Betsy's Diner

Betsy's Diner

Address: 457 Main St, Falmouth, MA 02540

1. Initial impression of convenience, parking, and location.

• We took a couple loops around the lot to understand it. A three point turn was necessary to park in a diagonal spot on the street side.
• We didn’t see it until researching the restaurant afterwards but there appears to be plenty of parking in the rear.

2. Wait time to be greeted, seated, and atmosphere.

• The greeting and seating took place as soon as we walked in the front doors. It’s almost as though they watched us drive through the parking lot three times before parking.
• The feeling of the restaurant was a typical old diner set up, emphasis on old. The tables and chairs were all mismatched, and definitely showed their age.

3. Server introductions, impressions and attentiveness.

• Is too attentive a thing? If so, this server fits that to a ‘T’. We were provided menus and coffee when we sat, and just as we had finished taking off our coats and other winter accessories, she returned to ask if we were ready to order.
• The coffee was refilled often, almost too often. The lady had barely had two sips before it was refilled.
• We were provided the bill mere moments after being provided the food. Did they want us to leave?

4. Variety of menu options (too many/too little)

• The menu was a one pager, without much variety.

5. Menu highlights of uncommon items.

• Zip
• Nadda
• Nil
• Zero
• Did they even have pie?

6. Speed of food delivery, and first impressions of plating, initial aroma.

• The food delivery was almost too quick. Eggs certainly don’t take long, toast doesn’t take long, and likely the home fries had been made days before hand and were heated up to order. It still felt far too fast.
• Grease. That was the first impression. Glisteny greasy pile of grease.

• The gentleman ordered the western breakfast sandwich on a bagel (pronounced baygull). The waitress didn’t like the gents selection which worried him. She said it was on account of her distaste for peppers. He nervously stuck to his guns. Again, it arrived way too quickly.   Overall it wasn’t awful. The bagel was soft and dense. The sandwich wasn’t over loaded with ham, onions, and peppers. The American cheese was thick and gooey. The scrambled were constantly sliding off the cheese.  Like a dog in a bathtub they had to keep getting moved back. There were no additional sides offered and it was contemplated to add more. No more was needed. Full to the maximum. (Photo of food wasn’t captured. Too hungry. Sorry, that comes first.)

• The lady had one egg over easy with rye toast, sausage and home fries. The toast was mush, due to the copious amounts of butter that had been spread onto it. The egg was dripping with whatever it was cooked in (likely a butter flavoured oil of some sort) The sausages seem to have come from the same place that every breakfast restaurant gets their sausages from. The server had exclaimed that the home fries were the best thing there. If that is the case, I would suggest not trying anything else. These were nothing to post a status update on Facebook for. No so called ‘Food Porn’ here.

8. Value of product.

• The bill was inexpensive in comparison to some of the other locations we have been to, however, sometimes a deal is not worth the product you get for it.

9. Payment options.

• Cash and traveler’s cheques.

Overall Rating:  Meh.

Falmouth seems to be one of those places where if you live there, you never leave, and if you don’t live there, you never visit. If you do decide to take a trip down to Falmouth to visit Main Street, you can keep on going past Betsy’s diner, and you will not be missing anything.

Grumpy's Restaurant

Winter is a strange time on Cape Cod. All of the tourists have gone, a majority of the locals have fled to their winter homes in Florida, and often times businesses close, or partially close their doors. As such, we ended up driving to a total of four locations. Two were closed, one was super shady and reminded the lady of the nasty cafe she worked at for a time, so it was decided that today's breakfast would be at a location that has always been on the back burner, due to the fact that it is a favourite of Aaron's.

Address:  1408 Route 6A East Dennis, MA

Website: Grumpy's Restaurant

1. Initial impression of convenience, parking, and location.

• Two connected parking areas are available. In front is a paved lot and to the side is compressed dirt parking adjacent to a marsh.  Today there were ample spaces available although on a weekend or holiday one may have to take a couple spins around before settling.
• Located near the intersection of Route 6A and Route 134.

2. Wait time to be greeted, seated, and atmosphere.

• Once through the front doors we encountered the daily muffin selection. A quick glance and we were welcomed and seated immediately.
• The majority of seating options were wooden chair and table options. Two counter sections flanked the kitchen entrance. There was an aisle of half booth/half chair seating down the initial middle section of the restaurant.
• Seasonal lights hung from the cross beams.

3. Server introductions, impressions and attentiveness.

• We were greeted quickly with coffee.
• Our server kept us up-to-date with her time and when she will be back.
• Coffee refills, check-ins and offers for to-go boxes were on point.

4. Variety of menu options (too many/too little)

• The menu has three pages of items for breakfast, there are also chalk boards on the walls showing specials.
• There are all of your typical choices here, pancakes, eggs with toast, omelettes, French toast, waffles. However, there are numerous different types of these available for you to choose from.

5. Menu highlights of uncommon items.

• Oatmeal Waffles
• Meatloaf Benedict
• Chili Omelette

6. Speed of food delivery, and first impressions of plating, initial aroma.

• The food arrived fairly quickly. The meal arrived shortly after the delivery of the gents grilled muffin.
• The portions were large. The plates were full.

7. TASTE!

• The coffee was typical restaurant style, it was not watered down and actually had flavour. It was replenished at just the right times.

• The gentleman selected the chili and sour cream omelette with a corn muffin appetizer. A southern taste with a egg blanket. The chili was delicious. If there was one note to make it would be to go light on the sour cream or ask for it on the side. It masked the taste of the delicious chili. The corn muffin sopped up the meat juices and all was right.

• The lady decided on a Spanish Omelette, which contained bell peppers, onions, cheddar cheese and salsa. On the side, some raisin toast as a nice little treat. Now, often times salsa in restaurants is pretty well on the same level as tomato sauce. The salsa was surprisingly flavourful, and had a hint of spice to it (this lady can take some heat, and salsa is generally not served spicy anywhere) The omelette was ginormous. The lady would not be surprised if it had it’s own gravitational pull. It had the right amount of veggie to egg ratio, and the cheese was not overwhelming. Often times things can be smothered in cheese to a point where it is off putting. The raisin bread was your standard Pepperidge Farm with too much butter. The lady managed half-way through here omelette before she could not take another bite.

8. Value of product.

• The prices here are very fair for the amount of food that you receive. The portions are what one may consider to be “American”.

9. Payment options.

• All of them

Overall Rating: Grumpy’s is a staple for locals here on Cape, and is busy no matter what time of year it is. If there is nowhere to park, it is worth driving around until you find a spot.

We will be back. He will probably be back 30-40 times next year. Hold a parking place.