Mel's Diner - Gidding, TX

Chicken Fried Road Trip - Part III

The finale to our trip, after a day of imbibing some of the best barbeque joints in Texas, we decided to end our trip with a chicken fried meal.

Mel’s Diner, right on Highway 290, is an old 50s style diner, although a bit rundown (not dissimilar to our waitress who looked a bit rundown herself). I’m fine with dives but the food must be good. Places like this give dives a bad name.

The meal was $8.99 for the “small” CFS. The CFS, which was good sized, was pan fried which made it crispy and gave it a smoky favor. This was a nice change from the more heavy southern style we’d had on the trip to date.

Unfortunately, the meat was chewy, a result of the quick pan fry. The meal came with the choice of a potato product – the French fries were pretty standard, nothing great. Sad little salad accompanied – lettuce and tomato (or some kind of reddish disc) were wilted and old and was not enhanced by the “Newman’s Own” packet dressing which arrived with the salad.

I pine for these kinds of places – wary highway travelers sharing stories, the history, tens of thousands of plates passed from the well-warn kitchen. If only the food were good.