492 5th Avenue (between 11th and 12th Streets)
F/M/R to 4th and 9th; B63
Reviewed by Sarah D. Bunting
Fast, cheap, and under control.
The Order:
Greek omelet with rye toast and home fries; coffee; tomato juice.
The Food:
Perfectly adequate. Nothing special, but nothing notably terrible. I have a couple of minor quibbles -- overcooked egg (which I prefer to the alternative), and a weirdly hashy chop to the home fries, whose lack of onion or pepper left them pretty dry -- but the plates arrived to the table in under five minutes. This is somewhat unusual for a weekday-mid-morning order, when the kitchen may have gone on partial break between rushes, but it's awesome.
Very good toast, not overbuttered.
Food condiments scored well: unwatered ketchup in the gold-standard glass bottle, salt and pepper that dispensed well. Alas, coffee condiments did poorly, with cohered boulders of sugar in the dispenser, and only Sweet 'n' Low on offer as an alternative. The half-and-half arrived cold and fresh, though.
No register mints. Boo.
The Drinks:
Great coffee -- right on the line between "not quite strong enough to have any effect except psychological" and "so high-test that it takes three Splendae to get it down."
The tomato juice presented a problem, literally -- it came to the table sans saucer and doily. I don't so much care to have it dressed up, given that it came from a can, but I'd like someplace to put my lemon slice.
The Service:
Prompt and friendly. No wait to order, no wait for the check.
Tiny and slapped-together. The PRS seems like more of a takeout joint, though; the "décor" is weird even for a diner -- framed pages from National Geographic's "lions" issue next to the specials board, but then long stretches of wall with nothing on them at all -- I suspect that most patrons don't stick around long enough to make it worth it. (Two of the counter seats have been removed to make room for a newspaper dispenser, which is a cool idea and also indicates that takeout traffic is the diner's focus.)
But it's clean, and doesn't try to be anything more than it is.
Miscellany:
The poker pit at Caesar's in AC doesn't have this many security cameras. Not sure what this diner's management is expecting to happen, but I guess one register holdup is all the motivation you need to spring for the deluxe package…? I kind of want them to put that on the menu as a subhed. "Park Slope Restaurant: We Get Robbed, They'll Catch The Guy. Also: Bacon!"
Overall, it's a good spot -- not the best food you've ever had, not the fanciest surroundings you've ever seen, but it's a diner, and it does what diners are supposed to do, get the food out fast and decorate with lots of chrome. Nice people, good prices, no misguided stabs at veal on the specials board.
Solid B.
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