The Red Arrow Diner - 19

Date: 9/25/10

Restaurant: Red Arrow Diner   
Address: 63 Union Square   
City: Milford   
Phone: 249-9222

Web site: www.redarrowdiner.com   

Breakfast Hours: 24/7       

The day after Sven and I went to the Red Arrow Diner a friend of mine took me out for a belated birthday brunch. If you are ever in the Greenfield, MA area and are looking for some really good food, check out Hope & Olive. Out-of-this-world delicious! Well, thanks to Sarah and Hope & Olive, I was able to forget about my food experience at the Red Arrow.

Eggs **
Underdone. 
       
   
Potatoes *
Kind: Home Fries
Terrible. No seasoning of any kind. Way underdone even after Sven requested that they be cooked well done. Why doesn't anyone get it? It is baffling.   
   
Toast *
Kind: Sven - Cinnamon Raisin, Olga - Wheat   
Homemade? No
Tasted as though it had been pre-toasted and then just sat around waiting for someone to order it. The slices were tiny, cold, dry (even though it had been buttered) and kind of spongy.
  
   
SERVER RECOMMENDATION
Our server wasn't very helpful with recommendations. All she did was point out the "Queen's" breakfast, which basically consisted of eggs, meat, pancakes or french toast, potatoes... that kind of thing.   

Red Arrow Omelet w/some sort of "cheese" sauce.

SVEN'S BREAKFAST * Red Arrow Omelet w/Pan Fries and Toast
The omelet consisted of ham (which was pretty good...oven-cooked, not canned), mushrooms (fresh), onions, green peppers, tomatoes and cheddar. The omelet came with a "cheese" sauce on the top. We aren't sure if this is what they were calling the "cheddar". It was kind of gross. Basically it just wasn't good.

Veggie Hashbrown Special = blah

OLGA'S BREAKFAST ** Veggie Hashbrown Special with 2 Eggs and Toast
The hasbrowns were undercooked. There were a few crispy pieces, but not many. The vegetables were decent and it was blanketed with cheddar. Real cheese, not the sauce like on Sven's. The eggs, which I ordered over-easy, were underdone. The toast was horrible. There was absolutely no flavor to the meal. I kept adding more and more salt, hoping for just a little bit of flavor to hit my tongue.

SERVICE ****
Other than having to ask twice for water (a big pet peeve of mine) they got the job done.

DECOR ****
The outside of the diner was really cool looking. The inside would have been much better if were able to see beyond all the marketing graphics. It seemed too commercial, which took away from the uniqueness of a diner.
   
NOTES
It was busy, lively place. The was quite a bit of franchise and merchandise promotion, which along with all the graphics, and the bad food left us feeling pretty disappointed about the place. However, we were SO happy to be having breakfast together, that it just didn't matter!

SVEN'S TAKE    

So, Olga and I went to the Red Arrow Diner — did you know you can buy a franchise for this place? The diner used to be a real authentic local place to eat, and then it was purchased by the original Red Arrow Diner in Manchester, NH as the first franchise expansion. Apparently this place is frequented by Adam Sandler, and you can actually get a franchise. The menu looked enticing, especially the part where they tell you that you can get a franchise. I guess anyone can eat here, and you can just purchase a plate of eggs and potatoes and bacon; but if you want to get a whole restaurant out of the deal, they are more than willing to sell you a franchise. The food sucked, but I hear the franchise opportunity is really amazing. Our breakfast was a little more expensive than I would have expected from a local place, but not as expensive as buying the whole franchise. Do you think all of this talk about franchise opportunities is annoying? So did Sven and Olga.