Jimmy King and Brian Rowe, two of the operators who revived the Penguin in 2001 with Andy Kastanas, owner of Soul Gastrolounge in Plaza Midwood, and John Fuller, of the rock band Player/Kommander, reopened the Diamond Restaurant two months ago. This group owns the name and leases the space from retired restaurateur Jerry Pistiolis.
The Diamond Restaurant has been part of Plaza Midwood since opening in 1945, making it the oldest continuously operating restaurant in Mecklenburg County (runner-up Riverview Inn opened in 1946), and if calculated in restaurant years — a fraction of dog-year conversion — this establishment is effectively primordial. Its original name was The Diamond Soda Grill, but became a “meat and three” restaurant (a misnomer since this style of restaurant has for the past 30 years offered two sides) over 50 years ago. Then it was known for egg custard pie, a roster of 15 vegetables and chicken entrées: fried, baked or with dumplings.
With its latest reincarnation, the owners have opted to link the best of the past with current local tastes. Thus, the interior landscape is much the same, with 16 booths and an open bar area. What has changed is the revitalization of the dining room with retro 1950s wallpaper and bluer tones. The famous mixed crowd of Plaza Midwood is here: all stations in life, all ages. Babies are propped on tables in carriers, and older couples, who have been coming for decades, sit in an adjoining booth.
The T-shirted service crew is fast-moving and well-informed. The line at dinner forms quickly, but then the food comes out quickly, too. Obviously, this ownership team is used to a rush and keeps good service intact even on frenetic evenings.
If you are looking for fried pickles, you will find them, along with a variety of other fried foods, including heavily battered onion rings; fried okra; crispy in-house-made potato chips; fried oyster, catfish or calabash shrimp platters with hush puppies; deep-fried chicken livers; corn dogs; fried pork chops; the signature pig wings (deep-fried pork shanks on the starter list); and, of course, the ubiquitous Southern fried chicken. Not all is fried, though. On the roster are a series of salads, burgers, oven subs, souvaki, ribeye steak and spaghetti, among others. Vegetarian items are denoted on the menu, including a meatless “meatloaf” with soymilk mashed potatoes.
The first salvo of grub to hit our table included the predicable blizzard of fried foods (did you think I wouldn’t have the fried pickles?). Among the “Neighborhood Classics,” the piled high Big Blocker Burger — two patties totaling 12 ounces of ground Angus — hit all the right notes. The Full Blown Hemi, by the way, is three patties piled uneasily onto a bun. The fried chicken, on the other hand, lacked interior flavor. One happy constant is the still warm, oozing mac and cheese and the old-timey collards.
Longtime fans of the Diamond will seek the familiar: Gyros are still here. For others, the reward is a respectable iteration of classic dishes combined with a convivial ambiance and inexpensive prices: Burgers are $3.95 and most entrées with two sides are under $10. These factors will allow the Diamond Restaurant to improve its position to that of an iconic neighborhood restaurant for some time to come.
This article appears in Apr 12-18, 2011.
I’ve gone a few times since they opened. Last time, tables were camped out for some reason, so the wait was LOOOOONG for a table. And the wait for food was long, as well, but on a busy night, that’s not extraordinary. They should take the chicken off the menu ’til they can make some with good flavor – it was a waste! Even the skin, on the night we went, lacked flavor. And the beef tips? Ummm… tiny black cubes of hard meat, with NO flavor. I didn’t complain that night, because we had waited so long, it wasn’t worth it – plus our waitress disappeared after she brought the food. I’ll go back, because well, it’s Jimmy & Brian, but I won’t be recommending it to friends, unless they overhaul their menu. The “beef tips” should be nowhere near that place. Stick to what you know, guys, and if you don’t know it, don’t do it.
I was a little disappointed the first time I went, but knowing these guys they’ll sharpen their skills in the kitchen and the crew will become Ninjas of food service. I love the atmosphere and most of what they’re doing BUT my one big complaint would be the hot pimento cheese dip. It’s served with individually wrapped salten* crackers, and for $6 there isn’t a lot of cheese to begin with. It should be served with fresh made tortilla chips (just sayin’) I’ll Deff be swinging by on Record Store Day to get some pickles and I hope it’ll be my Midwood hang-out for the years to come. Although the wait is more intense than what I remember the Penguin being. As of now Pinky’s is my staple when I’m downtown. Ramble ramble. 6 out of 10.
I gotta say I’ve tried it 3 times now (weekday afternoon, Saturday night dinner, and Sunday lunch)I’ve had food comp’d twice because of problems. Slow service, forgotten orders, and one bad bbq vinegar mistake
It breaks my heart because I want so much for them to be “Rock n Roll in your face awesome”.
I’ve been left with an overwhelming sense of….well…meh.
Please, oh please, get it together.
I agree with cltnative. My food experiences have been mediocre at best. Almost none of the vegetables were veggie safe until this menu (according to the server and manager), and frankly, I am going to remain highly skeptical when I do go back. My servers have been inattentive and ill-informed. I want to like this restaurant so badly. The decor, ambiance, and crowd are all perfect, but at least on my last two tries, the food is pretty poor.
I have faith that they will ‘work it out’, after all, look at what the Penguin was. I’ll probably go back – the fried pickles were excellent, as was our waiter. He was top notch and I have NO complaints about the service. Though I did NOT have their mac. & cheese, I saw it as it was being delivered to another table. It looked awesome, so I’ll have to try that one.
I do have to admit that the “small block” burger – southern style – was not what I expected. The burger was dry (I realize the NC hamburger cooking requirements) and the chili did NOT taste good at all. This was like a burger with meatball chili on it. It arrived in a basket and was such a mess that I couldn’t even pick it up. I had to use a knife & fork because the chili from the burger was actually all over the bottom of the basket – soaked into the bread. When I’ve had chili on other burgers or hotdogs, it was made with finely ground beef, not huge chunks of it. The collard greens were OK, nothing special.
They have a bigger menu now, so I’m sure they’ll get it together – I sure hope so.
I have faith that they will ‘work it out’, after all, look at what the Penguin was. I’ll probably go back – the fried pickles were excellent, as was our waiter. He was top notch and I have NO complaints about the service. Though I did NOT have their mac. & cheese, I saw it as it was being delivered to another table. It looked awesome, so I’ll have to try that one.
I do have to admit that the “small block” burger – southern style – was not what I expected. The burger was dry (I realize the NC hamburger cooking requirements) and the chili did NOT taste good at all. This was like a burger with meatball chili on it. It arrived in a basket and was such a mess that I couldn’t even pick it up. I had to use a knife & fork because the chili from the burger was actually all over the bottom of the basket – soaked into the bread. When I’ve had chili on other burgers or hotdogs, it was made with finely ground beef, not huge chunks of it. The collard greens were OK, nothing special.
They have a bigger menu now, so I’m sure they’ll get it together – I sure hope so.