Finding myself more towards Central NY, I was shocked that I couldn't find a place that had good mix of positive reviews and served breakfast before 8AM. Then, coming to an intersection, I saw a sign for "Barb's Diner".
Hopeful, I looked it up, and found only a strange headshot of a young couple. On Google, though, I saw some reviews and most were positive. I pulled in the parking lot and noticed about 6 other vehicles, and I walked in. I kept an open mind even when I saw the "For Sale" sign in the window of the door.
Inside, there were tables and a good sized lunch counter with nicely padded stools. A group of 6 men seemed to be meeting for breakfast at a table. I sat at the counter, and a woman I assumed was the owner greeted me and asked me if I wanted coffee (yes) and brought a menu (fast). The menu had a variety of breakfast options, available until 11:00AM or so. I saw that sausage, egg, and cheese was available, but was offered on an English Muffin. I asked if they had hard rolls. They didn't, but they were willing to griddle a buttered bagel and put it on that. I also ordered a small tomato juice, which I was happy to see on the menu. I asked about home fries. Onions in them? If I would like. How are they cooked? On the griddle? They are deep fried OR they can be cooked on the griddle. In that case, yes please, griddled, and with onions.
I went to use the restroom, which was clean, and they had an old rotating cloth towel dispenser. It was also clean, and in good working order. Nice! Much better than throwing paper towels in a bin all of the time.
When I returned, only 2 minutes after I left the seat, my food showed up shortly after. It might have been 1-2 minutes. The food was piping hot, and it was fresh. I tested a home fried potato, which had an orange-red tinge (as did the onions), presumably from paprika. HOT! I didn't taste much seasoning, but I could tell there was almost no salt. This has become common, because of people whining about salt. All of those people need to back off. So I added salt and pepper. The flavor POPPED. Nicely seasoned, and just needed the salt to wake it up on the tongue. It's just the world we live in, same as for the onions. Better when cooked in from the start, but there will always be some 40 year old child who has a fit if they see onions in something. WAKE UP AND LIVE, I say to that poor, scared child in the body of an adult. Don't get me started on anchovies not being blended into Caesar salad dressing, because someone got squeamish when they found out the dressing they love has little fish in it.
Back to breakfast. I saw her take the Lender's style bagel out of the bag in a cooler when I ordered. Not ideal, but I don't think there are any fresh bagels in this part of the state. So it arrived as my sandwich, and I added salt and pepper before even trying. WOW! Fantastic! WOW! Hot... had to give it a moment. I didn't want to, because it was so delicious, mostly due to the superior flavor of the sausage patty. Bagel was griddled perfectly. Very neat and tidy presentation.
The woman who took care of me was very polite, refilled coffee regularly, and everything in this place looked spotless. Considering how dated this place is in terms of furnishings, you can tell it has always been cleaned well. Like the towel dispenser, they have taken excellent care of things.
This is not a place where you will get original creations per se. It's not a place that you would drive to as a destination. But it is a solid meal at a very reasonable price. They serve the customer efficiently, they are polite, and they don't dally. Every town should be so lucky as to have an establishment such as this. Sandwich, large portion of home fries, coffee, and tomato juice came to under $10. Very reasonable. read more