One of my readers recently suggested I write a post on the best dive-style breakfasts. Why not? Well, it’ll involve eating a whole lot of breakfasts in a whole lot of diners. Where to start? Let’s pick a local...
One of my readers recently suggested I write a post on the best dive-style breakfasts. Why not? Well, it’ll involve eating a whole lot of breakfasts in a whole lot of diners. Where to start?
Let’s pick a local hero — the Tastee Diner.
The Tastee Diner has sat at 7731 Woodmont Avenue since 1955, right in the Woodmont Triangle, among high-end restaurants like the Salt Line and the Woodmont Grill. When you think of diners in Bethesda you think of places like Paul French Bakery. Diners and the like used to be common in Bethesda, but most sold out and were plowed under for high-rise office buildings and condos. The owners of the Tastee Diner didn’t sell, and most of the day it lies in the shadow of the high rise that coveted the space. That’s why I called it heroic.
The Tastee Diner remains a monument to the Old Bethesda, inside as well as out. Note the art moderne touches.
It’s a long space, with wings on both sides of the central diner counter. Diners were attracted to both wings on the first cold day in a while, as diners wanted to be as far from the door as possible.
I toughed it out comfortably in the central section and ordered two eggs over easy with scrapple, white toast, and a side order of home fries.
The Tastee Diner isn’t stingy. That’s a large serving of scrapple and a nice pile of home fries. I’m relatively new to scrapple so I often get it on the rare occasions I eat breakfast out. I know that many people would never eat scrapple because of its historical association with offal, especially liver. Today, however, liver is either a negligible element — less than in a typical pâté de campagne — or missing entirely. The flavor comes from the sage, savory, thyme, and pepper, and is very close to a good country sausage. This had a very pleasant and accessible flavor and a very nice crust that’s a big part of the attraction of scrapple. You may prefer their bacon, ham, or sausage, or their corned beef hash, pork chop, or steak, to go with your eggs. They all appeal to me, and scrapple is certainly worth a try.
The eggs were cooked beautifully, and the toast arrived with the butter melting as it should. The home fries, in addition to being abundant, were crusty, not at all greasy, and retained a real potato flavor. A little salt and pepper, perhaps a stray bit of egg yolk with a hint of Texas Pete, and they’re wonderful.
Besides good food, the Tastee Diner offers a friendly environment. There was lots of talk among the staff and diners, bemoaning the latest price increase (PBR up a buck!) amid much general banter. I’ll sit at the counter next time, rather than isolated in a both.
I don’t get a big breakfast often. Usually it’s just cereal and fruit and coffee or, as often as not, just coffee, black. There are, however, few things better than a good breakfast, and the Tastee Diner is just the place to have it, any time of the day. Go ahead, put down that bran muffin and give breakfast at the Tastee Diner a try.
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