Bacon, Eggs, and Passion: The Breakfast Blog : The Dream Diner

This past week Liam, our fellow guest associate Nicholas Labranche (who will be referred to as "Nicky" the rest of this blog), and myself visited the Dream Diner, located in Tyngsboro, MA.

Liam, Nicky, and I getting ready to shove our faces into some breakfast food.

This was my first time at The Dream Diner, and I had heard mixed reviews from friends and colleagues, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Playing "Love Me Like You Do" by Ellie Goulding while singing along on the car ride to the diner was just what I needed to build up my appetite. Needless to say… I was jazzed up. Upon my visit however, I learned the name of this diner was deceiving and ultimately a sham. Sitting down in my booth I found that I was not in a dream, but in fact, a nightmare.

ATMOSPHERE

Stepping into the Dream Diner is like stepping into a time machine. A blast to the past. I was greeted by the tunes of Diana Ross & The Supremes', "Stop In the Name of Love." A great song that will put you in a great mood. When walking in, you are instantly sent into the late 50's era. For a brief moment I thought John Travolta was going to hop up on a table and start preforming "Summer Nights." Not saying I would have loved it… but I certainly wouldn't have been opposed to it. Travolta can sing, and if you're into that bad boy sort of thing, look out because Grease Lightning is coming for you. Anyways, that's the kind of trance you get put into at the Dream Diner.

Another aspect that screamed 50's to me was the absurd amount of Betty Boop memorabilia located throughout the diner. Right when you walk in the door.. BAM!!! Betty Boop statues all up in your personal space. If that's not enough to suffice your Betty Boop needs (which it should be, because if you actually have any Betty Boop needs, you should be consulting a psychologist) then have no fear, more Betty Boop on the walls and on napkin holders inside. It's border line obnoxious and creepy, but to be fair, it is a 50's diner so that's what you signed up for I guess. However, it was too much for my liking.

Walking in I was worried what the wait would be like. The parking lot was packed with cars and all I wanted to do was eat. I was pleasantly surprised when we were seated immediately without a wait.

All in all, the atmosphere gets an "okay" from me. I am on board for a cool 50's theme and enjoyed it, but Betty Boop being shoved down my throat is something I am not fond of.

Yet another piece of Betty Boop memorabilia hanging on the wall
inside the diner.

Betty Boop statue waiting for you in the window of the door to say hello as you walk in, and to say farewell as you exit...

Two more Betty Boop statues in the waiting room as you walk into The Dream Diner...

John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John starred in the famous movie Grease.

Diana Ross and The Supremes who created the hit song Stop In The Name of Love.

Panoramic view of the inside of The Dream Diner.

SERVICE

The service at The Dream Diner made you feel welcome. It seems as though they only hired old woman as waitresses who may have been waitresses in the 50's as well, but I liked it. For some reason, I feel like older woman do a better job at taking your order. I have no evidence to support this statement except for the warm feeling I got in the pit of my stomach when our waitress, Francine, read off our rather large order back perfectly, and with a genuine smile. Either way, I guess that was the manager's intent behind hiring his staff because their were no young foals to be found in this heard of horses.

Our waitress Francine hard at work. (Francine was not aware this picture was being taken.)

On top of their dining skills, the waitresses fully commit to the 50's theme of the diner. Their authentic 50's diner waitress uniforms made me ponder whether or not they actually knew they were living in 2015, or if they were just senile and the manager decided to use it to his advantage. Either way, you've got to respect the commitment. When you have a whole staff that is committed to one common goal, good things happen. That's how championships are won. That is why the service shined and is a sparkle of hope in the darkness of The Dream Diner.

JERK

This is off of the food topic, but rude people shouldn't partake in breakfast. It's a positive meal. Stay Away.

Now, you can ask anyone who knows me, I'm a polite guy. I say, "please" and, "thank you." I hold doors open for people. I recycle. Along with that, I usually get along well with other people who I don't really know. When I try to be polite, and someone decides to act rude towards me for no reason, I get frustrated. The customer in the picture below saw me taking the panorama shot of the diner (seen earlier in this blog) and gave me kind of a funny look. I thought, "Maybe I should have asked permission, some people don't like having their picture taken." So I lowered my phone and apologized, in which he responded, "Yeah that's pretty rude, ask next time, alright? Thanks." I was beside myself. His words did not bother me as much as his tone. The cockiness and sassiness hidden behind his words really rubbed me the wrong way.

This one-eye-opened freak (you'll see in the picture below) had the audacity to be rude after I apologized without being provoked by an, "Excuse me." or a passive aggressive cough. Sure I may have been wrong for snapping photos without asking, but c'mon I'm trying to run a blog here. Get off your high horse buddy. Taking your grandma from the nursing home out to breakfast because you're alone in life isn't a very good look. Go ahead and lie to yourself that more women are coming your way and that this is just a "cold-streak." With that weird thing you're doing with one eye completely opened and the other closed, you're dying alone pal.

Who knows, maybe you were having a bad day. Still not an excuse to be rude to strangers. Also not an excuse to not finish your scrambled eggs. I saw. How dare you leave that plate with food left on it. Don't try to ruin my breakfast with your unhappiness… jerk.

Jerk eating food on the right, with, who I assume to be his grandmother, on the left.

Jerk doing his weird one-eye-open, one-eye-closed thing.

Anyways I did not act rash. I just turned away and proceeded to take more pictures after his rude response.

FOOD

Now the moment all of you breakfast maniacs have been waiting for... the food. I can't stress enough that this is hands down the most important category. Enjoying the food in your mouth or thinking its disgusting can change the perception of everything around you.

I had no idea what to get, so I asked the waitress to bring me their best meal. I was brought a grilled cinnamon bun as an appetizer. Usually breakfast is served all at once and not in courses, so I respected the format and their attempt at trying to shake things up.

The first bite was great. I thought I was in love. The second... still pretty good. The third... ehh it was alright. It felt like a piece of gum you've been chewing too long by the end of eating it. Stale and tasteless. I tried reviving it with a little syrup but it was too late. 10:38... I called it. All in all, it was pretty good, nothing to brag about though.

The grilled cinnamon bun, served as an appetizer at The Dream Diner. Not bad.

Next that came across my plate was their famous Egg's Benedict. Normally I'm a scrambled eggs kind of guy, so this was a little out of my comfort zone, but hey, adapt or die.

I don't know if it was the form of the egg that was throwing me off or what, but this dish made me feel a little queasy. I could feel the egg slide down my throat and sit in my stomach, and not in a good way. Hours later I sat on my porcelain throne, regretting my existence because of those eggs.

The ham was cut pretty thick, which I thought was odd, but ended up being pretty good. It was full of flavor. The strong taste almost made me utter an, "oink." However the taste was so strong, it overpowered the rest of the meal, and I would advise for it to be served separately. The home fries on the side were average. All in all... not good.

Liam got the same meal as me and finished it in under half my time. I didn't know whether to be disgusted or impressed. A little more disgusted now that I think of it, but hats off to him I guess. He agreed with me by saying, "I agree Aidan… it wasn't very good."

Eggs Benedict. The Dream Diner claims this is their best dish.

Liam after inhaling his meal in record time, checks over the desert/alcoholic beverage menu. Very odd that a breakfast diner would serve alcohol… Power move to say the least

Nicky ordered chocolate chip pancakes. He let me have a few bites to get my input. They were kind of stale. Nothing special. The chocolate chips didn't add any flavor either. They may have actually been from the 50's. Overall, just a below average pancake if you ask me.

The Dream Diner's chocolate chip pancakes.

Nicky digging into his pancakes. He eats the most out of my list of acquaintances, despite his slender figure.

Now in this nightmare of a meal there was a dim light at the end of the tunnel. A hero. Not the hero I deserved but the hero I needed. The chocolate milk. Francine handed it to me and I drank 3 cups. I couldn't help myself it was so delicious. Freshly poured with an abundance of chocolate syrup waiting at the bottom. Magnificent is a word that comes to mind when drinking it. Have you ever sucked greatness through a straw? Because at the dream diner… you will.

Liam just got water again. He said it tasted a little weird.

Chocolate Milk

CONCLUSION
Overall, my experience at The Dream Diner was not one that I really enjoyed. The atmosphere was alright, and although the service was good, most food establishments pride themselves on good service, so there's nothing special there. The food is something I would rather not have ever again in this lifetime, although the prices weren't very high.