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The Silver Grill – Midtown

Are you as profoundly embarrassed by your sister-in-law as Rob is by me?

The Silver Grill was not in top form the day before Christmas, except for friendly service. H.o.p. and I liked the booths but some of the accessorizing could go out the door–after all, the restaurant *is* an old diner so it’s not like it has to surround you with fake old diner crap in order to make you kinda feel like you’re in an old diner when you’re not…

A fan of Southern cooking, Marty eats there occasionally and says he’s experienced it on better days.

Despite the food being mediocre that day, tasting like it had been waiting and then waiting some more and then another day for us to show up (except the cucumber salad was good and the fried chicken breast was huge) I had a good time. And H.o.p. had a great time. He said he felt like he was in New York again and if there’s anything H.o.p. likes it’s feeling like he’s in New York. Oh, and he also likes his Uncle Rob, who was down from New York for several days over the holidays, so a great time wasn’t hard to be had.

I would like to go back to the Silver Grill some time soon and instead try the breakfast menu.

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Juli Kearns

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4 responses to “The Silver Grill – Midtown”

  1. Nina Avatar
    Nina

    Is this the place down near Grady High School? I keep trying to remember if that’s it or if the place by Grady is the Silver Skillet. I think in high school everyone called it the Greasy Skillet or some such. I like the photo, even if your BIL does look like he’s trying to hide from your photographic eye.

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  2. Idyllopus Avatar
    Idyllopus

    That’s the place. I like a great homestyle diner for breakfast, but based on the quality of the biscuits we were served I’m kind of worried about what their breakfast might be like. “Their biscuits are always good,” Marty said right before I took a bite into a thick greasy shell of rock with a light, stale hint of crunch in the middle. I wondered if the biscuits had been sitting around for a couple of days and had been microwaved several times. But why the grease? Marty had a bite and after a while said, “Well, they’re not so good today.”

    I’ve heard they used to be really good but went downhill a bit after a change in ownership? I don’t think Marty has eaten there in a while so I’m not sure if he is familiar with the food post change in ownership. I was hoping this was just a pre-Christmas fluke.

    But a major cultural divide was also revealed in the potato salad. I expect potato salad to have chunks of potato tossed with some interesting asides. Until moving south, I’d never had potato salad that was mashed potatoes with a dollop of relish and I don’t know what else mixed in. And that was this. The potato salad was mashed potatoes (not even interesting mashed potatoes, no skin, just the mealy white) with a little tang of relish and mayo. I don’t want my potato salad looking like it was plopped onto the plate with an ice cream scoop and that was this.

    I rarely eat fried food…we just don’t have it much, so I’d ordered the fried chicken. I think Rob enjoyed it but the crust was too hard and saturated with grease for my taste, and there was no taste to the chicken.

    Still, I think Marty and Rob enjoyed their food more than I did and I said nothing about how bad I felt the food to be because as far as I was concerned getting great food wasn’t the point of it all…just going out together and having some fun was the point and as the service was friendly and the place seemed to be clean and Marty was happily set with turnip greens and Rob had his sweet tea and cobbler and H.o.p. loved every moment then the fundamental criteria were satisfied.

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  3. Nina Avatar
    Nina

    That does sound like a good occasion overall. Makes me want to go have a meal there. I forget about places like that. Another place that’s been around forever where I’ve only gone once is Merry Mac’s Tea Room. I guess it’s still there, anyway. Have you ever been there?

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  4. Idyllopus Avatar
    Idyllopus

    Yes, Mary Mac’s is still lively. I have only eaten there once, many years ago, and didn’t care for it. Really, I’m just not a fan of certain styles of Southern cooking.

    Marty just got back in from searching the airport for his mother’s lost baggage. He says that he has eaten recently at the Silver Grill and that it was a very off meal for them. That the biscuits and corn bread are usually great and that the corn bread wasn’t good that day either. So the meal we had was atypical.

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