About a month back, the Mister and I celebrated a year of wedded bliss! Thank you, thank you. With bustling lives of working in higher education, having teenagers in the house and being grandparents, we knew that a big getaway was out of the question. (It’s awesome to feel needed!) However, we still wanted to steal away for a night or two.
After picking and discounting a number of locations, it dawned on us! Phoenixville, Pennsylvania! I know, I know…where? Do you remember the scene from the Blob where everyone is running from a theater? That theater is on Bridge Street in Phoenixville! One block away we found ourselves at the cozy Mainstay Inn.
We dined on all of the local fare and it dawned on us that this would be our first opportunity to review a diner outside of New Jersey! A quick Google search revealed two diners in the area. We chose the farther of the two due to ease of travel in an unfamiliar town and ended up at the Spring-Ford Diner in Spring City, Pennsylvania.
It was the first diner we’ve been to in a shopping center setting. We went into the foyer and were greeted by happy looking Valentine’s Decorations on the door and coloring book pages taped to walls of their younger dining guests. We actually loved this! It definitely gave a hometown feel to it. It was very busy, but it was Sunday morning. Even so, we only waited for about 2 minutes and were shown to a booth.
Our waitress greeted us almost immediately; we ordered our coffees and with a smile, she headed off to get them. As we looked around, a younger gentleman came by with water, also gave us a smile and headed off to care for other patrons. The inside didn’t necessarily have a diner look to it, but it definitely had a diner feel. There was a small counter and every employee was constantly moving.
She came back with our coffees (Lacas brand) and after giving us a little additional time to choose, we settled. I ordered the NY strip steak that came with 3 eggs (ordered over medium), toast (rye) and home fries (plain). Joe ordered the sausage gravy over biscuits, and home fries. He opted to have his potatoes “loaded”, which added onion, cheese, green peppers and bacon.
We looked around a bit and saw a conglomeration of Valentine’s Day, Winter and Christmas decorations around the room. Strange enough, that in any other place, my reaction might have been, “What the heck?” At the Spring Ford Diner, it was charming, cute and funny. There were also small memorial plaques at each booth for patrons that have enjoyed the diner and passed on. They are obviously handmade and a beautifully simple tribute to its customers.
Part of our food order came pretty quickly. It seems that your meal is served as it is finished to ensure maximum temperature when served. While I appreciate the gesture, it was just odd as that hasn’t happened before. We opted to wait for the other parts as we wanted to make sure to get a photo for you before digging in. The wait wasn’t long at all.
We took the requisite photos and dug in. The NY strip steak was cooked exactly as ordered as were my eggs. The toast was also well buttered. Both of our dishes needed a tad bit a salt. But considering the older age of most of the clientele, that was almost expected. Joe’s smothered home fries were even more delicious than pictured. The bacon was crisp, not greasy and all of the different flavors meshed perfectly. Not one flavor out powered another. It was very impressive.
Throughout the meal, we were cared for without being interrupted. Coffee mugs were refilled by the owner who personally checked on our meal, and the check was promptly brought. We then learned our server’s name was Ann.
We checked out and noticed a very unique sign on the counter advertising specials for patrons over 90 and 100 years old. Just as we figured, they cater to an older clientele. We paid the check, we paid a compliment and went on our merry way. It’s definitely worth the stop! Find them online with their website at www.springforddiner.com or on Facebook!
Until next time, happy eating!
Diner Nation 