The food took a long time to cook. The cook is the owner (Rick? Didn’t ask.) and our server could have been working there since it opened.

The diner is very kid-friendly. The overstimulation of colour and multitude of things to grab onto and shake make this a memorable place to visit as a child. In fact, our tables were the horseshoe-shaped tabletops on top of book shelves bursting with magazines and colouring books. So basically, I get why people like this place. It’s been recommended to me several times, and had I come here as a child, doubtless I too would be harboring fond memories for all the junk. But I didn’t, so I don’t. 

The kitsch isn’t all overwhelming. I truly appreciated the bolted-in alternatives to traditional counter seats. There was a seat from a minivan, a few kitchen chairs and even a concave seat from an old tractor in the place of ones missing from the set. The décor was engrossing in its own way, never got boring.

When our food did come, it wasn’t that bad. In fact, for the price of $4.95 (including coffee), it’s one of the best breakfasts for your buck. The eggs were perfect and the rye toast was tasty and soft. The bacon was a bit lonely, coming in couplets only, and the potatoes were not very tasty. They were thick cut and fried on the grill, but didn’t taste like much more than grill butter. The coffee was passable, or at least it was better than the traditional diner fare I was expecting.

All in all, this place gives you great value for your money. A nice, solid greasy breakfast for under $5. It could even serve as a daycare, what with all the distractions laying about. If you’re into kitsch-till-you-bleed, you’ll like BR’sHRD.

Amy is thinking of something else.

Like how hungover she is!

“If you like good food, good fun and a whole lotta crazy crap on the walls...” Moe Szyzlak

May 3 2008

BIG RICK’S HOT ROD DINER

379 Henderson Highway

Hours of operation:

Mon - Fri        8 AM - 3 PM

Sat                 9 AM - 3 PM

Sun                9 AM - 2 PM

$2.99 Special ($4.95 with coffee)

BR’sHRD is easy to miss whether you’re driving or just walking by. It’s in a tiny storefront across from Elmwood Park. It’s been there for 20 years, since the Dairy Maid closed down. It has their name garishly painted on the windows, but at first glance it’s hard to tell if it’s an auto parts shop or restaurant.

The inside is a different story. I’m all for tradition and for old businesses, but man! What an eyesore! Kitsch enough for you to choke on. The walls are literally covered in old license plates, pictures of cars, books about cars, magic-markered car art and piles of crap that make you think you’re at grandma’s house. I mean, I nearly had a seizure when I came in. My hangover was not helped by it either.  There are some people reading this right now that will throttle me if I say another poor word about their favourite diner. Maybe. If so, well here goes again.

May 3, 2011

Big Rick’s Hot Rod Diner

379 Henderson Hwy

Breakfast Special - $3.79

Big Rick’s was close to closing a few years ago, and we wondered about its fate until one reader told us they changed their potatoes, and not for the better. So they were still surviving, but apparently at a reduced capacity.

This décor of the place hasn’t changed much since we were there three years prior (to the day, unintentionally), with the exception of the Sharpie-drawn murals on the walls that were fading horribly. The whole place was still loaded with car crap and stacked with magazines for kids. No doubt, were I a child, parent or car fiend I would appreciate the décor for more than just the ugliness. Unfortunately, I’m none of those.

The coffee was truly awful. It had that burnt-rice-krispies taste to it that has baffled us before. No refills, please.

When ordering, I asked what kind of toast they had. After telling me they had white, brown or rye, the server had to pause a moment and quizzically ask me what else I was expecting. I didn’t know what she meant at first. Leif stepped in with “sourdough, multigrain, etc…” and she didn’t really acknowledge, as if never having considered a world of bread outside of the standard three.

I got the Ukrainian breakfast, which consisted of three fried perogies, a handful of garlic sausage hunks and more sour cream by volume than the meat. The perogies looked like they were trouser-pressed to the grill, along with the eggs and bacon. I like the pressed-grill method for bacon, but this just made the perogies look stunted. They came from a freezer bag anyway. The garlic sausage (a nice way to avoid having to spell kielbasa) was thick cut and grilled until brown. It was good, but a lot of the garlic was grilled out of it.

The hashbrowns were chunkleted potatoes that needed some spices or something, as they were bland. I look at the pictures from our first visit and they are definitely different. They looked better in the previous incarnation.

Big Rick’s is still one of the cheapest breakfasts around. Go for the kitsch, but sorry if I’d rather stroll down Henderson to Sonya’s for the food.

Bloo Berry pancakes

Ukrainian Breakfast with garlic sausage and trouser press perogies