Editor Pick
Great Reputation, So-So Service
- November 14, 2008
- Rated 2 of 5 by
callen60 from Ozarks, Missouri
I love diners. Growing up in Michigan, they were part of an America I’d read about, but never got to experience. Eggs & hashbrowns, pie, a cheeseburger, and fries, meatloaf with mashed potatoes and gravy: I think they all taste better in a diner, preferably with a cup of joe or a vanilla coke. They were a staple in northeast Philly, and I ventured out from my Center City habits now and then during my time in grad school.
For a town of 350, Grand Marais has a surprising number of attractions. In addition to the natural setting and the National Lakeshore, there’s a maritime museum, the world’s only Pickle Barrel home (now a museum), a number of arts and crafts options (largely based around the latter), and the West Bay Diner, known surprisingly far and wide for big breakfasts, big cookies, and more.
Even more than the nearby Lake Superior Brewing Company, the West Bay is a rat’s nest of rooms. The front is an authentic 1949 Paramount Diner, which has gradually moved west and north from an earlier location in northeast Philadelphia to Grand Rapids, and then across the Mackinac Bridge to Grand Marais. Behind the dining car is an add-on room crammed full of tables, postcard racks, shelves of cooking supplies and souvenirs for sale, and books everywhere.
As a combination diner and bakery, it seemed a perfect place for breakfast. But after being seated, we waited and waited and waited for our order to be taken. And then waited and waited and waited for our food to arrive. Checking in with our server didn’t appear to make any difference. We felt the morning slipping away, our kids slipping into grumpiness, and Mom and Dad falling in right behind them. Our coffee cups had been refilled several times, so I was rapidly becoming overcaffeinated.
By the time the food arrived, it needed to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience to turn our mood around. It was good, but not that good. After another 15-minute wait for our check, we were in no mood to hang around.
I’m hoping our experience was unusual. This place has a lot of things going for it, and it can’t possibly stay open if it runs this way year-round.
From journal Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore