Screen Door Goes on the Cadillac List
BreakfastGuy on Feb 23rd 2009
I have this thing I call the Cadillac List. It’s not a list of places that are like the Cadillac Cafe. It is a list of places where the line is so ridiculously long that I really don’t care how good the food is. I ain’t going on the weekends, except under extreme circumstances. And by that I mean, getting there when they open or planting (hiring?) somebody to go over there and put our names in, so I can come over like 45 minutes later.
I got to Screen Door Saturday at 9:15 a.m., and there was already a 45-minute wait. And the waiting area was somewhere between cramped and claustrophobic. At 9:15 a.m.!!!!
I mean, let’s all take a deep breath here. The Screen Door is a perfectly good restaurant. But it’s on the Cadillac List for me now. The reason being that it’s not worth the wait because there are other places, just as good or better, with almost no line.
Case in point: The three of us went instead to Simpatica, abot a five-minute drive away. We got there at 9:35, waited inside (another advantage over places on the Cadillac List) for 10 minutes, then sat down to food that Screen Door would have to work pretty damn hard to compete with. And maybe they do; I haven’t been to Screen Door in almost a year, and now you know why. If they were open during the week, maybe I’d go then.
And that’s another element of being on the Cadillac List: I’ll go to those places if they’re open during the week.
Wondering what those places are on the Cadillac List? Here you go:
- Cadillac Cafe (obviously)
- Tin Shed
- Milo’s
- Original Pancake House
- Screen Door
- Gravy
- Cricket
And by the way, speaking of Simpatica: The food there is so good that it still amazes me, every time. I forget how good it is. Like I always say, Stepping Stone is my favorite place, for sentimental reasons, but Simpatica has the best food.
Not to mention a wait about one-third that at the places on the Cadillac List.
Last night I spent an hour looking for an alternative to the Screen Door for Sunday brunch – sick of the wait every.single.time. I came upon your blog and COMPLETELY agree with your take on the Cadillac list. I decided to try Simpatica, got there around 12:30pm and waited about 10 minutes out in the hall with some great coffee.
The communal atmosphere was fantastic and the service friendly and quick. I ordered a mushroom frittata and my woman ordered biscuits and gravy with two eggs over medium. Let me say that my frittata was perfect – delicate with small cuts of veggies and herbs. The biscuits and gravy came out slightly cold and after sending them back, the waitress took them off the bill with apologies and a smile. When they brought them back, they were amazingly good – smokey and flavorful without being too heavy. The prices were great and we will definitely be going back.
Thank you for the tip!