Brian's USA Diner

5524 Mount Morris Road, Mount Morris
Visited Nov. 5, 2010
Written by Drew


They always say, “Never judge a book by its cover,” but does it apply to restaurants and their names? Well, it does in this case, and that's fine with us.

On our way down to visit Tyler and Joe at St. Bonaventure University, Chad and I made a pit stop to a place that rivals General Hoock and Sons’ All-American Pizzeria for the most patriotic name thus far: Brian’s USA Diner , right off of Interstate 390, on Route 36 in Mount Morris.

Tyler called me up and informed me of this American diner shortly before I left, and how could I pass on this opportunity? After all, who doesn’t love Uncle Sam?

As much as I don’t want to overdo all this patriotic talk, the moment Rapid Dave (my 2001 Saturn station wagon) made his way around the bend, we were able to find the restaurant just by its parking lot. At 2:30 on a weekday afternoon, there were only a handful of parking spots to be found. All the occupied spots were taken by pick-up trucks, mainly American-made. While walking in to this place, we were already thrilled to see what else was in store for us.

We had to wait a few minutes to be seated, thanks to their late lunch rush. After we were seated, out waitress took our drink orders and brought them right out, pretty much before I was able to open my menu. My eyes were drawn immediately to one of their better-known menu items, their Best ‘Dam’ Chicken Sandwich.

Playing off of a local tourist attraction, it clearly was a good choice for me. The ‘Dam’ consisted of a piece of Southern-coated and deep-fried chicken topped with lettuce, tomato, Swiss cheese, bacon and served with a side of honey mustard sauce.

As mentioned before in our Tully’s Good Times review, we are all fans of chicken. It is very hard, ever since going to Tully’s to order a chicken entrée, to write about it, mainly because it doesn’t compare.

However, Brian’s chicken comes pretty “Dam” close. The piece of chicken was definitely larger than the bun, easily larger than my hand. Next to the sandwich sat a large pile of curly fries. Slowly I started to pick at the mound of food, and slowly discovered that the plate I was eating off of was an American flag plate. It’s easy to see why they have a rather extensive chicken menu.

Chad ordered an All American Burger. This Burger consisted of a one-third-pound slab of beef topped with lettuce, tomato, onion, mayo and bacon. When asked about how his burger was, Chad explained to me how closely it mimicked the burgers from the Hilton Family Restaurant (the best burger around according to him). His burger came with a large pile of French fries as his included potato side.

All in all, it was a grand ole time and both of us were glad Tyler found this little place for us to grab a bite.


Although Brian's has strange hours, If I am ever in the Mt. Morris area again (which is more frequent than one would guess), I would definitely stop back.

By the way, I apologize for getting carried away with all the patriotic puns in this article. I just couldn’t handle myself.

Ratings:

Service/Atmosphere: Very American. Had to wait a few minutes to be seated, but very quick service with the drink and food items.

Food: They offer the “Best Dam Chicken Sandwich” on their menu, and it was pretty darn good. They offer typical diner fare (for all three meals) with an All-American flair. Rather than garbage plates, they have USA Plates.

Value: Prices are pretty comparable to most places diners or family restaurants.

Overall: Good food, quick service and normal prices, but with a little bit of patriotism thrown in. A clear “must go back” if in the area.

Grade: B