DOLC: Willow Street Restaurant.... and Diner

Willow Street Restaurant and Diner has long been a favorite go-to of ours for breakfast out... no matter what time of day it is.  They aren't open 24/7 like some other diners, but that's okay.  Willow Street isn't exactly known for it's after hours night life.

Weekend mornings are our preferred hours for Diner breakfast.  Stopping in see Sherri at 'The Diner' and have her lavish us with pots of blessed coffee and plates full of comfy goodness..... yeah, that's what it's all about. (Try the Eggs Luxembourg!)

Since our idea for 'Diners of Lancaster County' originated over breakfast at the WS Diner, it's only fitting we begin with them.

The plan is this:   We will visit every Diner-like restaurant in Lancaster County, and order a comparable meal from each.  Then, we will apply our highly unscientific and wholly arbitrary opinions in describing our experience's.   It should be a hoot!

The meal:

• A ham and cheese omelette with home-fries and toast (His favorite). 
• A "house" cheeseburger and fries, however they offer it (Her favorite).
• A pancake to share, because pancakes are a goodness that diner's should nail perfectly.
• Coffee for Himself, and iced tea for Herself.
• Pie to share, because PIE, dammit.

 Here's what The Willow Street Restaurant and Diner (In Willow Street, whowouldathoughtit?) gave us to fill our order:

Their omelette features finely chopped ham and cheese mixed well with the eggs.  This trip, the usually perfect waitress Sherri slipped a cog and didn't ask what cheese I wanted.  Possibly, she just remembered.... it that kind of place.

The omelette was well done, to the point of being slightly browned at the edges.  Now, I know some eggy mavens will go all frothy mouthed at an omelette that's not light and creamy, but it happens I like mine done firm and almost too well done.   It's a thing. If an omlete has any "raw" or mushy bits, I will get gaggy. My eggs must always have the whites completely cooked. It's a thing I have.

The home fries.... well, that's an issue.  You see, WS diner has a secret way to order them, which Sherri clued us into a few years ago.  Ask for the 'Deep Fries' instead of home fries.  What you get will be the crispiest and most addicting breakfast potatoes ever.  We LOVES us some deep-fries, and order them every single visit. I ask for them cooked hard. Then they are like thick potato chips. We have been known to steal them from each other's plates.

The toast, my preferred Rye bread version.  This visit it was almost bordering on too well toasted, but not quite.  Heavily buttered, it begged to have some Orange Marmalade spread on... which the restaurant provides in the inevitable single serving containers, racked up like soldiers in the middle of the table. Marmalade is a huge win for me. Not all diners have it, and it is a personal favorite.

For Himself, this is how such a meal is done.  THIS is the epitome of a tasty diner breakfast.  Sure, some creamed chipped beef, sausage gravy over biscuits, or even eggs benny might be chosen on occasion.  That said, a simple H&C with home fries.... that's got my name all over it.  Color me happy.

Herself can speak of her burger without much help from me.  I'll say this... it was a good, hand made, basic burger. Not fancy and no special zippity do-da condiments to hide the meat. It could have maybe done with a pickle on the plate, but that's quibbling. It came with mayo. It was cooked well-done, a preference was not asked, but with this type of diner burger I am okay with that. It maintained its flavor and was not dried out. A good, no frills burger.

The burger was served with fries. WS has chosen to go with the crispy coating fries. Not my personal favorite. I prefer fresh cut or house made chips. Their fries were well cooked though, and as tasty as they could be for me.

Moving on to The Pancake!   Nothing beats a good pancake, even when it's sitting there next to a burger and fries.  Heck, that makes it even better.

WS Diner serves up a plate sized basic pancake, light and fluffy, and nicely cooked with the GBD look (Golden, Brown, and Delicious).  We like ours buttered, and usually with the Maple. Occasionally, I (Himself) will go for the jam instead of the syrup, but only sometimes.

Two thumbs up on the WS Diner's pancakes.... worth every bite. I love carby good pancakes and WS's do not disappoint. they are also HUGE, so if you are a light eater, just order one. 
 

Coffee?  Yup.... they have coffee, and it's good.  Sensibly they serve a carafe to the table, since they also use those cute little white cups that diners everywhere in the world use.  Iconic, but way too small.  Having the carafe there saves many steps, and growls.

I'll assume her iced tea was okay.  She didn't whine about it, anyway. Their tea is house brewed and strong the way I like it. Sherri always serves it to me with two lemons. Perfect! 

Nice filling, topping, crust ratio. Now get in my mouth! 

Since PIE is the domain of Herself, I'll step back and let her take a rip at one of her favorite things.  They had a few choices: raspberry, lemon meringue, coconut custard, egg custard, and shoo fly (the demon of the pie family, YUCK!). As we never know what kinds of pie a diner will have this is one area where we may have some variances. I had the lemon meringue. A personal favorite! WS's is one of the best I have had. The meringue was perfectly firm and the lemon curd filling was smooth, lightly tart, and not overly sweet. The crust was cooked through (no one likes a soggy bottom!), flaky, and a nice base to move the delicious pie innards to my mouth hole.

How does Willow Street Restaurant and Diner Fork up? 
4 Forks for flavor.
3 Forks for atmosphere. (The decor is dated, but it is clean. Air freshener in the bathroom is usually too strong)
4.5  Forks for location. (Easy to find & plenty of parking)
4.00 Forks for your value.
4.85 Forks for service. (We have never had bad service, but we usually request Sherri. We are always seated quickly and have never waited.)
4.07 Forks overall