What makes a restaurant a diner? The definition seems to be expanding, and places that happen to have counter seating, focus on breakfast or serve lots of pie often call themselves diners. The one thread that I do notice across all diners, modern or established, is comfort. They all want customers to stay for a while, make friends, linger over coffee and feel comfortable and welcome enough that those social aspects are completely natural.
Don's Diner & Cocktails, a new diner in an old building, nails the comfortable atmosphere. It's bustling with a lot of energy in a narrow space, but you never feel rushed or in the way. The counter is really just a bar, but glass pedestal cake stands hold court to show off towering 3-layer cakes, landing us squarely back in diner territory.
The menu isn't as large as most diners’, but the focus is on breakfast, which is served all day. Pancakes are made with a buttermilk and Sprite batter and have a sturdy texture with a little crisp around the edges. Piggies in blankets ($15) incorporate chopped bacon into the batter for little bursts of porky goodness and come topped with copious candied pecans, crisp oatmeal streusel and bourbon whipped cream. Blu blu lemon pancakes ($13) are made with trendy fermented blueberries, lemon syrup and whipped mascarpone.
French toast is baked in a casserole dish like bread pudding, making it even more of a comfort food. There's a mostly savory version called the north woods ($13) made with breakfast sausage, leeks, caramelized onions and a maple cream sauce, but the show-stopper is the sweet bananarama ($13) version. It's got peanut butter in the mix and is topped with sliced bananas bruléed with crunchy caramelized sugar.
Though the dinner entrée menu is small, it runs the gamut from giardiniera grilled cheese ($9) with four cheeses, pickled giardiniera and spinach, to a roasted chicken pot pie ($13) topped with a puff pastry lid. There are a few retro options too, like a beautifully plated chicken picatta ($16) with plenty of briny capers over roasted potatoes, spinach and mushrooms, and teriyaki steak tips over garlic butter mashed potatoes ($19). As I was walking out of the restaurant, I spotted the shrimp and grits ($18) at another table and got a serious case of FOMO from the pile of huge New Orleans-style barbecue shrimp on a bed of soft grits and swiss chard. Next time.
There are a couple burgers too, because what's a diner without them? The Don's burger ($16) includes a hefty beef patty, sharp cheddar, charred onion and an onion ring on a fluffy brioche bun. What's unique is that it's surrounded by a pool of dark, beefy demi-glace, making it extra rich but a mess to pick up. The Naughty Angel burger ($10-$14) is more classic diner style, with smashed beef patties (choose one to three) and sautéed onions that meld into the American cheese and light smear of creamy Thousand Island-like sauce. Two slices of roma tomato were perfectly ripe even though they're not in season.
Do not skip dessert here, even if you're getting breakfast. Those cakes on the bar are magnificent and change regularly, as do a few cheesecake and pie selections. A berries and cream cake ($6) slice bursts with a just-sweet-enough mix of strawberries, blueberries and blackberries, its juices soaking into the soft vanilla sponge.
There's also an emphasis on milkshakes here, in both classic and boozy versions. The Wisco old fashioned shake ($9) is a great new way to enjoy the staple cocktail, and bitters play well with the vanilla ice cream. Get an Oreo cake shake ($12) made with rum and topped with an entire slice of cheesecake, or a donut-topped coffee version called the weekender ($12).
At the back of the restaurant is a separate, small bar called the Naughty Angel. It's pure Up North, complete with wood paneling everywhere, rust colored vinyl bar stools, and a window unit air conditioner. It's quaint in its shabbiness and a great place to order the giant Old Fashioned served in a crockpot ($30) or a few of the 10-cent martinis during lunch on weekdays. It adds a whole other level of comfort and familiarity to the restaurant, helping to tick off the boxes that earn Don's its diner moniker.
