Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Georgetown Dinette

Revisiting your childhood hangouts is one of the best experiences in your adult life. Whether it's going back to your original home, old school, or in this case your after school eating spot.

My recent adventures took me to The Georgetown Dinette which was my elementary school meet up spot. Located on the northern end of Georgetown this divy diner has been serving simple cuisine for over 25 years. The restaurant is owned by a Emmy (pronounced Amy) and Harry, an eccentric Korean couple whose personalties are worth the visit alone.


Every day after school bell rang me and my group of friends would run the hundred feet or so to the door in an attempt to quench our limitless appetites. Usually it was an order of salt and pepper with ketchup which was topped with pipping hot french fries or a steak an cheese. Other times I remember getting in early and ordering some breakfast.

Every time we visited we were greeted by Emmy who had a unique nickname for every one of us. I loved this place so much so that I walked a mile or so every week when I moved on to middle school. But as time passed I didn't have the opportunity to visit as often as I wanted.

(Steak & Cheese)

My current job has taken me to this historic neighborhood so it has been my primary mission to eat and blog about every place there. After a couple of months I asked myself, what other places do I have to try? At that point it hit me immediately, I need to visit Emmy again. I felt a bit embarrassed that I had overlooked this place.

I walked in and was greeted by Emmy who paused for a second and said, "Hi son, I remember you. You used to come in a long time ago, you used to be a fat boy. You are really skinny now." I couldn't help but laugh that she remembered me after my 10 year absence. I said yes, it's me. Can I have my regular? She said oh the steak and cheese with crispy french fries. I said, yes ma'am.

So I sat there with a coworker and devoured my juicy, cheesy sandwich which sent me back to my young days. The fries are old school diner style, crispy and extra salty which is exactly how I like them. The meal was so good that I came back for the next three days.

On the second day I ordered a bacon cheeseburger which unfortunately was not as good as the steak and cheese. On my last day I decided to go for their egg salad which was on par. After every visit I conversed with Emmy mainly about our current lives with a few stories of the past sprinkled in.

(Bacon Cheeseburger)

It is almost shocking to me that the Georgetown neighborhood association would let such an eye sore continue to stay open. It is a testament to their impact on the neighborhood that they are still operating. The place is exactly as I remember it when I was 13 years old. It's a hole in the wall with three lunch tables, two soda refrigerators and one of the simplest menus you can find. The food is all purchased wholesale so there are no "fresh" or "organic" meals to be found here, just plain and simple greasy American cuisine.

All in all The Georgetown Dinette is a solid venue to go for dirt cheap diner food in this neighborhood. Meals will cost you at the most $8-9 but most meals are cheaper than that. They only accept cash and seating is very limited. Don't accept to be blown away by the cuisine, but if you like greasy take out then I would definitely give this a shot.

No comments:

Post a Comment