The 2010 Best of Menu

Food Essay | Written by Nathan Mattise

It’s usually fun to do year-end lists, but here’s the one exception to the rule. All the Diners Without Frosted Tips Best-Of Menu does is make you hungry and upset that you can’t get this flavor daily. Alas, the world (or at least CNY) needs to know about these dishes for their own good.

Diner Critique: Barbieri’s Italian Diner (Syracuse, N.Y.)

Review | Written and photographed by Nathan Mattise

Directions | Web site | Overall Rating: 3

I was under the impression Barbieri’s in Syracuse was a recently deceased diner (going the way of my beloved Doc’s and the Sugarpearl and I never did make it to).  It was going to be my first stop on the Dead Diner project until I went and found a perfectly good diner hidden away in Syracuse’s Little Italy. It wasn’t exactly bustling on my Sunday morning visit, but after trying it out I’m not exactly sure why that’s the case.

Diner Critique: Ruston’s Diner (Jamesville, N.Y.)

Review | Written and photographed by Nathan Mattise

Directions | Web site | Overall Rating: 5

Forgive me while I’ll weave an extended NCAA Basketball analogy.

March is a time for underdogs and upsets  in basketball and life. Every field has its share of Kentucky’s and Duke’s. Those are the names first off everyone’s lips in the CNY Diner Scene – Stella’s, Doc’s maybe The Eggplant. Each year however the NCAA Tournament brings to light lesser known sides that have all the characteristics of the major programs, they just lack the exposure (CNY’s own Cornell this year for instance). Today I found CNY’s mid-major diner that deserves major program status. Meet Ruston’s Diner.

Diner Critique: Elm Street Cafe (Tully, N.Y.)

Review | Written and photographed by Nathan Mattise

Directions | Web site | Overall Rating:4

It’s not easy to resist the obvious puns when working with a entity like the Elm Street Cafe. If the cafe was more like other I-81 (or I-80) roadside diners, this page would be littered with Nightmare references and a Photoshopped image of Freddie Krueger making eggs.

A morning breakfast at the Elm Street Cafe demands better than that though… much better.

Diner Critique: Miss Syracuse Diner (Syracuse, N.Y.)

Review | Written and photographed by Nathan Mattise

Directions | Web site | Overall Rating: 5

Downtown Syracuse is your standard mid-sized city maze. If you’re not a local and you’re trying to find that place on Washington (or was it Walnut?), you’re doomed to fall victim to the labyrinth of one-ways and day-specific-left-turn only intersections. The lone upside of all the mess is that exploration leads to discovery. That’s exactly what led me to Miss Syracuse Diner.