I’m a sucker for diners. I have vivid memories of stopping in at the Red Geranium Café in Grand Rapids Michigan on snowy mornings, sitting in a booth eating French Toast while the steam fogged up all the windows. I find deep comfort in Austin originals like Kerbey and Magnolia – the Neptunian Landscape is my adopted comfort food. And I love the new breed too, places like Monument Café in Georgetown, which takes a local-organic angle on classic diner food and is one of my absolute favorite restaurants in the universe.
So I was excited to see the Blue Star Cafeteria (45th and Burnet) the other day driving back home from North Austin. Excellent name, a nice patio, and walking in, a case full of pie. All very good signs. It was crowded too, full of what I imagined were Rosedale pedestrians from the neighborhood, since there were many more people inside than cars in the parking lot.
While Blue Star started out strong, the meal didn’t quite hold up to expectations. I ordered Eggs Benedict, and my wife had the cheeseburger. Both good diner standbys. The kids had burgers too, but that was a little complicated. Blue Star sort of undecided on kid-friendliness. There’s not really a kid menu, but there sort of is, if you ask.
Service was friendly, but not speedy. The coffee was hot, but nothing special. And the food was competent. Individual aspects sparkled – the ham in the eggs benedict, for example was amazing. Other elements – the fries and the fruit – were uninspired. And while the presentation was good, it seemed to me a little caught in the space between upscale and nostalgia, without hitting either one with much gusto.
In the end, the place wins on ambience, with clever architecture and a trendy look. And it wins on menu, which has all the right things in all the right order. Where it falls short is the food – decent competent stuff compared to the old Red Geranium, but less than you’d expect from a place with aspirations (and prices) so much higher.
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