Fred's Diner is a sparkling diamond of a place that so many locals I mentioned it to were still…read moreunaware of. That's mostly due to location. It's less than a 10 minute drive from downtown Akron but it's off the beaten path. All locals (except me) in here. When I went (10AM Friday) the place was almost full, and I was dining alone, so I sat at the counter, happily next to the kitchen. To look at the kitchen was like looking inside a bee hive, bustling with activity but barely a sound. I could just make out what was being calmly stated "2 Silver Dollar, Salmon, Country Fried, 2 Over Easy..." It was fun to watch, but what was important was the output. It took just over 6 minutes from the time I order until it was sitting in front of me, and everything was perfect! The waitresses were so efficient. I saw my order hit the window and in about 12 seconds it was delivered. They were so customer focused, they were (jokingly) fighting over refilling my tea. When I was done and paid for I waited outside for Uber to pick me up (3 min). I looked back on what I'd just experienced, and snapped a picture of the two parking lots of cars for Fred's Diner. I counted and there were 32 cars at Fred's. OK maybe 10 were staff so 22 cars for customers, let's say on average there were 2 customers per car (remember I walked here so no car for me). By my calculation, Fred's was feeding 44 people every 30 minutes or so. No wonder they're only open 4 days a week and only for breakfast - lunch. I calculate they might serve 3200 meals in those 4 days, and then take 3 days off to get ready for the next week.
I love this place. Wish I lived here so I could come more often.
