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Friday, July 30, 2010

Down Home Diner going under the knife

The big renovation of Down Home Diner in Reading Terminal Market will start Sunday night (8/1) -- just some basic work on the dining room. There will be seating outside on Filbert Street.

Diners won’t feel the impact until Aug. 15, when owner Jack McDavid plans to shut down for a month.

McDavid is gutting his kitchen, adding dedicated restrooms, and sprucing up the dining room, which will serve full-fledged dinners.

He also will install a regulation bakery case, from which he will sell baked goods such as sticky buns and buttermilk biscuits. Also in the pipeline is a liquor license.

Reopening is due in mid-September.
Posted by Michael Klein @ 2:31 PM  Permalink | File Under: TableTalk | 9 comments
9
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 6:50 PM, 07/30/2010
    I was hoping this announcement would include improvement of the food. I ate breakfast there last month and was very disappointed. I ordered the biscuits and gravy. The menu should have been described it as cardboard, smothered in elmer's glue. I'll be back to give it another try.
    — Chris Van Wyk
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:24 AM, 07/31/2010
    Chris, don't bother. This is one of the only places in RTM that is to be actively avoided--there is so much great food there and DHD is just not up to snuff.
    — BarryG
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:24 AM, 07/31/2010
    Chris, don't bother. This is one of the only places in RTM that is to be actively avoided--there is so much great food there and DHD is just not up to snuff.
    — BarryG
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:02 PM, 08/01/2010
    best food ever - always
    — Ed Sullivan
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:52 PM, 08/01/2010
    Tried it many times over the years and have always found it very disappointing.
    — BillyBob369
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:49 PM, 08/02/2010
    How about they serve breakfeast all day? Isn't that the definition of a diner?
    — Spider Rico
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:10 PM, 08/02/2010
    I tried it once, and I was disappointed. Really not worth the hype. I'll give it another chance after the "upgrade" though.
    — abbylyn
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 2:03 AM, 08/03/2010
    Thought Jack had sold controlling interest which is why food was not quite what it used to be Maybe he bought that back and is trying to change back to when he used to cook much of the food. One of the best BLT's If your getting biscuits and gravy - well that says more about your tastes
    — Bikengolfr


9 comments
About Michael Klein
Michael Klein, the editor/producer of philly.com/Food, writes about the local restaurant scene in his Inquirer column "Table Talk." Have a question? Email it! See his Inquirer work here.
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