My boyfriend and I craved a burger and chips of New Years day. Being vegetarian, this meant we had to find a place which was open which served veggie burgers. Difficult task in France... After a few disappointing inquiries, we found out that Emily's diner was open AND it offered veggie burgers. The 2.5 rating on Facebook was quite worrying though.
We decided to give it a try anyway. The setting was extremely convincing; the country music, cheap lights, plastic booth seats, and memorabilia from a nostalgic trip back in time to the high point of route 66 made it seem quite American. On sale were also imported fruit loops, peanut butter cups and marshmallow spread, things you would expect from an American diner. The place screamed American capitalistic dream, with 6 sauce options on the table (barbeque, French and American mustard, mayonnaise, ketchup, hot sauce) and plastic laminated menus.
On offer were many burgers, many extras (like onion rings, chips, jalapeno poppers, nachos), milkshakes, and a large selection of American puddings, all at high prices though (cheesecake, carrot cake, chocolate cake, ice cream etc, all at 6 euros).
We both went for the veggie burger. The cheddar cheese on my partner's chips was clearly the American plastic type, though this was pretty authentic. I can imagine French people not liking this. According to the other reviews, the coleslaw which came on the plate was store bought, from Casino. For me, this is actually acceptable in an American fast food joint... The food is fast, simple and relatively unhealthy... It fills the fast food hole though.
The service was also fast and friendly, the waiter came and had a little chat to us, which was nice but not too invasive.
The price tag for the fast food was a little high, at 9.90 for a veggie burger with chips, but here in France I guess it's considered "ethnic" food, so it's more of a novelty, and thus I will be a little less critical concerning the price. read more