It’s that time of year again: you go apple picking at Lyman Orchards, you wear an outrageous Halloween costume and, before you know it, your parents are coming into town for Homecoming Weekend. Since Middletown lodging options fill up oh—so—rapidly, chances are pretty good that, if your parents are visiting, they will stay somewhere in Cromwell. And, if you’re anything like me, as the weekend in question approaches you’ll be looking for a way to escape the rat race that is on-campus food service. Open 24 hours daily and featuring an unconventional style, diverse options, and a convenient location, Cromwell Diner is the answer.
One of the restaurant’s most distinctive features is its shape. “It doesn’t looked like a diner,” one waitress remarked to me. “And that’s because it didn’t used to be one. It was a restaurant called Cedar Run.”
While it was open, Cedar Run featured a dance floor, which explains the large, open space and high ceilings that the building still sports. Once upon a time, there was even a decorative spiral staircase.
“A lot of people ask me what we did with the staircase,” another waitress told me. “They have a lot of fond memories of Cedar Run.”
But 14 years ago the owners decided to make some changes, including tearing down the staircase, and they transformed the restaurant into the successful diner that it is now. The three Saad brothers bought the establishment not long afterwards. Their embrace of the Americana within the diner tradition is evident in the decor: American flags are tucked in potted plants and hung on the walls; a faded copy of “How to Properly Fold an American Flag” hangs near the entrance. The diner’s specialties are traditional as well.
“We serve a lot of comfort foods,” one of the most experienced waitresses told me. “Chicken alla King, macaroni and cheese, meat loaf…Our best foods are chicken pot pie, corned beef Reuben and homemade cheesecake.”
During my visit, I opted to try the grilled chicken melt, which came as an enormous platter rather than a wrap, a hearty lunch with beautifully cooked chicken chunks, fresh-cut vegetables and generous portions of cheese. My brunch companion ordered a breakfast sandwich, which was tasty but over-priced and not as substantial as what one might get in other diners—good for breakfast but not lunch.
The price issue extends to other items on the menu: Cromwell Diner is a bit more expensive than other places in the area, but it makes up for this with menu diversity. Besides comfort foods and breakfast standards, the restaurant offers veggie burgers, cheese blintzes, fried clams, broiled scrod, nine kinds of beer, seven kinds of wine, and daily dinner specials like beef goulash, kielbasa and kraut. The clientele here is diverse and varied, as well.
“There are lots of regulars here,” one senior waitress told me. “I used to work at the Town Line diner in Rocky Hill, and some of them followed me up here. It’s just a different atmosphere. Customers are nice…You meet a lot of interesting people. We get actors and actresses sometimes. Once I saw someone I knew from a story,” she said, using an old-fashioned term for soap opera.
“We also get lots of people from the nearby hotels,” a younger waitress noted. “People from buses coming down from Maine before they hit the casino, hockey teams when it’s hockey season. The people here are always changing.”
Whether it’s an awkward Saturday evening with your parents or a 3 a.m. study break when you just can’t face another night at the Athenian, Cromwell Diner can supply you with good-quality, diverse fare, a change of setting and great people-watching—provided that you can do without the spiral staircase.
***********************************************************
The Lowdown:
Located at 135 Berlin Rd., Cromwell
15 minutes up Route 9 and down I-91
Phone for directions: (860) 635-7112
Open 7 days, 24 hours
Essential menu items:
2 eggs, home fries, toast — $3.75
Cheese omelet — $5.75
Cheese blintzes — $8.50
Blueberry/chocolate chip pancakes — $5.50
Veggie burger — $5.45, double $7.00; meat version $4.00
Egg, cheese and bacon breakfast sandwich on English muffin — $4.50
Also try in the area:
Amy’s Udder Joy, 27 North Rd., Cromwell — Exotic animal park, housing abused and injured animals.
Showcase Cinemas Berlin, 19 Frontage Rd., Kensington — Go see something that’s not playing at Destinta.
Connecticut Cabaret Theater, 32 Webster Mill Plaza, Berlin — Get yourself a little bit of culture.
Village Pizza Restaurant, 861 Beckley Rd., East Berlin — Try the thin crust or, if you’re feeling adventurous, the eggplant.
Leave a Reply