Diners, Drive-ins and Dives
I love local restaurants. And it started way before Guy launched Triple D on the Food Network.
Chain restaurants weren’t really a thing growing up, so local was all we had. But the passion for ‘dives’ started when I worked for an auctioneer named Bob while I was in high school. My job all summer was to go with him to houses where we were doing estate sales and unload the contents onto the front lawn. I grew up in the Northeast so these were homes with basements and attics full of stuff. He paid me cash and fed me at every little local (cheap) joint around.
My sweaty summer takeaways:
- You can get a great meal at an unassuming place
- I listened to how Bob interacted with people. You can learn a lot with a few good questions – and actually being interested in the answers.
- Always save room for dessert.
Eating at ‘dives’ is something my kids grew up doing. They looked forward to it when we traveled. We’ve done fairly well on the food front (we can only recall one total miss – a taco place in Beckley WVa), and we’ve interacted with a ton of interesting people (the tomato sandwich we bought an old carnival worker who told us stories of his time on the road was one of the best 5 bucks we ever spent).
A solid life lesson from Bob when I was a teenager set me up to share the same with my kids, and with any luck that will continue with their kids. A legacy of staying off the well-worn trail, listening and enjoying a good piece of pie.
Dry Guy Andy