Are there any decent 50's Style Diners left in Ireland?

Capt. Autumn · 15-02-2023 1:56pm #1

Dropped into Eddie Rockets yesterday in Newbridge and was totally underwhelmed by the experience. I had bigged up the M50 burger to my son, as something I have really enjoyed in its branches in the past... but this was only okay. The booth we were seen to had burst upholstery like an exploded lasagna and we were required to pay for the meal when we ordered which I thought was a bit strange. The food though was, for what you pay, so disappointing.

Nothing was as good as it used to be. Everything seemed cheaper, smaller, and poorer quality than the days when Eddies stood out as a cut above the other fast food joints. The M50 burger was two insipid meat patties smothered in a non-descript sauce and garnished with two tasteless onion rings. Weren't the burgers here, in the past, thick and succulent? The fries were anaemic. Even the milkshake didn't taste the same...The final insult? My sons said Mcdonald's was better.

What happened to this once genuinely decent diner?

Dslatt · 15-02-2023 1:58pm

It went to sh1t years ago, seems to be the case with ER across the board.

cml387 · 15-02-2023 2:00pm

I have no memory of any golden age of fast food in Ireland.

Most burgers consisted of a leathery brown object manufactured from the sweepings of the abbatoir floor, served in a stale bun with a few onions thrown on top.

silliussoddius · 15-02-2023 3:55pm

There’s a few on Route 66.

hoodie6029 · 15-02-2023 5:30pm

Didn’t they weather the recession but strangely get into serious financial trouble after it? Hundred of thousands stolen from the Stillorgan restaurant over the years and then the lost the Dame St one too. Covid must have nearly finished them.

16-02-2023 5:36pm

There used to be cafe/restaurant places in lots of Ireland, they served things like liver and bacon, chops, mixed grill, sausage and chips and you often got a pot of tea with bread and butter with the meal, they all seemed to have close down by the 1990s.

odyssey06 · 16-02-2023 5:40pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120249664#Comment_120249664

There's a few still around in local area. Brams in Marino Mart D3.

Alas the old Some Like It Hot diner down the road is now a distant memory - now a Hillbillys fried chicken place.

16-02-2023 5:44pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120249679#Comment_120249679

Use to work in Killester and haven't been in Brams in years.

bodhrandude · 16-02-2023 6:37pm

I've fond memories of Strawberry Fields cafe, one in Middle Street and one in Salthill in Galway, the best steak sandwiches in the business.

Bobblehats · 16-02-2023 11:35pm

Rockin Joe’s

16-02-2023 11:41pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120249697#Comment_120249697

Still there, and still a proper greasy spoon. Huge feed of pig parts of questionable quality, coffee and toast for 10 quid.

finbarrk · 17-02-2023 8:16am

You seem to be looking for a place that the health inspector won't pass. They couldn't pass a place if it was similar to restaurants in the 1950's.

Beechwoodspark · 17-02-2023 8:39am

50s style diners were introduced into Ireland by the eddie rockets chain

Flinty997 · 17-02-2023 8:44am

A greasy spoon or cafe isn't a diner. Eddies is more a burger place than a diner.

Eddies is only as good as the people running it. The one in at the point is much better after it reopened after lockdown.

xper · 17-02-2023 9:01am

Eddie Rockets premises may be fitted out as a pastiche of the classic mid 20th century American diner but the menu on offer has never been close to what you get in the real thing, which you can still get in the States here and there. Merge a good ‘greasy spoon’ cafe’s and Eddie’s menus and you might start to approach an Irish equivalent

of what they do offer food wise, they were the Bunsen of their day when they first opened , went regularly in early 90s, but even the pictures of the food they offer now look shite and some of them look very rough an run down when passing. Haven’t set foot in one more than once or twice this century and regretted it.

brokenbad · 17-02-2023 9:10am

Five Guys is an alternative to Eddie "Rob your Pockets" but a tenner for a burger won't entice you back.....

Flinty997 · 17-02-2023 9:16am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120251667#Comment_120251667

If Eddies is not really a diner. 5 Guys is even further away from it.

Flinty997 · 17-02-2023 9:19am

All these burger place are expensive now even burger vans at markets/fairs.

hoodie6029 · 17-02-2023 3:37pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120249664#Comment_120249664

Cafe Sofia on Wexford St is the only one that I can think of

Sir Galahad · 17-02-2023 11:32pm

Wife away, so I went to ER's at Clare Hall this evening. Clean, plenty of staff but full of scrots. I ordered Nachos as a starter and an M50 burger. It all arrived in one go 🤨 and when I said take back the burger till I finish my starter the server argued with me. So I stood up and said forget it I'll go somewhere else. Common sense prevailed and me calling their bluff worked. The food was fresh and hot so overall 8/10. The Scroty customers would put me off going there again.

pgj2015 · 17-02-2023 11:43pm

I have had a meal in the Athlone ER twice lately, couldn't complain.

I only paid after I finished the meal. expensive but its a step up from the average chipper you get in most towns.

Pwindedd · 18-02-2023 12:37am

Stella Diner in Rathmines. Really good menu. Reasonably priced. All day brekkie. Pancakes are excellent.

cant be beaten IMO.

colm_mcm · 18-02-2023 5:34pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120251121#Comment_120251121

Rockin Joes is a funny one

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/retail-and-services/eddie-rocket-s-lawsuit-settled-for-250-000-1.1569824

Grandeeod · 19-02-2023 7:59pm

My local Eddie Rockets has been good to me. Clean, good grub and nice staff. Its only open a few years and I havent tried their other two franshises in the region. I was one of the early gang when they opened in South Anne Street Dublin in and around 1990 and back then it was a great spot that stood out. I agree that it was and is expensive. I can accept the expense if the experience is up to scratch.

I miss the greasy spoon spots that seems to have disappeared up the arse of Ireland Inc. We never ever set out to make them relevant in a food offering way. Just look at London as an example. Holy fook! You will see all classes sitting on a plastic seat supping a tea/coffee and tucking into a full English or Pie and Mash. We used to have loads of them. Was it snobbery or Government nanny state crap?

Anyone try Shake Dog as an alternative to Eddie Rockets?

silverharp · 20-02-2023 11:25am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120262591#Comment_120262591

I remember being wowed by their hot dogs, tried it again at xmas, and it was like something from the frozen section in Tesco, never again

Are there any decent 50's Style Diners left in Ireland?

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