Dilly Diner

Today, with the temps in the mid sixty’s, our trio of “Fast-Breakers” ventured to 2nd Street and South Elgin Avenue to visit the Dilly Diner. The Diner, originally Dilly Deli remodeled and expanded into a full service restaurant earlier his year. As we approached the entrance on the corner, we were hoping there might be some outdoor tables so we could enjoy the balmy fall like weather during the third week of August.

We settled for a comfortable indoor setting. Upon entering the Diner, we noticed the active bakery counter on our left and wonderful in-house sweet creations. Signage on the wall told of ingredients purchased from local farmers and merchants and served with various menu items.

We were impressed with the wait staff and local manager who provided beverages, answered questions, and provided excellent service during our meals.

First glance of the menu offerings were somewhat different than our members normally read for what we may call a “traditional breakfast.” This breakfast menu has five categories: Savory, Sweet, A La Carte, Bakery, and A La Mode. Featured items are included in the Savory and Sweet offerings.

One of our members decided to begin all of our meals with the Daily Donut selection from the bakery. The fresh cooked donuts were frosted with sweet icing accompanied by raspberry and blackberry candies.

We ordered two items from the Savory menu and one from the Sweet menu:

Savory
The two egg breakfast included two eggs, our member asked for poached, breakfast potatoes, ( grilled red potatoes, sweet red peppers and seasonings) Fassler Hall breakfast sausage patties and a biscuit with pepper gravy. The sausage was mildly spiced, biscuit warm and fresh and the poached eggs just a little past medium.
The Frittata of the Day was cooked with Tomatoes, Spinach, Swiss cheese and Avocado. The side accompaniment was a fresh fruit cup. The Frittata was a bit bland and needed something to give it a kick.
Sweet
The third breakfast was called Peach Cakes. The short stack of cakes covered a large dinner plate topped with peach compote, vanilla crème anglais (English crème) and brown sugar crumbles. This was accompanied with a beaker of maple syrup. Our member was unable to complete the meal because of its size and coupled with an earlier sweet donut, both contributed to just push back from the table. All of our meals were enjoyable with some very minor critiques. We gave the Dilly Diner a “B” grading because we felt the breakfast menu could include some traditional offerings. While there is an A La Carte portion of the menu, that mentions cereal, toast, jam and meats, we think it would add to the menu by featuring a combination of the basics.