Moncks Corner's Revenge - Part 7b

The inside of the diner was populated by just a few customers, one waitress, and a cook. There was a long counter where patrons could eat, as well as a number of booths on either side of the counter and a few along the window. The far end of the counter curved and there were a few more booths at that one end. All in all, the layout was none too different from many a Waffle House I have been too, and having been to a few, I would dare say that I am an unfortunate expert in these places.

Waffle Houses are notorious in this area, the South, if for one reason alone - there is almost nowhere else you can go at 2:30 in the morning and get yourself a bite to eat. Not so coincidentally, that is shortly after the time when the typical barfly and lounge lizard have been removed from the premises of their favorite watering holes (aka meat markets) and have suddenly found themselves with nothing better to do... and hunger for some form of consumable materials with which to soak up the various flavors of alcohol that had been ingested earlier in the evening, now morning.

There are OTHER options, to be sure. There's always Denny's. Yes, yes, yes, I can hear the sounds of disagreement on what constitutes food... believe you me, whether or not Denny's counts as a food provider has been a topic of conversation I have had before, with other people, in other places, in distant lands... suffice it to say that they do put a substance upon a platter, serve it to you with dining utensils, and that substance can, indeed, be put upon the end of fork or spoon (or spork, if you stole one from KFC), placed in the mouth, chewed, and swallowed, much like food. But I am not here to debate the theories of what is and is NOT food. That is for people better than I to discuss. Let us simply agree that Denny's CAN, in fact, be used as a replacement for a 2:30am visit to the Waffle House.

There are also various and sundry local establishments, of varying quality, for the drunk and hungry, that are open at that magical hour. In Chesterfield County, there is a place known as the Chesterfield Diner. Let me describe it with one simple word.

NO.

In downtown Richmond, the 3rd Street Diner will serve you food with 'tude, if not flat out rude. Of course, part of that simply may be the natural bearing of the many hottie goth chicks that work there - I'm certain the many nights of experiencing drunks of all types and sizes, from goths to bikers to preps to fraternity boys to businessmen (AND women), have left them with very little to no reason to be kinder than they are. Still, it always makes me wonder how much of the juice on that philly steak is REALLY steak juice. I mean, you KNOW how bad people in restaurants can get you back, right?

Just a block over is 4th Street... and that place, well... the food is great. Really. Sometimes it depends on who is working that night, but overall the food simply tastes better. They also have, flat out, the best fries in all of Richmond - and this is coming from a french fry connoisseur. You can trust me on this one. They simply have the best Boardwalk Fries you can get in town.

Unfortunately for me, I am usually on the other side of the county/city from 4th Street... but I still make the occasional visit to the mecca of edible tubers.

And that's all my time for today... Very soon, you will see what I saw in that diner...
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yes, I do suck terribly, don't I?
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