Great little hometown Diner. When we first arrived to the outside--well, the name Rusty Lantern…read moreseemed appropriate--half expected to hear a gate creaking and slamming in the wind, and see a hitching rail for your horse. That made us a little nervous, but also so excited . Once inside that nervousness is quickly replaced by friendly people. You can immediately feel that it's a real local favorite. Everybody's eyes are on you when you enter, but that is definitely not to make you uncomfortable. They are smiling and welcoming. You're offered boisterous warm greetings, with that welcome home feel. With stools at the counter, some very big tables and chairs sitting off to the left for big parties to sit at, and booths for the typical size party, the seating was perfectly spaced and comfortable. It truly allowed for tables of regulars to intermingle. It was definitely rustic, folksy and the people were all friendly regulars like they were co-owners. The artwork on the wall was just so--cow hand and ranch family murals. I truly expected John Wayne any moment to come drawling in and tell me, "I think you need to sit down, partner."
We chose a booth, sat down, and were greeted quickly by the most humble and sweet young lady who was our--No, THE server approaching us very quickly to take our drink order, and explain the small menu to us. Yes the menu was very basic. A rainbow of colorful chalk writing garnished in an invented style, a board displayed behind the counter, which consists of an evolving menu of fresh made dessert type foods that weren't on the menu --the menu lived. The small basic menu was one page--That was it. Having mostly the basics to choose from, I chose a nice sausage patty, and three scrambled eggs with cheese and onions. We were half expecting half effort food--boy were we wrong.
I also couldn't help myself I had to order one of these fresh made goods displayed on that board. Knowing that it was a side to my already ordered dish, I asked my server. "How big is a slice of banana cream pie, is it a good side." Lol..." Yeah it's not that big" well I should have known by the Texas feel of the local little diner. When the cream pie came out I could have eaten it for both breakfast and lunch and been plenty full lol. It occupied my every thought, with fresh bananas and cream, a smothering of whipped cream over the top, and a perfect semi-sweet crumbly crust, I devoured it quickly! The fresh cracked eggs, not overly greasy from frying up on an overworked grill, and the flavorful sausage combined with what seemed to be hand grated potato hash browns, mixed with onions cheese and spices. This was a classic downhome cooked meal.
It was easy to tell why the place was filling up with customers quickly. It didn't get too crowded, but the patrons definitely tripled by the time we were finished with our meal. The server was friendly and handled all of the orders expertly, and lol, her little boy brought the dishes out to the table for you. It started to feel more like eating at a B&B. And the food is amazing--you have to go here. That board that I was telling you about, more fresh made foods were being written on the board while we were eating --the menu lived. This was an amazing experience, with rustic artwork all over the walls, friendly people willing to scoot over so that we can take pictures. We will definitely be back here. When you're in Idaho Falls, or even if you live here, take a 3 minute trip up 20 to visit this wonderful diner. I promise you won't regret it. I was having a little bit of a hard time time coming up with this review because I definitely wanted to make this a John Wayne movie lol. Thank you for reading, I hope it wasn't too scattered and I was able to do this establishment justice.
