A Diner to Remember

I thought I was pretty familiar with this part of New Jersey.  My parents lived here for almost thirty years, and I lived here myself for a short time about five years ago.  I certainly thought I was familiar with the establishment called the Americana Diner on Route 130 in East Windsor.  I have eaten there for years.  As I remembered it, it was your typical New Jersey diner with a ten page menu, breakfast available all day, good burgers and fries.  So now that we live here, I brought the Other Family Human in for what I thought would be a typical New Jersey diner meal. 

The building certainly looked as it always had from the outside, but looking in the windows from the parking lot, I could see they had remodeled.  The booths with the faux leather coverings were gone.  There were tables with comfortable chairs and the lighting was soft and stylish.  But the real shock came when I saw the menu.  Grass-fed beef.  Locally purchased organic vegetables.  Fresh bread and pastries baked in-house.  What was this?

Well, they still consider themselves a diner.  In fact, the place was named best diner in New Jersey by the New Jersey Star-Ledger newspaper.  Owner Constantine Katsifis writes in his bio on the diner's website, "Constantine is working diligently to change the paradigm in what we expect in a restaurant and improving our quality of life with better nutrition."  Better nutrition at a diner? You'd better believe it. We got over our surprise and ordered dinner.  Our plates were works of art to behold and empty when we were finished.  The food was fantastic. We'll be back.  You think you know a place and then you find you were wrong.