Back in the '50s when I was a kid growing up on a farm in southwestern Ohio, drive-in restaurants, soda fountains and diners were staples of everyday living. Nobody "ate out" very often -- our stay-at-home moms cooked up three squares a day, mostly from scratch. But once in a while, we'd get treated to a cold root beer and chili dog at the A&W or a "brown cow" at the new Dairy Queen in town.
Dairy Queen, by the way, was founded in 1940, so when one opened in our small town sometime in the mid-'50s, we all thought we'd died and gone to Heaven. That Dairy Queen also was the first real job I ever had; I spent two summers whipping up sundaes, milkshakes and putting those curls on cones trying to earn enough money to buy some neat back-to-school clothes that weren't on my mother's list of what I really needed. I'll never forget the thrill of discovering that as an employee, I was allowed eat all the ice cream treats I wanted -- followed by the realization maybe three days later that I wouldn't care if I never ate it again for the rest of my life.
Once I turned 16 and got my driver's license, I'd get behind the wheel of my dad's '57 Chevy Bel Air (metallic pink, dual exhaust and stick shift), pick up my best friend Marcia and head into the small town of Union City, Indiana, to the Sweet Shoppe for a freshly made chocolate malt and listening to the latest tunes on the juke box. Last time I was in town, the Sweet Shoppe was still open - a testament, I guess, to the ongoing popularity of this kind of place.
I left the farm for college in 1959 and never went back (except, of course, to visit my wonderful parents when they were still living, which happily was for many more years). But I've always had an affinity for any kind of eatery that brings back memories of the '50s. So even though my husband Jack and I prefer our meals accompanied by beer or wine, every once in a while we consider it a treat to have a meal in surroundings that remind us of days gone by.
And that's exactly what we did not long ago, when our friends Jerry and Barb suggested that we have dinner at the Emerald Diner in Hubbard, Ohio. Truth is, we enjoyed a meal or two here several
years ago when Jack reviewed the place for his "Dining Out" column for The Business Journal. Since then, for some reason we were under the impression that it had closed. Not so -- in fact, it's very much alive and well and living in the 21st Century. The food and decor, though, are happily stuck in a previous generation.The diner, according to a diner brochure, is a green-accented 1939 O'Mahony that was Burt's Diner in Norwich, Conn., for 40 years. Once it closed, it sat abandoned in a cornfield for 10 years. In 1994, James P. Marsh of J.P. Marsh & Co., a certified public accountant firm in Hubbard, purchased it and moved it here, where the first cup of coffee was served in April of the following year.
As you might
expect, the railroad car-style diner has bar stools and a counter on one side and booths on the other. There's lots of chrome and replicas of LP records (remember those??) hanging around, and in each booth there's a juke box that simply begs for quarters -- each of which gets you two selections.That, in fact, provided some entertainment for our outing -- but first we'll talk about the real reason for being here -- the food. There's plenty here from which to choose, by the way -- far more than I'd have expected at a so-called diner. We found lots that sounded wonderful from breakfast, lunch and dinner menus (all of which prompted us to agree we'd be making more visits here).
There are daily specials as well, although no matter how hard she tried, our friendly server just couldn't convince any of us to try the liver and haluska side that was featured on this day. Saturday's country fried steak ($6.95) and Sunday's meatloaf ($7.95), however, were very tempting. A hint: If you're on Facebook, add the Emerald Diner to your "like" list and you can check out the daily postings of special Facebook-only deals that can save you a bundle.
There are several appetizers on the menu, like spinach and artichoke dip with tortilla chips ($4.95) and Italian greens in olive oil and garlic with toasted Italian bread ($5.95). The sandwiches are too numerous to mention anywhere near all, but the open-faced turkey, meatloaf and roast beef with homemade mashed potatoes and gravy at $5.95 each caught my eye for a future visit. Dinner entrees range from pasta to stuffed cabbage to crispy fried chicken.
Another temptation was the "Wiener's Circle" of 100% all beef hotdogs, you get onions and relish on request. A quarter-pound dog is $2.45, and toppings (chili, coleslaw, sauerkraut, bacon and more) are an additional quarter each.
As for our final selections, mine was a Five Alarm burger, a one-third pound hunk of meat infused with hot spices and jalapenos. Then, just to make sure you don't miss the heat, it's topped with house marinated hot peppers, pepper jack cheese and jalapenos and priced at a reasonable $6.75 with one side. I nixed the veggie of the day -- stewed tomatoes and zucchini -- in favor of onion rings.
I can count on Jack for consistency when it comes to food, and this place was no exception; he picked the Philly Cheese Steak (you can get it with chicken instead of beef). It's topped by grilled onions, green peppers, mushrooms and provolone and served on a toasted hoagie roll for $6.75 -- he chose cole slaw as his side.
The Chicken and Greens sandwich was Jerry's pick of the litter: A 6-ounce chicken breast with homemade Italian greens, roasted red peppers and provolone on grilled Italian bread for $7.45. Barb opted for the Eggplant Parmesan sandwich with hand-sliced eggplant rolled in a blend of Panko and Italian seasoned bread crumbs and layered on a hoagie bun. Then it's topped with provolone, sauce and shredded mozzarella; with her choice of sweet potato fries for a side, the whole thing cost $6.75.
All of the sandwiches were wonderful, in part because of the bread (Barb called her bun "amazing," in fact). When we raved about it to our server, she told us it comes from the Orlando Baking Co. in Youngstown. Barb also loved the sweet potato fries, noting that they were thicker with "more potato" than most she's had. Along the same lines, she was delighted that Heinz ketchup is served here -- it's the only kind she likes (and yes, she really can tell the difference if blindfolded)!
The hot peppers on and in my burger were both plentiful and on the hot side, even for someone like me who has a cast-iron stomach. The homemade ones packed the most punch heat-wise, but the flavor was a bit too vinegary for me to want them as a full side dish. On the sandwich, though, they were delicious.
As I said before, we definitely plan to return here just because the food is great, the prices are reasonable and the decor is just plain fun. But there's another reason - to try one of the hand-dipped milkshakes that come in several flavors ($3.95). Milkshakes are a diner "must" and I absolutely love them, but I simply had no room to fit even part of one in my stomach on this visit.
On the fun side, too, is the music. After we'd placed our orders, we couldn't resist browsing through the golden oldies on the "pages" of the juke box at our table -- and that led to wondering if each of us chose two favorites to play for 25 cents, would there be any duplicates since the four of us are quite close in age? In fact, there was only one; both Jerry and I picked "All I Have to Do is Dream" by the Everly Brothers. So I switched one of my choices to Pat Benetar's "Hit Me With Your Best Shot."
Other picks were "Hang on Sloopy" by the McCoys and "Johnny B. Goode" by Chuck Berry (Jack), "Night Moves" by Bob Seger and "Temptation Eyes" by The Grass Roots (Barb). Jerry's second pick was "Sugar Shack" by Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs and mine was "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynrd Skynyrd. For a quarter apiece, it was pretty cheap entertainment and great accompaniment to our meals.
After we'
d finished, we walked outside to wander around the grounds and pop into a really neat antique shop in a former train depot (a whole train and related memorabilia stand nearby as well). The collection of old steamer trunks is worthwhile in and of itself, and we look forward to coming back to see what we missed the first time around (right after we sample those milkshakes at the diner)!If you go:
EMERALD DINER
825 N. Main St.
Hubbard, Ohio 44425
(330) 534-7600
Open Monday through Thursday 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 7 a.m. to midnight; Sunday 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
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