Hash House a Go Go ~ Orlando Florida

  With an four hour tour ahead of us on a Sunday at Full Sail University, we needed a full breakfast. I will admit that we were warned. Large portions were noted by other bloggers as the norm at Hash House A Go Go. However, the "twisted farm food" theme enticed me. 

  My keen eye noticed that the building was a refurbished Ryan's Family Steakhouse (I am good like that). They have done a mighty fine job, I might add. Anytime someone remodels a Ryan's and adds a full alcohol bar (to replace the food bars) they get extra brownie points. 

Farmers and such are the theme here , you know... "Americana". 

  There are images everywhere reminding  us, and all of the international visitors, what Americana is all about.

  Well, nice try. I do love what they have done to the building, but what I found out while dining here was what Americana used to be, and what it has become.

  There is a big difference between a old fashion country breakfast and a calorie and carbohydrate overload. I was looking for the nurse's station with the defibrillator, but unfortunately I did not find it . They really should have one. I am being dead serious - no pun intended.

  Check out my pancake. 

No, I do not have midget circus hands.

  The above is biscuits and gravy. I also was looking for the calorie chart for this food. I did not find that either.

  The pancake was loaded with blueberries and pecans which in and of themselves are healthy. It was served with butter (real I believe) and a disappointing syrup. Why destroy a pancake with a HFCS bombshell? I have a $5.00 bill on the bet that the pancake was made with a mix. 

  I did not taste, nor did I have a desire to taste the biscuits and hash/gravy/egg plate.

  So, on International Drive the internationals (and Americans) can see the morphing of Americans. On the walls they can see the pictures of our hard working ancestors. But what is truly disturbing is the Americans that are actually devouring whole plates of this fat fare. These are today's real Americans. 

There is no glory in gluttony. gf

  What a waste. It is such a nice building. If they would cut the portion sizes in half they would have a real nice place. I know that breakfast fare has a low food cost, but this was just ridiculous.

  Our server was off point and infrequent with his service. The food came out sporadically, but, hey, those things happen from time to time. Overall, for me, it is "Hash House a No No".

That is all I have to say about that.

Thanks for reading,

gf  

  

Douglasville Diner ~ Douglasville, GA

  We did not expecting anything too spectacular as we went to breakfast at the Douglasville Diner. I am not sure why we felt this way, but maybe it was the lingering unpleasant taste in our mouths from the previous inhabitants of the building.

Douglasville Diner has a vast menu with everything from breakfast food, Italian, Greek, American, Seafood, Salads, Appetizers, Wraps, Melts, and a Paul Bunyan(ish) dessert menu.  Large menus can be problematic. The execution of the menu by the kitchen staff is only half of the potential trouble. The second half is the service staff knowing said vast menu. However, I will regress and speak of that at another time.

 Open from 7:am until 12:00 Midnight is a grueling schedule to keep. I hope that they can pull it off in the long run. Douglasville has needed another decent breakfast spot for quite some time now. Do not under estimate the impact of pancakes on a culture. If run correctly, Douglasville Diner could potentially change Douglasville into a new center for higher learning. Who knows? If the omelets and hash browns are perfect day-in and day-out, Douglasvillites may invent a car that runs on smog. Lord knows they need that gadget soon living this close to Atlanta.

Lemon Mousse Cake

Yes, we ordered cakes at breakfast...again. I do not know why. What, it looked delicious OK?!

We ate cake only after devastating a "Douglasville Platter" (pancakes, sausage, bacon, and eggs) and an omelet stuffed full of spinach, Feta Cheese, and mushrooms. The hash browns were spectacularly and elegantly straightforward (that is a compliment). The pancakes were light with a hint (and a strong nod) of vanilla. A discussion of whether the pancakes originated from a mix or not ensued after a few sloppy bites. I stand by my "from a mix but modified" theory. My partner (who possibly has the best taste buds known to man) says that the pancakes are from scratch. She also smelled them. Her sniffing the pancakes gave her an unfair advantage (because she has the nose of a Bloodhound). Trust me on that one.

  Eating cake at breakfast requires extra cups of coffee. The coffee, by the way, was better than average. There is always time for additional coffee according to gf.

  Let's review the qualifications of a diner:

• Open early, check. 
• Open late, check. 
• Must serve breakfast, check. 
• Must brew great coffee and "coffee food" (e.g. cake), check. 
• Must serve hamburgers and kid food, check. 
• Must offer something different (e.g. Italian/Greek fare), check.

Tiramisu  Cake

Alpine Bakery in Atlanta is the source of all of this cake madness. I finished several bites of cake and boxed it up for the varmints at home, as I do not need to eat sugar. I admit that this breakfast was not the healthiest that I have had in recent history. However, I refused to smear the hydrogenated-butter-spread all over my pancakes, neither did I pour the high fructose corn syrup on them. Questions about the ingredients of the sausage, pancakes, and the dessert cakes were never asked. It is an American diner. I expect to be poisoned.

  Give Douglasville Diner a moment or two to settle in and get over their opening pains. I am sure that they will be fine as long as they deliver what they promise.


Update: Douglasville Diner is Closed.
Click here for details. gf

Thanks for reading,

gf

Lemon Mousse Cake

Tiramisu Cake

Cake Display

Outside dining / smoking section