Today we went to Frank's Coffee Shop and Restaurant. This, I feel, rounds out our Diners-Along-Victory-Tour which has included such spots as Lancer's and The Tallyrand. Yes, not only were Cory and I able to somehow escape from our desks (finally) for lunch, but we had our first guest diners... avid supporters of Burbank Bites... my parents! Mr. and Mrs. Miss Alissa Senior. Thank you for joining us!
Graphically speaking (not the way Cory does, where he mentions the state of his bedsheets or what happens in the bathroom after he eats, but as pertaining to graphics) I like the signage at Frank's very much.
It is what caught my eye so many months ago when I was first entertaining the idea of lunchtime adventures. Big, bold, and classic. Neither of my parents or any of the much older walker-wielding visitors have any need to use glasses when attempting to read this sign even from a great distance, which I feel is very effective. I know it is hard to tell when I am joking- sometimes I have no idea if I am being sarcastic or if I am just a total bitch, but I am being serious. I like the sign. Signs catching our eyes is how Cory and I choose dining spots, so it is actually an important feature!
Anyhow we met up in the somewhat wet-from-rain parking lot and ventured in. As Cory and I explained to my dad that we did not need help deciding what to photograph, there was a decision to sit in a booth in the corner. I thought it was a little silly because there wasn't anyone in the whole place really except for a young dude next to whom we were about to sit. I completely forgot about him though, and I am just now realizing he was sitting on entirely the other side of the joint when we left. Smart guy. Sneaky too.
We mused over the menu for so long that the fellow serving us- who was a polite 20-something year old boy who was cool enough to offer to take our photo- not a lil old lady with a name tag- brought us the breakfast menus as well. But, by then we had actually decided. And bravely, with the power of the bravest and most finely crocheted symbol around guiding us, we each ordered from the not-breakfast menu!
The Basics:
It's a diner. They have some sandwiches, soups, salads and entrees involving various meats. I would argue that the most interesting entree involves sand dabs. Only because I don't really know what one of those guys looks like. I told Cory it was some sort of 'marine life.' Goddamnit I am looking it up right now....... Okay. Those guys are- well not very sexy. Whatever, no one got those so let's move on.
There is also a breakfast menu where you can pair about a million kinds of meat with eggs and potatoes and the like. You can have that stuff any time- I do like that option. At the end, thankfully, you can choose if you have room for pie.
Alissa:
Perhaps this is not adventurous, but I had the BLT. It was supposed to have A in there too, but there was a miscommunication. My mother ordered first and said she wanted a blat. This is not how it is listed so I think it send our waiter's mind for a spin. I would recommend saying ADD AVOCADO. I said 'I'll have what she's having' and then included 'add clam chowder,' which was white clam chowder. I also got me some coffee, since this is a coffee shop. First came the coffee and the soup.
I was starving by this point, and dove into that chowwdaahhh. And it was good. I didn't expect it to be anything special but I ate every bit. This week the Top Chef contestant who went home had undercooked potatoes in his soup, and I was thinking damnnn these potatoes are cooked perfectly. They were. Meanwhile, my mother announced that the coffee was terrible. I dunno. It seemed okay to me- tasted like diner coffee. I had vanilla creamer in there and probably wouldn't have considered it not being passable if she hadn't spoken up. My dad said the brand was in line with proper diner coffee and I think I am just going to stick with saying it was 'fine'.
My sandwich came and it looked fineish too. Coleslaw looked fine. Only sad part was the lack of avocado. I had totally forgotten and Ma didn't mention it until she was nearly done. That would have been a really nice element because the bacon was piecey and crumbly. You throw and avocado in there and it acts like a bacon magnet. This is the only way you can have a truly successful bacon bits sandwich- like the awesome one they have at Trails in Griffith Park. Did you know most of those lil bacon bit shakers are filled with soy based matter that is flavored like bacon unless they say 'made with real bacon'? Cool, right? Oh well. In any case it wasn't a BLT to die for. Pretty straight forward, but I think could have used a little more love. I don't like overly fancy BLTs but if you are gonna keep to the very basic elements you need to really pour love and attention into each ingredient. My mom later said 'there was NO bacon on the sandwich,' and for a sandwich that leads with a B, I'd say that is not a good review. I tried Mom's fries. They were the thick kind. I liked them fine- but I think Cory is suggesting I ALWAYS like the fries everywhere and basically eat 90 percent of his any time he orders them. F U, Cory!!!!
Meanwhile, my dad had a Reuben? I think his comment was: it had a lot of meat. But that was mostly as a counterpoint to my mom complaining about lack of meat.
He also got some berry pie, heated up and a la mode. The flavor was really nice actually but we both thought it was too soft- probably should have foregone the heating up.
When we left we spoke with a woman behind the counter. She was the mom of our waiter. My mother had made some hollering sound from the table, and he immediately appeared having sensed a mother calling. I see he is trained at work to respond to Mom, so it all made a lot of sense. On the counter she had another awesome American Flag blanket in production. Apparently she started making them after 9-11, and this one was a custom order. They take 100 hours to make!!! But hey- if you are looking at it and thinking I NEED THAT, it is not entirely out of the question that you could procure one. Insider's tip. You're welcome.
Cory:
After assimilating myself seamlessly into The Family of Miss Alissa, I examined the menu at length & opted for a tried & true favorite: the meatloaf. See, when I was a young Suddenly Cory, my mama used to make a mean meatloaf. A meatloaf I didn't come to fully appreciate until much later in life. A meatloaf I often attempt to imitate, but can't ever get quite right. A meatloaf that makes me try meatloaf at pretty much every restaurant that serves it.
I had envisioned a gloriously browned hunk of meat, topped with a tomato-based glaze. What I got instead was a few meager slices of loaf drowning in a sea of brown gravy & topped with mushrooms most foul. Alright, perhaps that's a little on the harsh side. The mushrooms were not at all "foul" (at least in comparison to other mushrooms), but I simply try to avoid them in most of my dinners; and the gravy was fine (just not what I expected). All this lay beside an artful pile of mashed potatoes.
After quickly getting over my initial bummed-outedness, I dug in. The meatloaf was decent. It may even have been spectacular, but there was really no way to tell with all that gravy masking the flavor. The pretty potatoes tasted just fine but, again, they were nothing to write home about. In the end, I even tried a few mushrooms. They were mushroomy so, if you like that sort of thing, here's where you can find em (though you better really like gravy too).
Oh! I nearly forgot...the soup. My meatloaf came with a cup of minestrone, which was actually quite good. It had a nice zesty broth with lots of flavor & the ingredients were fresh and tasty.
Once we were all finished, Alissa's father proudly displayed his flaccid carrot for all the restaurant to see. We were all suitably impressed.
Good bite? Or just totally bites?
A: Hmmm I dunno- sometimes I feel like my lack of love for meats keeps me from experiencing the more signature experience at some of these places. Who knows. I thought the soup rocked (homemade or canned, I have no idea) and the pie tasted somewhat bite-able. Sandwich I could take or leave and probably leave. If I could afford to have that nice lady crochet me an american flag blanket, I would because it would make an amazing gift. I'd stop in for coffee and pie if I had something to write/work on. I'd guess they get some people coming in to write. I don't know what show or movie I was watching lately- but Frank's was being passed off as a coffee shop in another state. But I assure you, it's in Burbank, California.
B: Wait, what's this??? I see that Alissa has given me the label of "B" today. No doubt it stands for BADASS, cuz that's totally what I am. I know this because both of her parents told me so. With their eyes. I'm, unfortunately, inclined to say this place simply Bites. I mean, it wasn't terrible, but it also just wasn't...hmmm...how do you say......"good." Were it not for the sparkling company I was keeping, it would have been a forgettable experience.
A: THAT IS WHAT I GET FOR WRITING FAST. I guess I can't change it now. Please enjoy this glamorous photo of me n good ol' "B". You probably thought we were the same person, as we are never photographed together. No, he is not a midget, I am a giant.
And here is proof my mother is very nice, as there is no way something Cory said could have been funny enough to cause this reaction without some acting on her part. You're a real sport, Ma!
Info:
916 West Olive Avenue
Burbank, CA 91506-2210
(818) 845-2216
**Our reports are based on one visit/meal- so we're far from experts on these joints! If you have advice or experiences you'd like to share, please feel free to enlighten us & our readers! Our goal is to give enough info that someone might feel okay trying somewhere new (or know to avoid it!). Thanks for reading :)
