Pardes, World's ONLY Bicyclist Restaurant Critic
The World's ONLY 64 year old Bicyclist Restaurant Critic
Restuarant Reviewed: Eagle Diner, Newark, Delaware
Pardes is perhaps the world's only bicylist restaurant critic. Her mission is to find the most bike-friendly restaurants who also have the best food.
Today, on a 13 mile easy-paced first long bike ride in months, Pardes packed her panniers with cameras and water bottles for her plight of finding the world's best bouillabaisse.
Bouillabaisse is what she craves when hungry. Though she has yet to find the best bouillabaisse, or for that matter ANY bouillabaisse in Newark, Delaware, that does not deter her from the thrill of the hunt.
After a slingshot run down and back the Hall Trail to take photos for an upcoming family bike ride she is leading, Pardes pulls into the Eagle Diner parking lot.
Strike 1: NO bicycle rack. How odd that a restaurant catering to a college community does not have a bicycle rack for the many hundreds of bicycles used by students.
Undaunted, Pardes locks her bike to a jigsaw puzzle of water and gas lines next to the diner. A chef is leaning against the back door smoking a cigarette and smiling at her. Pardes takes this opportunity to pre-order her dinner. "Please sir, will you grill me a sirloin steak so rare that it will make the Public Health inspector faint?"
He laughs, stomps out his cigarette and goes inside. Pardes is sure it will be a memorable meal. Maybe not bouillabaisse, but the next best thing. RARE steak!
Eagle Diner is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and is located on Elkton Road directly across from the University of Delaware.
The clientele is skewed to both ends of the age spectrum with few age points in the middle. The burgers, shakes, and gigantic breakfasts lure the college kids while the "Mini Senior Meals" lure the well-matured customers.
The prices are reasonable and the waitstaff is friendly and efficient.
Pardes instructs her waitress to make sure the chef knows that she really does want her steak as rare as possible. She also asks if the manager is available so she can let him know that Elderberry Bike Riders will be stopping by weekly for an evening Dutch Treat dinner after a few hours of biking. Also, Pardes wants to borrow a menu from the manager to scan for her blog.
Strike 2: Though reminded two times by the waitress, the manager never came to speak to Pardes. Business much be very good to ignore future weekly visits by a bicycle group.
The steak arrives. Pardes' lips pucker in anticipation as she cuts into the steak.
Strike 3: The steak is cooked well-done and oozes an ocean of murky brown juice. The potatoes are watery and lifeless. The corn is tasteless. The one ice cube in the iced tea melted thirty seconds after arrival.
To be fair, Eagle Diner is, after all, a diner and a customer would be ill-advised to expect a "Firebirds" grade steak. However, neither should a customer be led to believe the kitchen could produce at least a passable version of a rate steak.
Final Judgment on Eagle Diner on the 1-10 bicycle spoke scale.
Bicycle Rack Parking:...................................................................0 spokes
Waitstaff service:........................................................................7 spokes
Quality of sirloin steak:................................................................2 spokes
The possibility of Eagle Diner being a regular bicyclist's stop:..........0 spokes
............................................................................Average 2.25 spokes out of 10
Without a shred of bitterness, Pardes amply tips the waitress and goes out into the evening with the hope that perhaps tomorrow, there will be the best bouillabaisse on her horizon.
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Picasso's St. Charles, MO
Picasso's Coffee is an independent coffee shop in Historic Downtown St. Charles, across from Momentum Cycles. Along the Katy Trail, Missouri River and the Lewis & Clark trail, it's a hot spot on for cyclists. (We prefer Saturdays, so we can also partake in the Farmer's Market). They have excellent coffee--I have a handle bar bag, just so I can take home a pound of their espresso beans. On weekends, they also make omelettes and waffles for breakfast. I recommend the blueberry smoothie and an omelette to share with a friend. They recently added 2 bike racks (on the far left)--there are 9 bicycles in this pic.
