Diner’s Grill
In North American a diner is typically a small roadside restaurant with a long counter and booths. The Diner’s Grill (405 Turenne St.) has neither a long counter nor booths but it does serve up authentic diner-style, from scratch, comfort food and it does so very, very well.
Located in the middle of the St. Boniface Industrial area, it took Siri to help us successfully navigate to the spot. Since my daughter-in-law and I had a three year old and a one year old with us, our server (who I assumed was Josh, one of the owners) immediately gave us a children’s menu to order for the little ones.
Delightfully wholesome selections like a grilled cheese sandwich (with Bothwell cheddar no less) and a hearty chicken noodle soup arrived soon thereafter.
The former was ooey and gooey with crispy edges, just as it should be and the latter was full of chicken, herbs and rotini noodles.
Even the child’s portion was more than generous and fed both little ones with left overs.
My DIL chose the Reuben with a side of fries and I the crispy chicken sandwich with a side of jalapeño corn chowder.
Oh my goodness, the Reuben was absolutely amazing. For one it was enormous and even though we were splitting it, my DIL brought ¼ of it home. It had the standard corned beef, Swiss cheese and sauerkraut but it was the from scratch remoulade sauce. Don’t confuse their French remoulade sauce with the Creole remoulade sauce that is popular in Louisiana. Creole style remoulade sauce is red and usually quite spicy. French style remoulade sauce is milder and can be somewhat tart from the capers and pickles that might be added. It offset the rest of the sandwich ingredients perfectly. Beware though; it was so juicy it would have run down our arms if we hadn’t utilized a stack of napkins to sop up the excess. I have always been a fan of Reuben sandwiches and from now on, I will always compare them to the Diner’s Grill perfect sandwich. The French fries were a bit overcooked but we kept picking at them anyway. The youngest would dip them in ketchup, lick off the ketchup and then dip them again.
The crispy chicken sandwich that I shared was stellar: generous, perfectly cooked and crispy as promised. It was topped with apple cider vinegar cole slaw on a pretzel bun. So too, the jalapeño corn chowder that we loved but also could not finish.
If you have a big appetite and aren’t concerned about your waistline, you will love this authentic place. Here’s a scoop: they are opening another restaurant called The Tipsy Cow on Portage Ave. this summer.
The Diner’s Grill is owned by Joshua Mesojednik and Yang Meng. They are open for Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner and also have Dessert, Kids’ and Take Out Menus available. Their hours are Mon – Thurs: 7am – 3pm, Friday: 6:30am – 8pm, Saturday: 8am – 3pm, Sunday & Holiday Weekends: Closed. They are wheelchair accessible.
Watch for Food Musings every second Wednesday in your copy of The Headliner, The Herald, The Lance, The Metro, The Sou’wester and The Times.
Kath’s quote: “According to Omaha lore, the combination of rye bread, corned beef, Swiss cheese, and sauerkraut had been dreamed up in 1925 to feed participants in a late-night poker game at the Blackstone Hotel in downtown Omaha by a local grocer, Reuben Kulakofsky. Charles Schimmel, the hotel’s owner, was so taken with the sandwich that he put it on the hotel restaurant menu, designated by its inventor’s name. Fern Snider, a one-time waitress at the Blackstone, entered the Reuben in a national sandwich competition in 1956; her entry won–hence one of the earliest pieces of documentation for the name of the sandwich, an OED cite from 1956 from the food services journal “Institutions“. -Jim Rader
Love never fails.
