Powder Witch & Company

Job hunting makes time weird, and going out to eat a little difficult. I'd forgotten that the last restaurant review I'd done was for De Luca's, because over a month had passed since I'd had a chance to go out.

Anyway, apparently De Luca's runs a second location out in Robinson. It has a totally separate website (that doesn't have the prices listed) and such a different look that I'd initially assumed they were unrelated organizations.

The inside is about the same size as their location in the strip, and is laid out similarly. It feels a little cleaner in here, less worn down from time and crowds, but also less storied. Instead this location has vibrant reds and space murals and an overall vibe of 80s trying to be 60s, which made the place feel warm and welcoming.

It was also decidedly less crowded than De Luca's flagship, only about half full when I arrived instead of jammed packed, so I grabbed a seat at the bar right away. I wanted to make a direct comparison between sites so I opted for the same breakfast as last time, a heaping platter of eggs, potatoes, bacon, and sourdough toast. For drinks I opted for coffee this time, instead of soda.

The food is just as good as what I had in the strip, which means that the eggs and potatoes were lacking that last pinch of salt for my taste. Something easily rectified and more than made up for by the crispy bacon accompanying everything.

The coffee was better than I'd expected. Hot coffee usually tastes bitter to me, even with sugar, but the coffee at De Luca's wasn't. It was rich and smooth, possibly because the pot had been brewed very recently. Sometime I'll have to experiment, or find someone else's experiment, and see how long it takes for a fresh pot to become super bitter.

Among the other upgrades De Luca's added to the Robinson location, the most convenient has to be the card reader at the register. While it still feels like a place where cash is preferred, it's nice to have the option of plastic.

My only noticable problem is the other customers, who just aren't as open to talking or being next to someone from outside their group as the people in the strip were when I visited.

Obviously over the sounds of the kitchen and the staff talking to each other it wasn't quiet in the diner, but it was quiet enough for me to reliably hear the tv the entire time. Apparently (at time of writing) Evil Dead the musical is in town for the next couple weeks, and theres a Friday the 13th marathon happening over the weekend.

I've been bouncing back and forth on weather I want to try and become a regular here. Their prices are certainly affordable, and it's not to far out of the way, and yet...

Part of my hesitation is work related, and by extension finance related, but the rest is a matter of comparison. The town I spent most of my childhood in had very little business and consequently very few restaurants outside of big fast food chains.

Of the few restaurants that did exist, many were fronts or so small you'd never notice them if someone didn't point them out to you. One of these was Top Notch Diner, which was just popular enough in my small town to have regulars. The town beautification club, where my mom volunteered, met there every thursday, and I often tagged along.

I couldn't honestly tell you which has better food, but I can tell you that De Luca's menu seems smaller that Top Notch's. I'll likely go back sometime, but I dont know if I want to be a regular.