diner

Do you have a favorite local food stop? I do. I absolutely love a local diner named Mobile Dogs. MD is located inside the ground floor of a downtown office building and has been around since the 40s. It's the kind of place where you go in and sit at a small counter on a chrome plated swiveling stool. After about your third visit, they know your name and get your drink ready as soon they see you coming in.

I like to visit in the off hours so that I don't have to fight for a space during the breakfast and lunch rushes. The menu is simple, typical eggs with meat and toast or biscuits and gravy for breakfast, burgers, dogs and sandwiches for lunch. Best of all, they serve a giant fried bologna sandwich. It must be a pound of bologna. I always get mine with fresh onion rings. On a recent visit, I saw a man order and eat a dozen fried eggs and a double order of bacon. He washed the entire meal down with a single glass of Coke. That kind of eating should be an olympic sport.

There is always banter being served on the side by the regulars who seem to rotate in and out all day. Semi toothless old men and overweight women, all of whom have seen better years. People that have survived hard lives and have found a way to enjoy the small victories and simple pleasures.

I think I will go there for lunch tomorrow and order a coney dog with fries and homemade macaroni salad. Hear that low rumble? My stomach is growling already.