American City Diner, Washington, D.C.

At six o'clock last night, Kevin came by in his car and picked me up so we could go to dinner. We drove around town looking for someplace different where neither of us had ever been and also which was affordable (a challenging thing in the District!).

Somehow we ended way, way up on Connecticut almost to Maryland in the Chevy Chase area of town where we found the American City Diner. Well, I'm always excited about finding diners; Kevin somewhat less so, but that's where we went. I noticed on their door that they are a 24-hour a day place which is great, although the all-night thing doesn't do me any good because that neighborhood is very far from a Metro stop and negotiating the bus system to get there requires a two-hour journey.

American City Diner is an older place that looks very much like a classic diner with a counter and bar stools, vinyl-upholstered booths, and a '50s decor. They offer breakfast all the time and a big list of dinner items and blue plate specials.

Kevin ordered the western omelette sans cheese. It turned out to be a twice-folded omelette served on an oval platter with a huge portion of diced fried potatoes and onions and two pieces of toast cut into triangles.

I had the chicken-fried steak, which was surprisingly good. It wasn't particularly huge, but it was well-fried and crispy and definitely wasn't one of those frozen, commercially made things. It came with a bunch of whole, long green beans and a scoop of mashed potatoes, all of which were good. The only thing I didn't like was the gravy, which was a yellow chicken-flavored sauce made from a mix, instead of the traditional homemade cream gravy.

For dessert, Kevin insisted on having a piece of apple pie, so I acquiesced to having one, too. I had mine à la mode. The pie wasn't bad, and I was pleased that the apple filling didn't have that preservative taste so common in many restaurant pies.

So, American City Diner was a great experience, and I'd recommend it to anyone who appreciates simple diner food.