A friend of mine said he was taking me somewhere I’d never been before, and he wasn’t lying. We ended up at a place called Dee’s Diner in Mattydale at 1900-1914 Brewerton Rd, in a small plaza that’s just across the street from Strike ‘n Spare bowling alley if you need a landmark.

IMAG1824At first glance it doesn’t look all that fancy; then again, how many diners do. When you go through the door you can sit in booths to the left or right, at one of the tables, or maybe sit at the bar. I’m not a “sit at the bar” kind of guy, and since you sit yourself we took the second booth to the left after walking in. It’s not a bad environment, very homey, and not close to being as crowded as both Stella’s and Little Gem were.

IMAG1825They have multiple specials for the day which includes a lot of breakfast items. Most of the specials are on the menu, which my friend Bob found out when he ordered a breakfast item. Neither of the items I ordered were on the menu, as I decided to get the hamburger soup and, for the first time in over a decade, a sloppy joe with fries.

The soup came first and it was tasty. In my mind, you can’t go wrong when you put hamburger and elbow macaroni together. The reflection in the image must be the grease from the hamburger because it wasn’t that shiny while eating it.

IMAG1826Next came the food. Bob ordered a ham and cheese omelet with Italian bread toast, which isn’t something you can get everywhere. He said it was very tasty, although in my mind if any place you go to messes up an omelet they should be immediately shut down.

My sloppy joe was interesting. I wasn’t expecting it to be sweet and salty at the same time. It was sweeter than I remembered Manwich sauce (who remembers that?) and a bit salty, but it was also very tasty. The fries were just the way I like them, a little greasy and thick. Other than McDonald’s french fries I think these were my favorite fries in the last year, and I’ve been to a lot of places.

IMAG1827I didn’t order dessert, not because they didn’t have apple pie, which I love, but because they didn’t have any ice cream to go with it; that’s a standard with me.

All in all it was a pleasant experience, tasty food, and the waitress was very nice as well. I like little hideaways, and this place has lots of offerings you can try out. I’ll be making a return trip, that’s for sure.