• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

By Root 831 0

or broiled. We have spent many a happy afternoon at a patio table enjoying a drawn-out “grazing” meal of oysters, then shrimp, then a cup of chowder, and an occasional order of garlic bread. For appetites in search of well-balanced meals, we recommend anything fried (fish, clams, shrimp, oysters) or the steamed mussels or clams in garlic broth. Soups are notable, too, including a spicy shrimp soup Orleans, Puget Sound salmon soup, and a classic cioppino stew of cod, shrimp, clams, and mussels. Meals are accompanied by slices of excellent French bread and butter, and there is good key lime pie for dessert.

Frank’s Diner

1516 W. Second Ave.

509–747–8798

Spokane, WA

BLD | $

Hungry in Spokane? Really, really hungry? If so, we have a meal for you: a King of the Road omelet at Frank’s Diner. This big boy is made from six eggs, ham, Cheddar and Swiss cheeses, peppers and onions, and is served with hash brown potatoes and toast.

Not quite that hungry? How about a Joe’s Special, named in honor of the “New Joe Special” that is so popular in the San Francisco Bay area. At Frank’s, the Joe’s special is a mere three eggs scrambled with ground beef, spinach, and onion and flavored with Parmesan cheese. There are plenty of normal-size breakfasts, too, from hefty biscuits and gravy to eggs Benedict, and from silver-dollar pancakes to French toast made with cinnamon swirl bread. The breakfast menu boasts that Frank’s serves 12,000 eggs per month.

Our tipster, Charlie, told us that breakfast is the meal to eat at Frank’s, but the lunch selection looks pretty inviting, too. It includes, and we quote from the menu, “the best hot turkey sandwich ever,” made from turkey roasted in Frank’s kitchen, as well as a grilled meat loaf sandwich, chicken potpie, and a large assortment of one-third-pound Vista Cruiser Burgers made with assorted combinations of cheese, dressings, bacon, and barbecue sauce.

Grand food! But what will strike you even before you eat is the place itself, which is the state of Washington’s oldest diner. It really was a railroad diner, Car 1787, built in 1906, and now completely restored in hash-house configuration with a counter that provides a view of the grill. Frank’s was located in Seattle from 1931 to 1991, at which point it lost its lease and was moved to Spokane.

Knapp’s Family Restaurant

2707 N. Proctor St.

253–759–9009

Tacoma, WA

BLD | $

All kinds of people give us all kinds of suggestions of places to eat, but when one of the nation’s great restaurateurs tells us where to go, we pay special attention. It was Hap Townes, who for many years ran an estimable cafeteria-style lunchroom in Nashville, Tennessee, who tipped us off to Knapp’s. “It’s your kind of place,” Hap said with assurance born of watching us eat many of his fine meals.

The setting of Knapp’s in the Proctor District helps create an aura of small-town charm in the midst of big-city life. Walking into the old brick building is like going back half a century. The dining room is patrolled by teams of waitresses who wait tables for a living—pros, who refill coffee and replace needed silverware with the grace of a four-star sommelier.

The menu is nostalgic, too. This is a place to have a platter of liver and onions or turkey with sage-flavored dressing and a pile of mashed potatoes with a ladle of gravy on top. Every Tuesday, Knapp’s serves corned beef and cabbage, every Wednesday, roast pork loin. Begin your meal with a shrimp cocktail or an iceberg-lettuce salad, and finish it off with homemade peach pie. It is an all-American experience, not necessarily for the fussy epicure, but a treasure for aficionados of square meals.

Maltby Café

8809 Maltby Rd.

425–483–3123

Snohomish, WA

BL | $

If ever we write a book called Really Big Food, the Maltby Café would be featured for breakfast. It’s cinnamon roll is not so much a “roll” as it is a loaf—a massive circular coil of sweet pastry scattered with bits of walnut. It is served on a dinner plate, which it fits edge-to-edge, and it is at least a couple of good breakfasts unto