The Silver Diner

"We Buy Fresh and Local, You Eat Well!"  That is the motto of the Silver Diner restaurant.  And from what I can tell, they truly live up to that.

The first "diner" was credited to a man named Walter Scott in 1872, who started selling lunches out of his horse-drawn wagon. It wasn't until 1939 that we began to see diners as we think of them today...modeled after streamlined train cars or mobile homes with stainless steel or chrome accents and neon signs and art deco decor. The diner was a way to provide fast food while still maintaining a home-cooked-meal atmosphere in a casual friendly environment.

tabletop jukeboxes

There is still a certain nostalgia about them that reminds us of our childhoods or just a simpler time where being kind to your neighbor and going to church on Sunday and having strong family values were still top priorities. The women wore pearls and pretty dresses, the men dressed in nice slacks and  knew how to be gentlemen and kids knew how to behave in public and learned respect for adults. Maybe I'm overgeneralizing or dreaming that is was a more perfect time than it was. Or maybe I've watched the movie, Pleasantville too many times. At any rate, the diner still exists, though rare.

At Silver Diner, one can get a glimpse into that old America. Their food is hearty and fresh. They strive to use local ingredients whenever available and to be environmentally conscious. And they always serve with a smile! When we go there, we like to sit at the bar instead of a booth.  Sitting at the bar gives you more of the nostalgic feel of a diner and you get a close-up look at the staff hard at work.

Two of our favorite breakfasts to get there are corned beef hash and country fried steak!  I'll be the first to admit, corned beef hash looks, smells, and tastes a bit like cat food. But I can't help but love it! Part of the reason I love corned beef hash, is because of a childhood memory. When my dad would take me camping as a child, we almost always had corned beef hash for breakfast cooked over the campfire stove! I usually order mine with eggs-over-easy (one of the few times I don't get scrambled) and it comes with potatoes as well.  I'm normally the kind of person who eats one thing at a time on my plate, but this is one exception.  I love to mix that runny broken egg yolk with the salty corned beef hash! So delicious and unctuous!!

My husband actually turned me on to the country fried steak and eggs. I used to not really be a fan of steak until I learned what good steak tastes like! And how can you go wrong when you batter it, fry it, and top it with sausage pepper gravy!! Man, I love that stuff! I could just drink a glass of pepper gravy! Yes, its that good!  And on top of that, you get a warm, flaky, buttermilk biscuit. Put a little pat of butter and a drizzle of honey on there...almost heaven.

This diner food makes the perfect hearty breakfast on a snowy day too! And then afterwards, you can go home and take a nap! You're gonna need it!

Lulu's Cafe and Donuts

We had some very nice weather in Myrtle, still warm but not hot with the perfect breeze! We decided to take advantage of this gorgeous weather and do some outdoor activities we wouldn't normally get to do because it would normally be too hot. One thing I'd been wanting to do for the last several years is visit Brookgreen Gardens.  It is a lovely place with sculpture and botanical gardens, as well as a wildlife preserve. It is a combination of art, history, and a zoo!

Before we headed to the gardens, we needed breakfast! Lulu's Cafe is one of our standby's we like to visit in Myrtle.  We had recently heard they were opening their own donut shop separate from the restaurant. But when we located the donut shop, it was closed! Unfortunately they were closed because they were about to move to a different location. That meant no Lulu donuts for us.  :(  But we did get a chance to meet Lulu, herself. Very cute and friendly lady! She reassured us that Lulu's Donuts weren't going anywhere, they just needed time to find a better location. I hope she has good luck with that so we can try their delicious donuts next year!

So we headed to their cafe instead.  Lulu's has the perfect mix of Southern cuisine and 1950s diner. We split a meal...two fried eggs on a biscuit with bacon and sausage gravy with grits on the side.  Biscuits and gravy is one of my favorite breakfasts! And this place does it right. Simple, but delicious. Complete with a glass of fresh orange juice and a good cup of hot coffee.

It was so good, in fact, that we went there again later in the week. This time hubby got a stack of hot pancakes.  Delicious, sweet, and fluffy!

I had two eggs over-easy (one of my new favorite ways to eat eggs when I'm out. I haven't quite learned how to make them at home though so I usually eat scrambled. Boring, I know, but easy to cook without messing up) and a side of corned beef hash.  I love corned beef hash because its kinda salty, a little meaty, and the perfect side dish for mixing with the runny egg yolk. It also reminds me of my childhood, when my dad would take me camping. After spending the night in the tent, we'd wake up in the morning and crank up the camp stove and heat up some corned beef hash and bacon!

Even Pablo loved it! He gave Lulu's 3.5 ants!

Croissants Bistro...not so much

For the last several years, one of our favorite breakfast places to visit in Myrtle has been Croissants Bistro & Bakery.  We're not fans of the typical tourist breakfast buffets or low budget chain restaurants, like those that offer 3 kinds of toppings for pancakes and think they can call them "international"(ouch, yes I went there).  We like to search for places that are a little more unique with local flavor.  Those kind of places are sometimes hard to find in an area like Myrtle that thrives on tourism. So when we discovered Croissants, we thought we had found a gem. But something changed this year.

In the past we've always had a great experience at Croissants...great food, high end brunch offerings, attentive service, the perfect breakfast for our first full day at the beach.  This year, however, when we went to Croissants, there was one disappointment after another. We arrived and discovered we were there about 10 minutes before they were supposed to open at 10am (which is kinda late for breakfast) so we drove around the block, came back around 10:05, and the restaurant was already packed out! Clearly we missed something. Ok fine,whatever, we get our table...and then we wait.

Past visit...beautifully plated omelet with hashbrowns and fruit

Past visit...Eggs benedict with steak

Past visit...side of candied bacon

It became clear to us that they were short-staffed and struggling to keep up with the demands of the diners.  How they could be short-staffed on a Sunday morning knowing they would be busy is beyond me but I can sort of forgive that (ya know, stuff happens) if the food is good and the service is compensatory. However, we received neither good food or good service.

Our meal began with complimentary raspberry mini-muffins.  Tasty and cute; a good start. (And that's about where the positivity ended). We, then received our menus, which were different because one of them ended up being out-dated.  And of course, the outdated menu is the one we wanted to order both of our meals from and those meals were no longer offered on their current menu.  Ok back to the drawing board or what to order.

Then it took forever for our food to come and there was no apology or explanation as to why the food was so late.  When the food did finally arrive, it was all way over-cooked.  Edgar ordered eggs benedict with hashbrown casserole.  The eggs were not runny at all. In fact they were on their way to being hard-boiled.  The hollandaise sauce had little to no flavor at all, except that of bland unsalted melted butter. And he had to specially request bacon as a side instead of the country ham that came with it. Country ham was offered with almost every dish while bacon was a scarce commodity.

doesn't look too bad on the surface...

and theres the almost-hard-boiled center

I ordered the quiche du jour...a chorizo quiche with grits on the side. The quiche wasn't bad but I've had better for less money (I've made better for less money) and the top was almost burnt. The grits tasted more like cream of wheat, very mushy and a lot sweeter than grits.  I like cream of wheat but when I order grits, I want grits.

the "grits" look more like mashed potatoes (which I love but again, thats not what I ordered)

The part that was most disappointing was that there were several other small changes we noticed that made us realize that it wasn't just an off day in the kitchen. It was clear they had changed their menu and the focus of the restaurant to better appeal to the masses of cheap buffet-going families that travel to Myrtle as tourists. They now covered their pristine white linen tablecloths with craft paper and provided crayons for the children to color on it. The menu items we used to love were either No-more or were altered, and the entire menu was dumbed down and included items that didn’t even make sense for a typical brunch menu. Don't get me wrong, I'm not opposed to family restaurants with craft paper and crayons, they have their place, but there are plenty of those around already.  

Croissants used to be a nice place for adults to go and enjoy a quiet brunch of quality up-scale food and perhaps a fancy juice or coffee before a day of lounging on the beach. Overall there were a lot of little disappointments here that added up to a big failure. They have allowed themselves to be taken over and sold out.  Sadly, I doubt we will return.

Even Pablo gave Croissants only 1 ant (and that was only for the mini-muffins).

Whew!...I'm SEW tired!!

Its been a crazy busy couple of months around our household.  My sister-in-law, Gwen, and I started our own crafting business this year on Etsy called Gray Kitty Boutique (check us out on Facebook!!!).  She does crocheting and I sew and most of our products are accessory-type items...hats, scarves, bags, aprons, headbands...While Etsy's site is nice and has lots of cool stuff, as a crafter its easy to get lost in the sea of crafters there.  We decided to hit a few local craft fairs when fall came around to try to get our name out and about town.  We did one in September and one today, even visited another to get some ideas a few weeks ago, and are hoping to do a couple more for the holidays.  All those craft fairs means I've been sewing my fingers to the bone in my own home-made sweatshop in my dining room. 

As a result of all this crafting, my house is a wreck (though Superking graciously cleaned the kitchen while I was gone today as a sweet surprise for me!! So many kisses to him for that!) and I haven't had much time for many food adventures or food blogging. But I do have a couple food stories lines up for you that I'd like to share.

Cotton Monster

me talking to Etsy lady

The one craft show we only visited was in DC (of course) and it was called the Crafty Bastards.  Gotta love that name! It was located in Adams Morgan and we decided to go early and have breakfast somewhere nearby.  We chose The Diner, a place that serves breakfast 24 hours a day! And even at 8am on a Saturday morning, it was bustling with people.

We started with drinks - a coffee and a hot chocolate.  The hot chocolate even came in a fancy glass.  It was topped with whipped cream which melted very quickly.  A nice chocolate flavor without being overly sweet.

We kept our meals simple with egg sandwiches. I had an egg and cheese sandwich with chicken sausage and cheddar cheese served with a side of home fries.

Superking had a Croque and Dagger...basically a fancy egg sandwich with bacon, gruyere cheese, and bechamel sauce on a French loaf, also served with home fries.

The food was simple but good and warming to the tummy on what turned out to be a very chilly rainy day and the atmosphere, though busy was warm and friendly.  It seemed like a cozy place to go for a midnight snack run! And the Crafty Bastards craft fair was a lot of fun.  So many talented crafters there that gave us many ideas for Gray Kitty Boutique.  Can't wait to put those ideas into action!

a knit slug

books as purses

pretty pillows

Chirp and Bloom...pretty baby items

Rogue Theory pouches

apron skirts with cupcake pockets

Croissants Bistro & Bakery

This was the most adorable little eatery we visited in Myrtle Beach.  Finding decent breakfast places down there is like looking for a needle in a haystack. This place was so good we went back a second time later in the week!

Croissants Bistro has a casual elegance like you just stepped into a sitting parlour of an old southern home of a close friend.  They have a contemporary little bar area and a luscious pastry counter and the whole atmosphere just exudes southern charm.

And the food...definitely a cut above anything else you'll find in that area. The first time we went, Superking ordered traditional eggs benedict which came with a piece of country ham on top of a croissant, served with a little fruit salad and bacon.

I ordered the omelet with shrimp and boursin cheese which also came with a croissant, fruit salad, and a ramekin of cheesy potato casserole.  Everything was marvelous and so beautifully presented.  And the service was very friendly and attentive.

The second time we went there, Superking gets two eggs-to-order (fried over-easy) with bacon, fruit, and potato casserole with a slice of toast.

I got the eggs benedict on a croissant and topped with a crab cake.  Every bite is amazing and comforting.  Perfectly cooked, perfectly presented.  It almost felt like we were at a fancy bed and breakfast.  We could've gone back there for breakfast every morning!