Author: Bill of Fare

Article published Thursday, March 8, 2007

Blaze! All American Diner ****
Blade Rating System: ***** Outstanding; **** Very good; ***Good; **Fair; *Poor
Meals are paid for by The Blade

Blade Summary: Nostalgia wafts from every plate. "It's a community diner that typifies rural American culture."
 

Nostalgia, comfort food served here !

On Douglas Road in Lambertville is a diner you can't help but notice. A flashy red and white sign shouts out its name - Blaze! It's not just the bold colors and that cocky exclamation point that demand attention. At the base of the tall sign pole is the chopped-off front end of an ancient Volkswagen, a certified blast from the past.

The restaurant, opened by Joe and Marge Blaze on a residential stretch of Douglas about three years ago, is officially called Blaze! All American Diner. Apart from its huge size, it bears all the markings of the small, spit-polished diners I frequented in the early days of rock and roll.

There is, for example, checkered black and white floor tiles; dining car siding running around the interior; an old (nonworking) Seeburg jukebox; lots of fading photos of Elvis Presley and James Dean on the walls, and the kind of rib-sticking comfort food that reigned supreme in the diners and cafes of the 1950s.

This is the place Michigan state Rep. Kathy Angerer chose last May to announce her re-election bid. "It's a community diner that typifies rural American culture," she explained then, adding that Blaze! is the kind of restaurant where people feel comfortable talking about their concerns.

Stop by and see for yourself. On Sundays, for instance, you'll see a full house of families, kids in tow, crowding around the tables and chairs, talking and eating the afternoon away.

Nostalgia wafts from every plate - meat loaf and fried chicken dinners, hot roast beef and turkey with gravy, burgers, pork chops, chili mac, spaghetti, baked fish, macaroni and cheese, and homemade fruit pies, along with eggs, omelets, pancakes, oatmeal, and grits by the cup or bowl each morning.

Soups of the day ($1.75 a cup/$2.75 a bowl), including ham and bean, reuben, and stuffed pepper, change daily, but chicken noodle and chili are always on the stove. Appetizers and sides in the $1.50 range run from a hefty plate of crusty home fries, sensational skin-on French fries with a nice burn, and a bowl of creamy macaroni and cheese to breaded chicken legs ($4.95) and breaded mushrooms ($3.75).

Sandwiches and pita wraps ($3.95-$6.95) we ordered went from ordinary (a droopy cheeseburger) to exceptional (Joe's chicken sandwich piled with grilled breast, sautéed onions, mushrooms, green peppers, bacon, and cheddar cheese).

People with bigger appetites should meander over to the pasta meals section of the menu, where a wonderful casserole bowl of macaroni, beef, tomato, and cheese ($7) may make you want to take a second order home with you.

The same goes for the dinner meals with two sides and a roll ($6.95-$9.95) - everything from liver and onions to an all-you-can-eat Friday night fish fry. Two that filled us to the brim were a thick cut of homemade meat loaf served with a big bowl of mashed potatoes and gravy and crusty country fried steak covered in sausage gravy with French fries and mac and cheese on the side, washed back with pop, hand-dipped milkshakes, lemonade, or iced tea.

Come summer in good weather, Blaze! throws an outdoor barbecue every Saturday after 3 p.m. On the menu: steaks, chicken, ribs, and burgers cooked over a charcoal and wood grill and served at picnic benches.