Benson Y.
Yelp
Man, I love greasy spoon diners. Whenever I've run into one, I make it a point to eat there. It's not just about the food, it's about stepping into a time machine of sorts. Walking into Landmark, the old tables, ancient looking menu mounted over the counter, the cash registers and the counter (that you can sit at!!!) all harken back to another time. This place isn't fancy and its ambience is so down to Earth I felt immediately comfortable, as if I've gone for years. We're talking no frills here folks. To punctuate the point, the bathroom is downstairs, and while you have to pass through a fairly scary staircase to get to it, the bathroom itself is kept nice and clean.
I came in and sat at the bar, something else I make a point to do at a diner if possible. There's just something about being in the hub of all that activity that appeals to me. I sat closest to the gent who was cooking on the grill, and man, the speed this guy moved at was insane. Pancakes, sandwiches, omelettes etc. were all produced in front of me at blazing speed. My order was taken by a friendly waitress within minutes of my arrival, and less than ten minutes later my food was in front of me.
I ordered a nice, basic breakfast: two eggs, sunny side up on ham with hash browns and whole wheat toast. I threw in a coffee for good measure and I was off to enjoying a deeeelish breakfast! The eggs were cooked perfectly, with the whites done but the center warm and runny (this goes on toast better than anything). The hash browns had peppers, onions and paprika and tasted really good, but they didn't have a crisp exterior as some places make it. The coffee was a bit weak in my opinion, but I tend to drink stronger flavors so that may just be me.
The only oddity is I did note that there were no sugar substitutes anywhere. I looked for Sweet n' Low and Splenda around the various tables and saw none, so I just decided to take the coffee with milk.
What's insane is how cheap the meal is. Even though I had missed the breakfast specials time frame, my meal was only about $9 altogether!
A good old fashioned atmosphere, fast service and good food. Nothing fancy, but definitely awesome.