Forest Diner

Richard and I--and Riley and Cody--scouted out 2 walks today. In between the walks, we had lunch at the Forest Diner on Rt. 40. This is not to be confused with the Double-T Diner which was built right next door to this diner. I don't know what the reasoning was behind this, but I decided to pledge my loyalty to the Forest Diner. For one, they were there first. And two, the main reason--they have some outdoor seating and were dog-friendly.

Now, mind you, this is not a glamorous place where you go to celebrate your anniversary or sample nouvelle cuisine. There are about 4 outdoor plastic tables under a canopy on a side deck. (You may need to let the staff know you're there so you can get served.) But we liked it. It was quiet and relaxing for lunch. You have a view of the Forest Motel and ice cream shop (more on that later), the Enchanted Forest Shopping Center (with a PetCo), and Rt. 40 traffic, but that was all OK.

Richard had a "Forest Beer," which was a dark beer--one of several selections on tap. We don't really know its origins, but he thought it was very good, along with his pea soup. I had iced tea, a BLT and coleslaw--which were all good. The Forest Diner serves breakfast all day, and there were lots of standard diner selections on the menu, like liver and onions, burgers, and salads. The wait staff was friendly. The dogs enjoyed the shade of the covered area.

A peek inside was quite surprising. The front area was straight out of the 50s--but not in a "contrived" way like the newer diners aim for. This felt real and looked kinda fun. This place's history actually dates back to the 40s.

After lunch, we walked across the parking lot over to the Forest Motel's "Soft Serve" walk-up ice cream shop. I think the motel and diner were once owned by the same entities, but are now separately owned. There is a wheelchair accessible ramp up to the walk-up window.

We shared a hot fudge sundae and were able to enjoy it in a semi-shaded area with about 6 picnic tables. Although there is a sign on the ice cream shop saying that they do not provide seating, patrons take their ice cream over to the picnic area which belongs to the motel. The motel seems to be OK with this, based on a phone call I made to enquire before writing something up. Overall, this was a very pleasant dog-friendly area to get a bite to eat!