Sunrise Diner
146 N Main St
Edwardsville, IL 62025
(618) 659-8688
Soooo...we venture to Illinois again this time to The Sunrise Diner which is in downtown Edwardsville and just happens to be right across the street from my law firm. The Sunrise has great ambience and sits right on the street which is cool. It sits in a row of shops with a Wine Bar and the much dreaded Bryan Cave and is right on Main Street and hard to miss. With its unassuming glass-front window and chalkboard sandwich board outside, it does not impress. Inside the restaurant is kept fairly clean by the owners, and it is obvious that this diner has only been open a couple years.
“The furniture is rather new, the tables in good condition”. I read this in an online review and find it... a poor recounting of the place. Everything is blond wood and kind of lost in the 70’s. It looks vaguley like grandmas kitchen. Although they have a smoking section the persnickety among us will notice that the smoke permeates, upsetting some people and making the rest of us certain that we are at least in a diner. I think Illinois is supposed be going totally smokeless even in bars. I am a non smoker but that stinks of communism to me. There is almost no space to walk amongst the tables and the service is, well, diner service. I object because there is no grill and no counter with stools but I give some breaks for more rural Diners. There is no jukebox. Fortunately there is also no internet.
On a normal weekday morning you can count on seeing the police chief in his booth in the corner just enjoying his breakfast, holding court and taking things in. I do not know what he gets but he drinks a lot of coffee and tends to keep to himself unless one of his friends shows up. I have had breakfast there on about 4 occasions now, normally on a Monday morning and although the service is relatively indifferent and not particularly attentive it is more then adequate.
It is quite the combination. The cream gravy is passable, a little thick and pasty but with some decent flavor. The sausage appears to be local and home made. The hash browns...shredded as God intended and cooked pretty perfectly on a consistent basis. Good stuff. The pancakes are thick and wide and they serve them with plenty of buter and syrul. Try the gyro breakfast platter, generally I am not one for Greek food but all the food is rather good. An average breakfast will run you less than $7.
1 comment:
The gravy that accompanies the biscuits adopts the pervasive practice of not including sausage in any noticeable quantity. This practice seems associated with the honeybee decline, though cause and effect have not been established. Please id any restaurant that still includes a quantity of sausage in their gravy. Without this we only have milk and flour. Also perhaps, one that uses a bit of roux. Finally, I commend you to waatch the ALton Brown show, Eating on Asphalt as this has a synchronicity wwith your current mission.
Post a Comment