Plato's Diner, College Park, Md.

I met my friend Kevin up in College Park, where he teaches at the University of Maryland, for a tour of the campus, a visit to his brand new residence, and dinner at a popular student eatery, Plato's Diner.

Plato's is one of those places that all of the students I know up at UMCP frequent and recommend. It's become, in the ten years or so it's been open, a campus tradition. So, I was looking forward to a great meal, as I've long been an afficionado of American diners.

Well, it was disappointing.

The food was okay—nothing was bad or anything—but I found everything rather mediocre. They did have a very impressive looking dessert case in the lobby filled with grandiose versions of classic American pies and cakes that all looked mouthwatering and very pretty. More on my dessert experience later.

Kevin had a hamburger and fries. Very basic. It was served on a kaiser bun and the vegetable garnishes were on the side.



I had the country fried steak (the skillet-fried version of a proper deep-fried chicken fried steak), which was unspectacular and lacking in seasoning. And the odd thing? The breaded beef steak came covered in turkey gravy! It was accompanied by some long green beans that had been cooked al dente, but they were olive rather than bright green, which just screams "steam table" to me. The French fries were thick and very good.



For dessert, we consulted with our very personable waiter, and he recommended several of the pies and some gooey cheesecake. Kevin picked the apple pie and I got the coconut cream. My pie was okay, but the pastry was very disappointing. The bottom especially was thick and had a taste that told me the pie had not been freshly baked.



I'm very picky when it comes to my diner food.

Several of the College Park residents told me later that I should have avoided all the American traditional foods and gone with the Greek entrees. The diner is owned by a Greek family (hence the name, "Plato," get it?), and the Greek and Greek-themed foods are supposed to be excellent. I'll have to try them the next time I'm in College Park.

After dinner, Kevin drove me all around the campus, and I was so thankful he kept me safe! UMCP is rated as one of the top college campuses in the country for crime! It was a pretty campus, though, at least what I could see in the dark, and I was surprised that it was so large.