The thing is, RD's actually does it well. The food is GOOD.
This place is on the southern end. I'm talking past Tanglewood a mile or two. That's way past Buck, and way, way past Willow Street.
By the way.... what the hell is with Willow Street? Most towns name a street after the town. Willow Street named the town after a.... a.... a street? (You complain about that, but disregard the fact that there is a town called The Buck?! Or is it just an area?) (It's not 'THE Buck... it's just Buck. Sheesh.)
Forgive me. I'm writing this while halfway through a large glass of bourbon, on an empty stomach. Yeah, It's been THAT kind of week. (It was definitely a week, and have I mentioned how adorable you are when you get a lil bit tipsy?)
Anyway, RD's is in the building which used to be occupied by Valley View restaurant, a place I ate at a few times over the years. It was kind of Meh, and it's kind of okay it's gone now. MORE-anyway: just follow 272 South out of Lancaster, and keep going for 15 minutes or so til your GPS says whoa. That will be 1426 Lancaster Pike, Quarryville. (NO... I don't know why they call it Quarryville. It's nowhere near Quarryville. It's just random craziness as far as I can tell).
They have a chalkboard by the entrance that has random quotes, it is cute. Usually very clean, although they currently seem to have some roof / vent leakage issues. The bathrooms are very cramped (no handicapped access) but are clean and serviceable. (The men's room is huge, and clean enough to eat in. They could put another table in there for private dining if they had too. You only say the lady's room is small because you want to loiter in there and play with your phone for hours on end. So there.)
We usually hit up RD's for breakfast, and I'll say without reservation.... they serve one of the best no-nonsense down to earth country style breakfasts one can get in the Lancaster area.
There's nothing fancy, and no pretense. I'll break this gently... The Foods Are Going To Touch Each Other On The Plate. Nothing will be stacked artfully, and you can just plain forget the concept of 'garnish'. Good Food meets plate, they put it on the table with a smile (That one waitress we got this time, we have had her before and I always feel like she is fake. But she is very knowledgeable! The other one is very genuine though, and sadly I did not get server names this time). If you want fine dining, this ain't it. This is the kind pf place where the patrons wear t-shirts advertising their favorite dairy farm.
Who needs fancy garnish, when the food is really good?
This visit, Herself and I had breakfast... our favorite meal at this joint.
She had a breakfast Quesadilla, and I had The Southern Boy. She can talk about hers, and I'll explain what made my breakfast mess so freaking good. It's not pretty, but damn, is it good.
Eggs as you wish, but I request sunny side which they do properly. It also has a home made biscuit smothered in sausage gravy, and.... a slice of ham. HAM I tell you... HAM.
Not any ham, but real Virginia Country Ham that RD has shipped in from Turner Ham in Virginia. This ham is so good it turns Herself into the Hamburgler. I no more than said "Would you like to..." And her hand snaked out and forked up a big chunk of ham. No, not hamburgler. More like a hamasaurus, complete with snarling. (O.M.G. that ham is so good! They also explain when you order it is real Virginia ham, not like other hams... maybe they had someone complain once, that person was stupid. Like really stupid! This ham is ham nirvana!)
The sausage gravy is basically good, but needs seasoning, which is on the table anyway. I personally like some garlic in my sausage gravy, but hey.... this place is feeding normal people. On the other hand, the biscuit is a flat out winner. Not too flaky, but flavorful and perfect to hold up to the heavy gravy.
The eggs? What can I say? They were eggs. Cooked right, but just plain eggs. On the other hand... how many places can't do a proper sunny-side to save their lives? That said, with my side order of Rye Toast I was able to suck up some yummy yolk and build myself an eggy sammich that went nicely with the rest of my hearty breakfast.
We know from experience that RD's does a really spectacular sticky bun. Home made, sweet, sticky, tender... all the things that makes a good sticky bun so special.
This visit, however, no sticky buns. They had NO sticky buns. I'm serious... NO sticky buns. I was nearly to my feet and leaving when Herself calmed me down and talked my back from that edge. (But seriously, their sticky buns are house made and amazing, light and fluffy, not dense like some other places, and they grill it with butter. *sigh*)
The nice waitress suggested we get a cinnamon-sugar pancake to split, instead of the NOT AVAILABLE sticky bun. We gave it a shot.
Honey Darlin... it was a very nice cinnamon-sugar pancake. Not quite as good as I make at home, but really very nice. What it was NOT was a replacement for a sticky bun! Good try, and thanks, but....no. The table syrup could use an upgrade too. We favor dark amber pure maple at the house... try it. (REAL maple syrup makes a huge difference. It is easy to complain about the price, but you use less, so it lasts longer. And the flavor cannot be beat! So keep your brown flavored sugar water, thank you very much!)
RD's serves a bloody good cup of coffee. Their hook-up is Lamont Coffee out of West Chester, and it's locally roasted and blended. Smooth, full flavored, sultry... it's everything that McDonalds coffee never, ever, is. (It is really good coffee and our waitress was very knowledgeable about where the coffee and ham came from, which was cool.)
For breakfast I had the breakfast quesadilla. Now that in theory does not sound exciting, BUT they manage to make it amazing! It is a four tortilla, grilled with eggs, shredded cheese, sausage and bacon. It is grilled in a touch of garlic butter, so it has a toasty crust. It is served with salsa that they make with fresh ingredients. The whole dish is so flavorful! I really want to try the Country Eggs Benedict though next time, it has that tasty Virginia Ham, and instead of Hollandaise it has Sausage Gravy!
We've tried the lunch BBQ at RD's as well. For basic BBQ, it's pretty darn good. Not flawless, But I'll happily eat it again and again. (It wasn't bad, I found it a little gamey. I also wish they had some squirt bottles of house made sauce) The pulled pork is juicy (No mean feat in itself) and the Beef Brisket is very tasty. The Chicken leg is no slouch at all, and a couple would make for a fine meal by themselves.
If you go for the BBQ, a definite win is the Combo platter. At least, til you find what you like. The combo will feed two nicely, with the iceberg wedge salad to go along (Really good stuff, with Bleu Cheese and bacon!). (The fries, homemade chips, and beans are outstanding! I also loved the wedge salad. The teen had the fries with cheese sauce, and it was real cheese sauce, not the kind from a number 10 can.) (Oh yeah... the BBQ Beans are GREAT!)
Not a bad price, for a very respectable breakfast:
The menu at RD's:
Overall I give this restaurant:
RD's Breakfast
4.5 out of 5 forks for flavor
4 out of 5 forks for atmosphere
4out of 5 forks for location
3.75 out of 5 forks for service
4.0625 forks overall
RD's BBQ (Lunch)
3.5 for flavor
4 for atmosphere
4 for location
4 for service (better waitress this day, although she was slow on the beverage refills)
3.875 forks overall
There are alot of people that wish Valley View was back! So the "ok it's gone now" is a pretty low blow! Valley View must have been doing something right for it to be open for 30 years!
ReplyDeleteThat is the joy of opinions. :-) We all get to have one. I had never eaten at Valley View and hold no opinions. When we were preparing to write this post, and we spoke to some friends who had fond memories of Valley View in it's earlier years. Change happens though and it is nice to know there is a great local place, that I can get good food in the now!
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