Red Mug Diner

Reviews 5

AL

Alan Clapsaddle

Just Wow….Red Mug Diner Kim and I went for breakfast this morning at Red Mug Diner, downtown on Pine Street in the old Ed Smith/AnsweRite building on Pine Street. I was concerned as I headed downtown that parking might be a problem, but at 7:30AM on Sunday morning there was parking everywhere. When we entered we were greeted promptly, and told to sit wherever we would like. The place is red and white and cheery. There was only one other table occupied in place. It’s interesting to be sitting in the space where I used to work at AnsweRite and where my brother met his wife, who was the receptionist there back in 1984. The menu is printed on the placemats. It is not a large menu, breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert all on the same side. But better to do a reasonable number of things right, than a lot of things mediocre. The Coffee is from ‘get roasted…locally’, Kim spent the entire meal raving about how amazing the coffee is. It is served in a metal carafe, so you don’t have to wait for refills. Not that I had to wait for refills on my Coco-cola, because the server brought me another before I finished the first. Kim ordered the ‘Gargantuan Buttermilk Pancake’ and I ordered the ‘Old School Biscuits & Gravy’. The ‘Old School Biscuits & Gravy’ was $8.95, which was truly a deal. My meal came with two eggs, four slices of bacon, grilled tomato slices as well. The biscuits had a proper snap on the bottom but were soft and pillowy, the gravy was not the usual roux laden variety most places serve, it had more of the consistency of a Suprême sauce, and was loaded with fine ground pork and seasoning. The thick sliced grilled tomatoes were done perfectly, they were seasoned with salt, pepper and herbs, and were the perfect accompaniment to my light and fluffy scrambled eggs. The classic smoked bacon (versus the thick cut fruit wood smoked variety) was cooked just right. The plate presentation could have been used for a photo shoot. My wife enjoyed her mosterous pancake, but was unable to finish it, which I think is to be expected. It was served with whipped butter. One of the things I liked about the place, it feels like a diner or tavern from back home in Pittsburgh where I grew up. The layout does not have high booths or partitions, it feels like it was laid out to allow a sense of community. There is an informal, friendly, caring and knowledgeable style of service which will serve the well. I look forward to coming to try some of the other breakfast items, and the lunch and dinner offerings. The sandwiches and entrees on the menu all seemed very reasonably priced. The desserts at $7.95 from The Dessert Lady, I will have to reserve judgement on till I have the chance to try them.

---

CH

Christopher Feltner

This interesting take on the 24-hour retro diner falls far short of its potential. I went with a friend to Red Mug after a SAK show between 10:30 and 11PM. They had a deal advertized at the show that with two ticket stubs, they would include a free signature milkshake to share with the purchase of entrees. The only problem that on this night they were all out of milkshakes. Our server graciously offered to comp an appetizer rather than the milkshake, but once again, they were out of almost half of their appetizers, including some of their signature ones. We eventually settled on the truffle mac-and-cheese (...it was either that or onion rings). The mac-and-cheese was very good - it was buttery, and didnt have that thick and heavy texture that mac-and-cheese often does. It was enough to serve two to three. My friend and I ordered the brie and apricot grilled cheese to share, which comes with waffle fries and a (red) mug of creamy tomato soup. A couple of other friends at our table ordered from their 24-hr breakfast menu: eggs, bacon, with biscuits and gravy. Our sandwich was excellent, with the sweet apricot jelly balancing out the slightly bitter taste of the brie. The soup was indeed creamy, and was a nice compliment to the sandwich. Unfortunately, our other friends did not share our luck. The gravy was sour, and the dish tasted terrible. They sent it back. The chef came out and apologized (apparently, the day chef had prepared it incorrectly earlier - a recurring theme with this guy, according to the wait staff). He offered the Sun and the Moon to our friends in order to apologize for the previous dish, and came back with a whole plate of chicken and waffles, mashed potato, an almost two foot diameter pancake, and about a half pound of bacon. The wait staff was decent. They were cordial and apologetic about the state of the meal. I felt for them, since I know that it isnt their fault if a significant portion of the menu is unavailable and things come out of the kitchen wrong, and they did their best with what they had. However, they were often inattentive. We had to ask two or three times for things like silverware and soda. I imagine that they are overworked, and the place was definitely understaffed, although it wasnt very busy at that time.

---

AU

Aurora Fable

This delightful diner was a breathe of fresh air for the downtown crowd and with the stark white walls and sinful coke red it is likely to be a staple. I sat down to have a lovely lunch and was greeted by wonderful and warm staff members. I ordered the turkey club with a side salad and instantly knew I was going to need a box. The sandwich was piled high with thick cuts of turkey breast, nice crisp bacon, fresh butter lettuce, and savory tomatoes. The only sad part about the whole creation was the weight of the sandwich crushed the bread making the bottom slice too soggy and not crisp like the counterpart. Also the slices of meat were too thick and distracted the overall flavor combination. The salad was perfect and the vegetables were fresh. The coffee was perfect and robust. Dylan was my waiter and he was quick, approachable, and honest. I will be visiting again but this time to try a breakfast item.

---

ME

Megan Gnarly

This restaurant is very poorly run. Food is decent, not worth the price you pay. You could have better at steak n shake,Dennys or ihop. The manager is completely clueless. We waited about 45 minutes for our food along with 4 other tables. We were given our food after other people that have ordered. The other table asked to speak to the manager who would rather hide in the back than deal with a customer. We are leaving now as 2/4 tables are still waiting for food. 1 table was given food, it looked like they knew the manager,but ordered way after everyone else. Needless to say a lot of people walked out of here. I wouldnt recommend this place to anyone if it was the last place on earth. Unfortunately the servers take all the hear from customers but it is the managers fault. And he refuses to believe that. DO NOT EAT HERE.

---

TA

TARI ELEGELE

It was my best friends birthday weekend. We decided to try the red mug diner for the first time. We tried this place because the Avenue GastroBar was at capacity. The food took an extremely long time to come out. I do believe the wait staff was not familiar with the menu. Some of my friends didnt even get their food. Its unfortunate that our first time experience here at the Red mug diner was lacking. The store owner Joe did finally come out to speak with us. He took 50% off the bill. However he didnt come from a humble place. His tone was not warm, & very unfriendly. He could work on his customer service skills. The food wasnt too bad. But I rate this diner a one out of five solely based the customer service skills. I hope you can take this review and work on it. Thx for the experience

---

---