird. I too was intrigued by its 1980's, pastel, and generally gaudy sign that made me think, "Wow! If I was a character in Jem, I would be eating here!"

But then were seated and after a few minutes of looking around and admiring upholstery, the bakery, and the general air of friendliness, I realized that yeah, I would go here, if I was a character in Jem and a possible cultist. Above the booths line these pieces of ceiling art were stars...everywhere. But, not just normal stars as you can see below. All of a sudden the decor made no sense to me, and I wonder if I was the only person who upon first visit had questioned this choice of theme. It actually is quite arresting as you can see the picture below as once we saw these pentagrams, there was no unseeing them. FYI: Also, upon further research I've been informed that one can also call these pentacles. I kept wondering, "What do these mean"? But ultimately I was too chicken to find out, but I definitely will ask next time. But, really, maybe this just matters to me- since nobody on Yelp seems to mind the decor.

Scary

Readers of earlier posts will know that I, through this adventure thus far, have started to have realizations about how I like my breakfast (specifically my eggs) done. My most significant realization so far has been that I like my omelettes well done- I believe I called it a 'step before chewy'-and that fluffy, soft omelettes are unappetizing to me. I've started to realize that I'm also developing a preference for how the items IN my omelette are prepared, specifically how large they are in relation to the actual omelette. Picky, yes. However, I never considered it as an actual issue, until I had to eat through my very well-cooked broccoli omelette, only to realize that I never really was able to bite into a piece of broccoli. The vegetable was so well broken down into little florets (where were the stems?!) and folded into the egg that ultimately I felt that I was eating a broccoli-flavored plain omelette. If it doesn't sound like a big deal, I can say that it wasn't...until I got about half-way and started to lose the complexities in flavor. Note: For the polar opposite of this phenomenon, see the Maritsa's review that will be up next week!

Have you ever just eaten something and then after a while have it lose its taste? You can tell what temperature it is, or how salty or sweet it is, but you lose the ability to actually taste the ingredients that went into it? I ended up not finishing it. However, my home-fries were bountiful (unlike Chris's) and delicious. 

Ultimately, it's not a place I would go back to, but I did enjoy our waitress who was fast and courteous and seemed to be super friendly to everyone in the house. It was a multicultural-friendly diner and even though I know that I live in a world where racism is relatively subtle and de facto at worst, it's still nice to see black and white seniors smiling and shaking hands like old friends. I like to imagine that they come the same time, every week and have made this diner a part of the rest of their lives.


Additional info:
Our meals came with free juice; usually this juice is a "small" but should really be called a mini. When Chi declined hers, I was upgraded to a medium, which once again speaks of their stellar service. This diner, being our first on the White Horse Pike has opened up the door for exploring this stretch of road, potential reviews from the Jersey Shore could be soon to come.

Used to be 24 hours, now has standard early morning and late night hours. Moderately cheap; pay at the front.

Christopher

Authors' note: This entry marks our first in our 'Silver Spoon' entries- the restaurants we visit and review that are notably higher scale than our usual diner go-tos. Who says that NJ doesn't have fine dining? Who says Philadelphia is a terrible food city? 

Located in a quiet strip mall on Kressen Road in Chris's hometown of Cherry Hill, is the appropriately named Christopher restaurant. With the spotlight on their famous crab cakes, the restaurant focuses on three areas- seafood, steak (angus, certified) and pasta. The menu is no frou-frou with those as the only options. The decor, at least on the side where Chris and I were seated was also succinct as we pull up and see (or not see) that all of the curtains were let down and we could not even hope to glimpse inside. Intimidated, we walk in and are eventually greeted by a nice man who would end up being our host, our waiter, and then the floor busser.

I ordered their 'famous' crab cakes. All I can say is that I'm not sure why they're famous, because they weren't delicious and after two weeks I can barely remember any good quality about them. The crab pieces themselves were not large, and there wasn't a good crisp on the crusts. It was very soft, and eventually mushy and boring. My potato on the side frankly was more exciting- but then again what's not to love about twice-baked potato? It's difficult for me to find a vegetarian version of anything multiply-baked and I enjoyed the option. The portion was small, but not unexpectedly so.

Our busy waiter rushed over to our table after giving us a few minutes to look over the menu and we ordered our starter: fried calamari (this seems to be our bread and butter for appetizers, besides the complementary bread and butter). I need to begin with a compliment for our starter. It might have been the best cooked calamari I've been served. The outside of the rings were feather light, not very greasy, and even the rings on the bottom were crispy all the way around. The inside was, figuratively, like butter, and almost as rich. The one problem with the dish, however, was the seasoning. It was predominately salt. Actually, salt was the only thing I really tasted. Then again, that's the only downside the dish had. The marinara sauce that it came with was fresh and cut the saltiness back. When thinking about the plate as a whole instead of nit-picking, it was delightful.

For my main dish I had the "Filet Mignon With Fresh Grilled Shrimp" for $28.95. I need to lay down that the best steak that I get on a semi-regular basis is the beef from a restaurant called Famer Brown's in Waterloo, NE. I judge most of my steak off of beef from Nebraska, simply because that's what I grew up with and I honestly believe it's the best. That being said, the steak at Christopher was good. It was tender all the way through, lightly seasoned, and the chef did a knockout job of letting the quality and natural flavor of the steak speak for itself. It was a refreshing piece of meat that was well rested and retained its juices nicely. I asked for it to be cooked medium-rare and it came out more on the medium side, but I'll count that as a minor oversight since I really don't think it affected the overall tenderness of the filet. Now, the real star of the show was the shrimp. These three little guys were...perfect. If nothing else, they were the best cooked and juiciest shrimp I have ever had. They made the super market shrimp cocktail rings taste like pink rubber bands. I'm looking forward to getting more shrimp the next time I visit. The meal also came with a double baked potato. This potato had a shadow cast over it in comparison with the rest of my entreé. The only thing I really liked about it was the sour cream note really came through and added some needed zest to the rest of the plate. God, that was some good shrimp.

Riding the high of Chris's meal, we decided to order dessert. I decided that we shouldn't penalize the whole experience just because I didn't particularly enjoy my crab cakes. To be fair, I consider myself a relatively picky eater when it comes to crab just because I've been blessed to live (and eat) in the Chesapeake area of Maryland and then the Jersey Shore where blue crabs abound. Anyways, our waiter brought us out our dessert options via representations-on-a-tray instead of a menu, which I've seen at some upscale restaurants. However, instead of the deserts being perfect plastic versions of themselves or freshly cut slices, these pieces had seemed to be sitting there all day. The fluffiness of the cakes were gone; their icing starting to lose their brightness and melting off the edges. However, the power of our waiters descriptive words broke through the somewhat unapetizing desert mirage and we decided to order the red-velvet cake - an all-time favorite of mine. Like the rest of meal, there were distinct ups and downs.

The frosting? Delicious. Truly a thoughtful blend of a tangy cheese and sugary goodness. There wasn't too much that overtook the cake, and it left me wishing I could run back to the kitchen and lick some off the KitchenAid mixer. As far as the cake, I feel as if Christopher was trying to pull the wool over my eyes. I have a pretty firm understanding about how a red velvet is constructed traditionally, and the chemical reactions involved with cocoa ultimately give the desert its deep rich red color. This cake was a bright pink at most, and tasted like a pound (albeit moist) cake that had food coloring.

Overall, what a strange place with many ups and downs. Having read many mixed reviews on it, I wished we were able to, in the end, make up our minds about it. It's not as bad as some haters make it out to be - no, we didn't see any rats, and the service was good- but nothing about it changed my life. Except for that shrimp. Since Christopher, no shrimp has compared. 

Ponzio's- Diner, Bakery, Bar

A late dinner out was in order after Chris's first (full) softball game in several years with his company and after a particularly hard couple of days at work for me. Chris has raved about taking me to Ponzios for years and I've always wanted to go as it just looks so well-established and trendy with an always packed parking lot. This is why it was so disconcerning when on the way there Wednesday night at a red light he says, "I feel...like you're going to be disappointed in this place."

What?

First of all- what a huge place! We ended up being seated in what I believe was called "The Garden Room" after passing several distinct sections of the restaurant, including the big bakery. I was able to peer into the 'bar'- not very impressive and inhabited by about 4-5 individuals in their 50s and 60s just watching television and not talking to each other.

We decided to order calamari (kind of sketchy to order at a diner) and then I ordered the veggie Alpine Swiss- a garden burger with Swiss, grilled mushrooms and fried and supposedly crispy onions on a thick sweet Brioche bun. Tasty, but not as much as it should have been. It didn't fulfill its potential as it came to be just a notch above room temperature and cooler than the fries I got on the side. I figured it was an issue of timing since Chris's crazy sandwich came out with the cheese melting off of the bun and syrup nice and hot. My cheese as a point of reference was already congealed and my onions, while delicious, were on the road to soggy. Comes with the usual pickle and slaw, however, I will say that mine was not over-drenched in dressing, which made it easier to eat. One day, I'll learn to like coleslaw. Maybe.

I must say Ponzio's is the closest diner to where I live, and my family has frequented it countless times making it rather difficult for me to be impartial. The family usually eats there on lazy Sundays for brunch and I usually get an omelet or fried eggs, the usual. So, in an attempt to be different, I went with something different. The sandwich is called a Monte Cristo, and it is put together with egg dipped sour dough, ham, turkey, swiss cheese, pineapple, and honey-mustard sauce. The honey-mustard sauce sold me. What I didn't expect was that egg dipped meant the sour dough slices were essential French Toast, and it was never explained to me that it would be served with a mini pitcher of hot breakfast syrup. The details were nice. The sandwich itself was a miniature adventure and it had no clear beginning, middle, or end. Cheese was everywhere, confectionery sugar was dusted on one side, and the choose your own adventure with the syrup made every bite different. However, in the midst of the hysteria, the flavors came together. I would reserve this sandwich only for nights when I need a designated driver to get to Ponzio's. And if you happen to take a girl on a date to this particular diner, I warn you, there is no romantic or flattering way to eat the Monte Cristo.

Some argue that the portion of a review that covers the appetizer should be placed before the reviews of the entrees, and I argue that the literal appetizer should be delivered to the table before the literal entrees. Well, we both lose in this case. In the waitress' defense she was extremely apologetic about forgetting to put in our calamari order, and after she rushed back to the kitchen the amount of time it took to come back with a platter of freshly, fried squid, was quick and full of more apologies. On to the actual quality of food; the calamari was only rings (no little full squids), it was crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, paired with a nice, light marinara sauce, but the amount of lemon juice they squirted over these crunchy cephalopods was enough to make both Chi and I pucker up as we munched away. Maybe, I'll try the mozzarella sticks next time. 

Red Oak Diner & Bakery

The number of diners in NJ is staggering. It's one thing that is unique to the state and makes me proud to call it home. Chi and I were riding home from our practice studio Saturday evening and thought it would not be prudent to continue to eat at the Hillsborough Star Diner all the time (even though it's definitely good enough to go back to). Our solution was to plug in restaurants near our location traveling down Route 206. Half way down the list, and only five miles down the road was the Red Oak Diner and Bakery. It was old-school from its stone exterior to its small parking lot and it looked as if it would suit us nicely. As we got closer we started to get our doubts. "Is it closed?" I asked. We got out of the car and upon making it through the door we were greeted by a larger man that I can only assume was the owner. From there, what appeared to be a high school girl took over and seated us promptly (of course she would have, though, since no one else was in the diner). We were both impressed with the waitress' work ethic and attentiveness. Throughout the meal she refilled water, coffee, brought us our check at an appropriate time, and refilled what seemed to be every ketchup bottle in the diner without being told to do so.

I ordered an omelet this time (I know, crazy). It was the Western Omelet and, oh my god, it was by far the fluffiest, tenderest, most wholesome omelet I've ever ingested. It was packed with diced ham, green pepper, and onion. It was as thick as George Costanza's wallet and if they added one more morsel, the omelet would have been impossible to fold. Everything about this omelet was fresh and I'm looking forward to revisiting Red Oak just to try their other options. My home-fries were almost cooked to order. They were nice and crispy on one side, but the rest of the potatoes were plain and uninspiring. The last aspect of my meal, the toast had its ups and downs. The toast was heavily buttered (it's like they all know what I want now a days), but was prepared much too early so as by the time they buttered it the toast was no longer hot and the butter could not melt. Other than that it tasted like the same wheat toast you would get at most other diners. Their coffee did not shine in any way and tasted a little watered down. What can a guy expect ordering it at almost 8:00pm? As far as prices go, Red Oak was able to keep my omelet at $6.75, and I'm becoming convinced that an omelet under $7.00 is becoming a rarity. Kudos.

Sleepy is the word I would use to describe this place. I like to think that all places that seem too quiet always have some sort of deep secret about them- and this one may be an epic power struggle of an extended family over this established eatery. Although...more likely it could just be the economy that has reduced this place to what it is now. Delicious but...dreary.


Below is a panoramic view of the restaurant from our seat.

But as you can see- everything was clean and polished- including all of the stainless steel hardware. (Yes, you do have the clean/polish stainless steel for it to look good). On the television was a Chrysler vintage car auction which kept us entertained as for the majority of our meal we were the only ones in the restaurant. Our waitress along with someone who I can only assume was the cook kept themselves busy to the point of almost being frantic- as if they expected a huge rush all of the sudden. However, we ate from around 8:00 to 9:00 and according to the business card, they're only open until 10 pm. Note that later when we paid and left, we talked to the stationary (also sleepy) partiarch who didn't seem to know what time the place would be open until and said "11-ish". Hmm...

I decided to change it up and order their Montgomery burger (only $6.99!) with the veggie burger substitute.Coming out hot and not overdone like most, with melted sauteed mushrooms and mozzarella cheese on a sesame bun, it was, by far, the best veggie burger I've had at a restaurant for a long time. Seriously delicious asnd satisfying without being too oily or crispy as many places faced the unfamiliarity of cooking a Boca or a Morning Star will end up just grilling the hell out of it. Unfortunately the fries were very unoriginal with a medium cut, and no special seasonings. Chris actually commented that they were reminiscent of the ones in the upstairs eatery at our old Student Union at George Washington University. Didn't try the slaw, but the meal came with one and with a pickle.


Additional info: Hours are a bit sketchy- but their business card says 6am- 10pm daily. Also does take out diners and special occasion catering. Accepts all major credit cards and you pay at the front. The register has acquired a pretty impressive collection of international money, which really makes you wonder what this diner was like in its prime. Come visit, and maybe we can save this place!

Sage Diner

This outing started on Wednesday night when Chi and I decided it was too late to venture up to Hillsborough to practice and, we would therefore need to find a place closer to home to eat (our last meal was over nine hours ago by this point). A quick Google search for "diner + my zip code" brought up roughly thirty locations and we decided to pick one that was right around the corner from our favorite place to get Mexican food. Maybe we thought there would be some good vibes being sent over from El Azteca, who knows. We decided from their website that they looked diner-y enough for us so we hopped into the car and sped (drove the speed limit) on over.

First impressions for me were mixed. When we walked in there was a family of regulars blocking the doorway and talking very loudly to someone working the phone and standing behind the register. The man working the phone talked casually and loudly back to them all the while dealing with someone else on the other line. I expect this kind of laid-back unprofessionalism at a diner when dealing with locals. Chatting is OK. What wasn't OK was how he then ignored Chi and I for while we stood awkwardly in the waiting area. We were eventually noticed by the hostess and were politely taken to our seats. On a plus side, the waiting area was also their bakery section and their display of cakes, cookies, pastries and Sesame Street themed cupcakes was very impressive.

I ordered two eggs, over medium, with wheat toast and Italian sausage. I usually get my home-fries well done but this time I let Chi venture down that path and she'll give you the comparison between our home-fry orders. This is my usual order at a diner, and the only thing that changes is the type of meat when I'm feeling adventurous. My eggs were cooked correctly and my toast was buttered heavily, both things that make me happy. The home-fries were also surprisingly good. They could have used a little more time on the grill (that's how I like them) but for just regular cooked potatoes they had really good crispy sections and they were definitely cooked all the way through, which is proves difficult for some locations (there was one time in DC when a really fancy brunch I went to couldn't cook my potatoes completely). The last aspect of this meal was Italian sausage, which was awkward. It wasn't in link form and I didn't expect it to be since the menu also offered sausage links. But, I also did not expect the sausage to be one long trapezoid of sausage patty. It was hearty, there was a lot of it, and it had a nice black pepper and spice that probably put a little more hair on my chest. Did I mention it was awkward though?

I think I’ll remember this place more for its atmosphere than its food. Which I guess is better than being forgotten completely. The bakery and desert section was huge and the first thing you see when you come in-they’re clearly proud of it as it extends well into the dining area and breakfast bar. For a place with exposed stonework, the inside was rather well-lit and open and unlike the modern-castle vibe I got from the outside. There were real hanging plants in the booth section we sat in, and the window treatments (wooden and cloth Venetian blinds) were new and definitely livened the place up. The music was (unintentionally-?) hilarious. Smooth jazz and piano arrangements of popular Disney-affiliated songs such as “Somewhere Out There” from An American Tail. At the time I had incorrectly attributed it to The Rescuers which was a spin-off, I believe, of The Great Mouse Detective- my confusion just brings to light just how many mouse-related movies Disney put on in the 90s. Anyways, needless to say, when “I Believe I Can Fly” (Space Jam) came on, the booths around us – also filled with hungry, sassy, 20-somethings, started singing ironically along. 

Additionally, our waitress was very pushy and asked us ‘if we were ready’ about three times in less than 10 minutes. She was eager to get us to hurry our meal along, but once the food came out, virtually ignored us. Poor Chris had to deal with my drinking his coffee as well after mine never got refilled. 

The menu is extensive, however, breakfast is only about 1/7^th of the menu space, and it’s shared with the kids menu. It’s a shame that the more traditional food is more downplayed, because overall, the quality was pretty good despite a few quips: I got three eggs with my home-fries well-done with toast as a comparison to Chris’s. My eggs were of varying levels of done-ness. I asked for medium and my first was too runny, my second too done, and my third- almost there. Unlike Chris, even though I do love butter, I thought that the amount that was slabbed on there was too much and made me feel guilty for consuming my wheat toast. Also note that there was no discernible difference between my well-done home fries and Chris’s not well-done.

The dessert selection intrigues me- so we’ll be back to sample some, but besides that, probably not going to be on my short list of favorites.

Additional Info:

Their hours are from 6:00am to 1:00am Sunday through Thursday and until 2:00am weekends. The location is surrounded by hotels and it seems like a nice local diner to stop by if your stopping by and don't want to venture off of a main road. There is nothing on the menu for "two eggs + meat" which in my diner life has been a standard. All meat is a side and will cost you at least $2.99. Piling this on with my $4.99 for the eggs, home-fries, and toast made an eight dollar meal for me, kind of pricey for the type of food.

The Hillsborough Star Diner

We should preclude this by saying that this is was our second time visiting the Hillsborough Star Diner...in a week. It's oh-so-conveniently located less than a mile from our current dance studio which- I have a feeling- will render several future workouts...irrelevant.

I got the sense that this was a notch above the normal diner, larger in size with more seating, a heavier focus on baked desserts, and for some reason an aversion to trucks. There's a large NO TRUCKS sign as you pull in which while I'm sure is for a logistic space issue (the parking lot is not proportionally large enough for its interior) is hilarious out-of-context. Clearly very popular with the locals, the Star Diner boasts a standard menu of all-day breakfast with an extended couple pages of Italian-heavy dinner courses. 
 

For my second time at the diner I once again chose to order the veggie omelet. I know- boring...and a bit expensive for diner prices at $7.99. It's three eggs and seems to comprise of whatever extra veggies are in stock at the time (Wednesday night there was broccoli and Sunday morning it was heavily spinach). Both times it was on the well-done side and comes with the standard hashbrowns/home fries and toast. The omelet itself is nothing to write home about and my only strong memory of it is the fact that my second time included a wayward piece of ham that disguised itself as mushroom. However, my potato on Sunday was extra special as it was well-done on the outside (just as I had asked) but still completely soft and almost mashed-like on the inside. Essentially, it was a potato-omelet to be paired with my main meal which made the sleepy Sunday breakfast feel kind of whimsical and obviously, delicious. For what it's worth, my coffee came out at the perfect very-hot-but-not-enough-to-burn-your-tongue temperature. It's the little things in life.

Our first visit was around 10:30 pm and we were waited on by an apathetic teenager who looked as empty-minded as she ended up being. She immediately forgot my order after I ordered, and she then brought out coffee, dropped some of the creamer, and proceeded to not pick it up. Sunday brunch service was better but not as exceptional as their website claims it is. (By the way- check out the website which claims the diner to "[offer] the elegance and atmosphere of the finest restaurants at a cost that is well within today's family budget").

As Chi's dedicated dance partner and food enthusiast I figured two things when we found our new studio: we're going to be hungry in Hillsborough, a lot, and that since the Star Diner is a hop, skip, and a jump from where we practice, we'd frequent it often. Figuring the latter helped me decide that I needed to break away from my usual diner breakfast. Halfway through the menu I came across the sandwich section which was larger that I suspected it would be. Their options are the standard of most diners until I saw something that is usually reserved for local pizza places, the chicken parmigiana sandwich (served on a torpedo roll). It was two dollars above most other sandwiches at an affordable $7.25. When they brought out the plate I thought I'd be in for something special as the plate (and food) was approximately three times the size of my face. The chicken parmigiana heaping to the point where I couldn't close the roll and had to eat with a fork and knife. It took the convenient nature of the sandwich away; however, I felt I got my money's worth. As for the quality of the chicken, it's breading was crispy and thin, it was slightly overcooked but retained some moisture, proportionally the chicken was much more present than the breading, and it was lightly salted for flavor. Fries were average, some crispy and some on the soggy side. Or zombie-esque waitress that night wasn't too keen on making sure my water glass stayed full.

The second outing took me back to my comfort zone of breakfast. I decided to save eggs for a later date and chose the french toast with sausage ($6.49) and coffee. The diner once again proved its worth with providing the diner with their money's worth of food. The setup for the plate was average (six triangles of french toast and two links of sausage on the side), but the bread they used was the thickest I have ever seen, as were the sausage. Once again I felt as though I was in for a treat. After applying all three packets of syrup (not maple syrup) and using a good portion of my butter I started to eat. A third of the way through the bread I realized it was too thick. The middle was unaffected by the french-toasting process and remained plain bread, which means the star of the show was rather plain. The over-sized sausage left me torn. The texture was some of the best I've ever had (I nice crispiness from the casing), but the taste was much too salty and offered no heat. The food was good enough for me to eat to my content, but not good enough to wait for a second wind to clean the plate. Oh, one last thing, my coffee cup remained happily full through the meal, which was important since it had a nice full, not-watered-down flavor.

Additional info: 

It's open late night and 24hrs on Fridays and Saturdays which make this perfect for an after-partying snack. Although, doesn't that make you wonder where the Hillsborough kids like to party? WIFI is also available if you know, you're the kind of intellectual who likes to work on your blog at a diner. Oh hey- that's not a bad idea! 

Accepts major credit cards; you pay at the front.